The Devil

**The Devil** is a fanfic in the rp continuity meant to take place after the Dark God arc.

## Chapter 1: Rock Bottom

The Final Stand had gone through hell and back for what felt like ages. And for a moment, they'd thought they'd gone through the worst of it when the forces of darkness ushered forth in the forms of the last remnants of the dark gods, Cthulhu, the Moonlord, and their subordinates. They were able to divert their attention, saving their home from the Lunatic Cultist's influence, and seeming to put an end to the Crimson in slaying Cthulhu. And in the process, they'd acquire a few more allies in the form of a demon lord named Kebber, a harpy princess named Zerera, and a mage named Colton. Well, allies in a loose sense.

Kebber still feels the need to stand by his demons in hopes that they'd form a functioning demon society, and Colton kind of has a thing against groups. Still, considering Colton has some slight history with Yharim, and that, being the Brimstone Elemental's avatar Kebber'd be a target to him, the two of them would seem to set aside their differences for the sake of slaying the mad tyrant. Meanwhile, Zerera's thirst for adventure compels her to leave her roost and hang out with the Final Stand.

With threats on the island eliminated, they decided to go off the island and bridge out to the outer lands, where they hope to locate Yharim's base and other civilizations willing to rise against him. Other than that, Nahlyn was still missing, they hadn't found the Earth Avatar, the harpies were still neutral, and who knows what's become of the Sand Elemental, who may be useful in the battle against Yharim. In the meantime, the group's been gathering equipment, learning more magic, and Tritan has been teaching Angelyn. It seemed like they were finally getting a leg up in the world. However, little did they know what was happening behind the scenes...

Meanwhile, the wicked jungle tyrant and ruler of Terraria, Yharim stroked the snout of his resting dragon, the two of them up in the garden built for the castle. It stood at the highest point of the tower, with an open roof to the sun and moon that'd shine down. The dragon seemed blissfully unaware of the world at large, seeming to've vanished to his own little world. Meanwhile, Yharim would never be able to feel a world untouched by strife and chaos. At least, not until he gets Xeroc's soul. Ever since that god was introduced to their lives and his brother, his life was upturned for the worst. Though, he supposed that some good came from it. After all, were he not betrayed by the world, he'd not rise up to the man he is.

As he thought on it, the Devourer was in the process of snatching the owner of that soul and dragging him off here. He was sure of it, at least. Eventually, a set of soldiers marched up a staircase and into the garden, each saluting Yharim in his moment of reverie.

"My lord!" the soldiers addressed in unison.

"The Devourer has arrived with a living creature, he says he needs to present the monster to you," one of them said. Yharim dramatically waved his cape as he turned towards the two and began to walkthrough them, each stepping aside as he progressed down through the stairs. Down, down, down he'd go towards what was designated the Devourer's lift-off station. It was far below the meeting room of the elite. There was a sliding door on the side of the building, which'd opened up previously to let a giant, armored worm inside. This was the Devourer of Gods, a wicked monstrosity known for devouring civilizations en masse.

And now, they were worried. The devourer of deities was worried. After all, this information was unfortunate towards a certain overlord. And, of course, Yharim came down and entered the chamber, guards lining the pearl-decorated and clean chamber. Yharim approached, and looked down at the Devourer's catch. And there the wicked creature they've been seeking was, a spherical creature with flesh akin to a cave, it radiating with a dark energy. At least, it would've were it not worn down by the Devourer. This was Noxus, the creature that helped to defeat Xeroc and stole his soul.

"Well done, Devourer," Yharim said. He'd then raise his blade from his back, which has the shaft of a blade and a pair of axe-like protrusions attached to either side of the tip. "Now, creature, your long journey as at its end. Know that with you gone, the galaxy will enter a period of control none of you gods have been able to accomplish."

"Sir Yharim," the Devouerer suddenly interrupted. "I was dragging the creature, and as we approached-."

"I'll address him," Noxus said in a wheeze.

"Address me how?" Yharim asked approaching. Noxus snickered, their laughs devolving into coughs. "What's so funny?"

"The Devourer's already told me what you're after," Noxus said. "And I can read you like a book, mortal. Life's work, right? Threw away your humanity to one day ascend? You've wasted your time." At that, Yharim gives pause and lowers his hefty weapon.

"What... what are you getting at?" Yharim asked. The darkness seemed to fill the room faintly, threatening to creep into his every pore, though he was too focused on whatever Noxus was talking about.

"I know what it's like to lose my life's purpose," Noxus said. "First was ridding Xeroc, second was making sure his soul was going nowhere. And, well, I suppose in a way I succeeded." As the god spoke, Yharim could hear Noxus' words ring around him, like he were in a room full of speakers. "I held his soul for a long, long time. However, I guess souls react funnily. There was some, bizarre essence in the negative space between celestial bodies. It seemed to ebb away at my body, before tearing into my essence and wrenching my only purpose out of me. Xeroc's soul was gone, and had disappeared into seemingly nothing.

"The space seemed to open wide, before sucking the god's soul out of me, and then, I couldn't find it." Noxus snickered once more, and as he spoke, Yharim could feel himself shake. He looked stoic, but his sword began to quake in his hand. "I tried. I tried to find it. But no matter how hard I looked, it was gone. And like that, I was left to just exist. I'm honestly kind of happy you came for me, it actually gave me something to do. And now, I can see you in the moment you realize your efforts were worthless." As Noxus kept speaking, Yharim took heavy footsteps towards him, his blade shaking as he began to grasp it in both hands.

"...You're lying..." Yharim muttered. He brought the sword up and rested its edge upon Noxus' shell. "You're trying to scare me off, to convince me not to kill you."

"Really, Yharim?" Noxus teased. "You believe that I'm telling you this ridiculous story instead of suggesting to you the soul's gone somewhere else? I know you'll kill me either way. And I await it. I have nothing, especially now that my lord is gone for good. I could throw you on a wild goose chase, but here I am, spinning some tale about the fabric of space swallowing up my life's work." Yharim shuddered, and tensed up, threatening to raise his sword. "I think I taste your fear. You strike me as the kind of man that thinks he's above fear.

"You thought you're above such blasé feelings. You think you're above any man because you cast that part of you away a long time ago. You lived in your own world for so long, you thought that you were above failure in itself, that there wasn't the slightest possibility that for all your flaws, for all your mistakes, you would be rewarded. Why? Because you suffered more than any man? Because you had the stones to rise against the gods? You haven't risen, you spent your whole life digging yourself into a hole, and you can only now realize you can't escape. You never once considered having to own up to every life you've taken, every crime you've committed, but in the end there's only that. Because your little pipe dream? That thing you keep telling yourself to convince yourself you're correct in your pursuit? It's gone, and all that's left for you is regret.

"And regret? You live on top of the world and are free to bully to your heart's content. Why do you regret? Is it because you can feel the hand of retribution coming to take vengeance on you? Or is it so simply that you can't extend your iron fist any further? Are you scared? Or are you hungry for more? Either way, you have to face what's eating at you, because your one lifeline from your fear is gone." As Noxus spoke, the sword upon him shook more and more, Yharim beginning to dig the edge into him. "Go ahead. Peel open my body and gaze upon the missing soul." Yharim grit his teeth and brought his blade up, before swinging it down.

He smashed against the god's surface, kicking up shards of the creature's flesh. Then he picked up the sword, and swung again. And again. He'd keep on chopping and boring more and more into the god, but Noxus kept laughing. It started as a simple chuckle, before exploding into raucous laughter that kept on pounding around Yharim, threatening to drill into his brain. But he kept on swinging and swinging and swinging. And eventually, the laughter would slow down as Noxus' ichor drained from his body. Still, laughter was Noxus' last breath as Yharim chopped a fatal gap into the dark god. And he kept on chopping and chopping, as if he figured mining through the beast would uncover the soul he was after.

However, no matter how deeply he searched, he couldn't find what he's after. His grunts would turn into animalistic growls and snarls as he kept on chopping and chopping and chopping. Eventually, the edge would smash the pearly floor repeatedly, giving out a loud ring with each hit that Yharim couldn't even register until a few swings later. With that, he shook and looked out, trying to see any part of Xeroc's soul. But, like Noxus warned, it wasn't here.

"G-g... Grrrrrr… Grraaaaaaaah!" Yharim screamed skyward. He bellowed out an anger none in the castle had seen before, and he kept on screaming until his lungs were empty. At that point, he'd used his weapon to keep himself propped up while he recovered. He panted and panted and glared at Noxus' mutilated corpse. Not that he was in the frame of mind to pay attention, but as he recovered, the essence of the dark god still seeped into his being. "Damnable beast... Just like all of these gods, you think you've the right to look down on me?!"

In that moment, he picked up his sword before swinging down, only nailing the floor Noxus' wound led to.

"That you can take and take and take from me and expect me to lie there and take it?!" Yharim shouted. "You've stolen my family, you've stolen my humanity, and now you think you can laugh at me?! If... If I were-!" he started. However, he'd start glancing towards the way he came in, looking past the soldiers and worm that seemed stunned by his rage. *If I were a god...* He brought his sword off of Noxus and placed it on the ground, and which he'd walk forwards, the edge of the weapon scraping along the floor as he walked. No one in the room was willing to be anywhere near him.

He kept on walking and walking for what seemed like hours, dragging his blade through the floor as he sought out the stairs up. He climbed them, his weapon banging on each step as he went up. Soon, he was back in the garden, and looking over the resting dragon. He brought his other hand to his handle, and lifted it. Though, in this moment and in this moment alone, his sword felt heavier than a ever before. He stamped through the garden and closer.

"You stood by my side all this time," Yharim said as he approached, each step met with a wobble on Yharim's end. "This whole time we were able to enjoy each other's presence. We were the only shining beacon in this hopeless land. But it wasn't because of my friendship you were happy, was it?" He got closer and closer, standing before Yharon's neck. "No, you're a god, that's right. You were happy because you couldn't understand me, like the god you are. You smiled because I amused you, isn't that right?" He couldn't tell how true any of what he said was. But right now, it didn't matter if it was right. It never mattered. All Yharim ever wanted was excuses.

He brought the sword overhead.

"Laugh no more!" And then, he swung the blade down.

The other soldiers, meanwhile, approached the stairs wearily. They felt terror as they went up and up. Yharim was never this mad before, and an angry Yharim is no good for anyone. However, he'd been up there for a long time. After much deliberation among themselves, they wearily went up the steps.

"S-sir Yharim?" one of them asked. When they were up, they gasped out. In the garden was Yharon, head cleaved clean off and totally limp. And beside him was Yharim, collapsed on the floor in what must've been exhaustion. "S-sir Yharim!"

Meanwhile, deep in the underworld, a structure seemingly untouched by demons and Cthulhu-kind alike stood. It was perched upon a mountain deep in the middle of a pool of lava. It had a square base, pillars on either corner, which each supported a pyramid-shaped roof. This was a Shrine, and within was a man in ninja-garb, him in a meditative stance. He held a sheathed katana and kept on pulling, though the sword never seemed to come out. He pulled and pulled, when suddenly, the silence of the surrounding area was interrupted with the sound of metal gliding out of its protective case.

In surprise, the ninja wound up swinging the blade out and cleaving a pair of pillars in half, though in a way so cleanly that they didn't fall. The ninja took a few deep breaths, before bringing the sword in front of him. The blade itself had a single sharp curve to it and stretched out to be a bit longer than he was tall. The blade was pure red, and the handle pure black. The blade itself seemed to glow with a kind of arcane power.

"This is troubling..." the ninja said. He stood up and sheathed the sword. Before stepping out of the shrine. "I hope I'll find warriors fast..." With that, he leapt from the mountain and began sprinting across the sea of lava and out into the direction of what appeared to be a new population of demons.

## Chapter 2: The Final Stand Mobilizes

Moments afterwards, Yharim was placed on his bed in his personal chambers, left to rest. Draedon stood at his bed while the newest elite and current general, Anahita the siren, stood beside the tyrant in concern.

"Do you know what happened?" Anahita asked.

"...Yharim appears stable," Draedon said. "I sense Yharon's energy within him. I can only suspect he received the dragon's soul and is undergoing what I suppose could be considered an 'update'. His body has to adjust to the new content within it, and in the meantime, his body's resting. I don't know how long it'll take to completely adjust." Draedon then glanced towards Anahita. "How many people know of this?"

"...The two soldiers that found him approached me, then I brought him to you," Anahita said.

"There are a lot of people in this castle that want him dead," Draedon said. "If too many people learn about his condition, someone could make an attempt on his life. And in that case, then someone else could claim the power billowing within him."

"I understand," Anahita said. "What are we to do in the meantime, then? Surely someone will be suspicious if he doesn't come out to give orders."

"Not if you claim to be giving his orders," Draedon said. With that, Anahita nods. "Another thing... As I scanned him, I sensed another presence."

"What is it?"

"I can't recognize it," Draedon said. "Whatever it is, it seems Yharim will be updating to it too. We're familiar with Yharon, but this rogue force... We could be in trouble if we don't prepare for whatever that rogue force could be in."

"What do you propose we do to prepare, then?" Anahita asked.

"I don't know," Draedon said. "I'll try to produce something to observe him from a safe distance. In the meantime, unless we want Yharim's operation to crumble, no one but us is to know about this."

"Agreed," Anahita said.

Meanwhile, members of the Final Stand were leaving the island. One was a heavily armored and heavysword-wielding warrior known as Steve. Another was boomerang/spear-wielding rogue called Michael. Another was a gun-toting, bow-wielding ranger known as Bob. Another a staff-wielding summoner known as Seony. And with them right now was a harpy princess sniper that held the power of the Cloud Elemental, Zerera. They had many more allies, though some were either training at the island, or cultivating it to make it more habitable.

"Alright, let's go over our current plan," Steve said while looking over at the rest of the group. Michael searched his belongings, before pulling up a map.

"Mercurius said he has this map of north of the island," Michael said, referring to his ally in cartography. "And here, we have a few Yharim-controlled towns nearby, which, if we interact with just right, we should be able to form a useful barricade between ourselves and whatever ground troops Yharim sends at us."

"There's also the rest of the elementals," Zerera said. "And this Nahlyn lady you talked about."

"That's right, we've seen only one dwarf and none of these Lamia," Steve said. He pulled something out of his pocket, revealing a necklace, it having a sheen to it similar to Draedon's body. "This was on that demolitionist, so if we find any metals like this, we should be able narrow down wherever other dwarves are."

"That's right," Michael affirmed. "You said you don't recognize the metal, right?"

"Not a bit," Steve said as he pocketed the necklace. "For now, though, we should ally with the towns and maybe see if they know anything about what we're looking for."

"Alright, the nearest village looks to be a couple miles that way," Michael said while reading the map and pointing northeast. Michael pockets the map, and the party proceeds in that direction. It seemed rather uneventful, these lands seemingly tamed, save for the occasional patrol and slime. They are able to avoid those and/or kill off some of the enemies stealthily.

Eventually, they're able to come upon the town of **Muvis**, which featured white brick houses accented with gold, many buildings cylinder-shaped and about three stories tall while cube-shaped houses were about the size of the standard house. The town was circular and lined with a wall about half the height of those cylindrical buildings. And upon that wall were a few Yharim soldiers, those guards wielding Shredder guns or Clockwork bows. They scanned around the ground with their weapons at the ready. Seeing them, the party held back and sized up the town.

"Alright, let's head on in," Steve said as he took up his signature sword, a blade comprised of many materials he'd compiled throughout his travels. However, Bob'd take his wrist and stop him. "Come on, we took care of Cthulhu!"

"There's no telling what we're facing within," Bob pointed out. "We should scout out the area and try to see how bad what we're dealing with is."

"Oh, I'll go in and check!" Zerera said. She began to fly forwards, though Michael jumped up to hold her down by the legs.

"Hold your horses! Yharim's guys haven't seen people like you, you'll immediately stick out!" Michael pointed out.

"She should check out what the town looks like from on high," Steve said. "Someone probably described you to them after you took out Corsanor. Bob's had history with the Slime God, and so does Seony… Guess that leaves me."

"Do you think you can manage?" Michael asked.

"Don't really have any alternative," Steve said. Michael then reached into his satchel and pulled up a potion.

"Some invisibility. Drink this, slip past their defenses, and maybe you'll blend in with the general citizen body," Michael explained. Steve nodded in understanding, before he'd drink the stuff. And like that, the warrior faded from view, and would progress towards the wall and towards a gate, where he'd progress in, completely unnoticed by the guards. And the rest of the party would wait, except for Zerera, who would carefully travel up to get a bird's eye view of the town...

Meanwhile, back at Yharim's castle, specifically the dungeon, a trio of brimstone magic users were traveling through the annals. They carefully skulked around, a pair of guys in front of a woman, the three of them being Catastrophe and Cataclysm, the brothers, and Calamitas the witch, all \*creatively\* named by Yharim. They went further and further through the dungeon halls.

"There're usually a lot more guards around here," Catastrophe remarked.

"Did you get any updates?" Cataclysm asked Catastrophe.

"We're practically always together, you'd know!" Cataclysm said.

"Well whatever is happening, I don't care," Calamitas said. "We're getting out of here, now." They kept on progressing through the dungeon more and more, before arriving at a door out and into the stairwell leading further up into the castle. They'd climb the staircase, when one of the brothers would spy a window.

"Hey, over there," Cataclysm said. The other two walked over to the window and peered out.

"Wow... Yharim brought me all the way down here?" Calamitas remarked. Out the window, she'd see the underworld, the castle extending from the surface down into here.

"This makes it harder for the prisoners to escape," Catastrophe said. "Cthulhu keeps things in disarray down here, makes it so there's a layer of baddies to have to get through before going home, and has the tower partially lifted above the ground to make falling down from the window a little tough."

"...Tough for most people," Calamitas said. She climbed up on the window frame, and began to step towards the edge. She hovered her hand out into the underworld air, now unrestricted by whatever curse was put on the dungeon area. "Ok... you two better fall with me." With that, the two brothers carefully climbed up on the frame, a couple of inches too close for her. Calamitas sighed, before going down, the two brothers following. The two began to fell several stories down to the floor of the underworld, while Calamitas searched her memory. She closed her eyes and took a few breaths. Eventually she opened, before extending a flaming aura around her, casting a bubble of energy that seemed to give her and her brothers a sort of feather-fall.

They carefully descended down through the sulfur air and towards the floor. As they did, Calamitas looked out and spied a mysterious sight. Sprinting across the lava's surface was a thin figure seeming to race across the lava. It didn't look exactly like a demon, but she couldn't quite make it out. Soon, the trio reached the surface.

"We... we actually did it!" Catastrophe cheered!"

"Calm down," Cataclysm said. "We're still directly under Yharim's base. Let's try and find some way out-."

"Hang on now," Calamitas said. "There was someone running through the lava. They seemed... interesting?"

"Wait, you want to follow some guy running on lava?" Catastrophe asked.

"I don't know, there was some sort of urgency to the way they moved. I think we should check them out, something serious might be happening, apparently serious enough to scare some lava-walker," Calamitas said. Faster than the brothers could ask, their sister began to m aneuver through the gnarled environment and in the direction of the sprinting figure.

Steve managed to sneak into town, and the invisibility wore off. He'd managed to look like an ordinary citizen, so guards in the town didn't seem to care much. He took stock of the many soldiers, including what appeared to be a champion. He wore God Slayer Armor, though it seemed fashioned to accommodate his more round figure. He sort of had the body shape of an onion, albeit with a round head on top of what could most closely be described as a neck. He had a Solar Flare Hamax, a device with a hammerhead on one end and an axe-head on the other, over his shoulder. This was one of the champion's of Yharim's army, **Cles**.

"Alright, ladies!" he said in a pompous tone you'd expect to hear from someone extending their pinky for tea. "There's still minerals to gather! We need some volunteers to go and collect! Now y'better come out of yer houses!" Cles motioned towards a cave towards the western side of town. At that, citizens began to pour out of their many houses and head into the cave system. Steve, meanwhile, looked on as they did so. He could see several soldiers point their weapons at the citizens threateningly as they neared the cave. Eventually, the citizens would scamper in, and Cles gave out a snooty laugh.

"Gentlemen? How close are we to our quota?" the champion asked a few nearby soldiers.

"We got the information written down over here," one of the soldiers said, motioning towards one of the cylindrical towers.

"Bravo!" Cles said. He then followed the soldiers into the appropriate tower. Steve nodded before nearing the section of wall pointed towards where his allies are. He suddenly flicked his wings out, before flying up, undetected. He takes his multi-metal sword and slashed one of the guards on the walls, before rushing to another one and taking him down. Zerera, meanwhile, would see that this portion of the wall was getting a much larger blind side than before. With that, the other heroes flew forwards with their wings, Seony picking up Bob as they flew forth. They climbed up on the wall, where they'd greet Steve.

"What've you got?" Michael asked.

"There's a champion out there apparently ruling over this place," Steve explained. "He has several citizens working in the mine. Apparently they're trying to meet some quota?"

"So they'll probably be expected to either deliver or have someone visit," Bob said. "So, should we wait for either of that to happen before we take the place?"

"Nah, we're gonna take care of that champion right now," Steve said. He then leapt down from the wall.

"Wha- Hey!" Michael whisper-shouted. He proceeded to follow, as would Bob, Seony, and Zerera. Eventually, Bob would make it to that cylindrical tower he saw Cles enter, which had a pair of guards in front of it.

"Stand back, you lot," one of them said. "Hang on... Some of you look familiar." Faster than they could contemplate much further, Steve grabbed his amalgamate sword, and chopped through both of their midsections, knocking the two of them down and taking them out. Faster than the rest of them could argue, Steve shoulder-rammed the door, swinging both doors open. Inside, they could see a stairwell that clung to the walls of the round room, bunches of metals lining the inside of it. There were also more of those soldiers. Like that, the group was forced to fight.

Bob would whip out a wicked machine gun, wielding a scope, drum of bullets, and long barrel, this was Infinity, gotten from the corpse of the Moon Lord. He delivered a spray of bullets through the room, immediately wearing down several guards before they could react. While they did, Michael would hurl a spacial-looking hatchet, a Galaxy Smasher, that swung forth and hit one soldier, before returning to Michael's hand and smacking another soldier on the head. Zerera, meanwhile, would take her signature crossbow, aim, and fire. She didn't hit warriors as quickly as Bob did, but she was able to nail several in the head and take them down in less shots than it took to destroy them. Steve, meanwhile, would swing his sword in seemingly haphazard directions, hurling beams of energy at the many warriors.

After cycles of that attack, the room was cleared.

"The champion's not here," Steve said. "We'll have to search upwards some more." Immediately, Steve began running up, while the other warriors would follow. However, Seony would realize that if they're not careful, they could get pincered by the many warriors outside should they be discovered. So, she waved a pair of staves, one a dark staff with blue orbs in it called Sirius, and one appearing icy, called Endogenesis. The pair are able to summon a star and a snowflake-like creature respectively, each guarding the door. And then, she followed her allies.

They'd go up and continue wearing down other guards they encountered for two more floors. Before they could reach the fourth floor, Steve stopped and began to back away. In front of him, the onion-shaped champion was walking down, a few Knights beside him.

"Oy! Now what have we here?!" Cles said in his over-dramatic fashion. "I'm up here counting my materials, when suddenly I hear bloody murder beneath me! And who's here besides a bunch of bothersome rogues!" he said as he looked over the usual suspects. Eventually, his eyes would settle on Zerera. "You, however... I don't think I've seen anything like you. The hell are you?"

"I'm princess of the harpies!" she declares. "And I'm gonna help these guys wipe the forces of evil away!"

"Wipe out the forces of evil?" Cles muttered. "Ha ha! So you all got another dope to follow you? Doesn't matter! A winged bug is still a bug!" With that, he slung his hamaxe off his shoulder, and in the same motion swung the axe-head in front of him, prompting the front line to backstep to avoid the attack. They each leapt onto the floor beneath the stairs they were on, Cles following suit, at which he leapt off the stairs and flipped his hamaxe such that the hammerhead was out. The heroes that were too close evaded what would've been a painful blow of the hammer, specks of ember radiating out upon striking down. The Knights, meanwhile, were heading down the stairs and drawing their weapons.

Cles picked up the hamaxe, and rushed towards the nearest warrior, Steve. He flipped his weapon such that he swung the axe-head down, at which Steve brought his sword up to block the attack. While the two clashed, Michael ran in behind Cles, where he brought out his spear to try and stab him. However, the champion swung his hamaxe backwards, hammerhead aimed at Michael. This forced the rogue to suddenly backstep as the weapon smashed the ground where he stood. Steve brought his sword up and swung down, though his armor seemed to absorb a lot of the damage.

He holds his weapon perpendicular to his body, before thrusting the butt of the handle to strike Steve's stomach. With him hunched over, he takes up his hamaxe and swings horizontally, striking him in the shoulder and tossing him away. Bob, meanwhile, peppers Cles with multiple bullets. However, he turns his attention to one of the Knights approaching, them drawing a claymore with a shiny green blade, a Feralthorne Claymore. And rushing beside him is the other Knight, wielding a Berserker Waraxe, an axe with a shining shaft and green axe head. Bob's forced to stop firing and rush away while the Knights hound him down.

Seeing him in trouble, Seony summons up an entity with her Moon staff, which fires at the claymore-wielder. The Knight was struck in the side and forced to stumble, though the axe-wielder still chases after the ranger. The harpy meanwhile, floating above the ground, aims her crossbow and fires, managing to strike their soldier. The claymore wielder turns his attention towards Seony, and chases. Seony swings another staff, producing eye-like beings that float about, before thrusting themselves at him. The Knight swings, managing to bat a couple away.

Seony then summons up a pirate, who meets a claymore swing with his cutlass, stopping it. Seony's moon spirit then fires down at the knight while he's distracted. The knight stumbles back, and the pirate brings his cutlass back and stabs at the knight, before hurling him towards the side and making him tumble down the stairs, hitting each step on the way down. That knight may be distracted, but there's no telling whether or not they're dead. Zerera and Bob, meanwhile, were trying to deal with the axe wielder, while Michael was dipping and ducking under swings of the axe-head or hammerhead. Steve was beginning to get up, and glance towards Cles. He glanced towards the axe-wielder, who had three of the other warriors begin to converge on him. However, they were each far from physically oriented.

He hopped up and sprinted towards that knight, where he'd swing at him, causing him to stumble onto his side.

"Bob, Seony, you should help out Michael," Steve said. "Zerera and I will deal with the knights." Bob and Seony nodded in understanding, and then rushed from the scene. The axe-wielder would get up, and he could hear the other knight go up the stairs. Bob, meanwhile, decided on a different approach as he neared Cles. He drew a few ichor arrows, before firing them, the special arrows melting through some of the armor. Meanwhile, Seony's moon spirit fires a beam at him, Cles starting to get too distracted by the sudden attack. This allows Michael to rush away, at which he took his hatchet and threw it, it boomeranging along his stomach, then the back of his head before it's back in his hand.

The champion was stunned by the strikes, and glanced towards the duo that hit him from behind. He swings his hamaxe in a circle, forcing Michael to stay back while he swings with enough force to turn himself around. Then, he begins barreling towards the duo. Michael, however, chucks his jungle hook at his leg and is able to wrap up his legs and trip him.

Meanwhile, the two knights bring up their weapons and swing, forcing Steve to use his signature sword to block both attacks. Meanwhile, Zerera would aim and fire at the two, managing to stop them both. They recoil, when Steve brings his sword back and swings, chopping the bunch of them and causing them to stumble back. They braced themselves before falling over, and Steve was able to swing at the axe-wielder's chest, knocking him off his feet and onto the ground. The claymore wielder-meanwhile, was starting to get up. He swung at Steve, who was forced to block. Then, the claymore wielder pushed and forced him to move in circles. With the two spinning, Zerera was struggling to get a clear shot.

Meanwhile, Bob and Seony were firing on Cles with their respective projectiles. The champion climbed up onto his feet, just in time for Michael to come in with spear ready. Before he could get too close, Cles swung the hammerhead at him, batting him a fair distance away. He'd then swing the head up to act as a shield as he advanced on the two firing at him. Bob would then realize he was getting too close.

"Incoming!" he shouted towards Seony. The champion would get close, when he'd pivot around and perform a spin attack, forcing Bob and Seony to each dodge roll away, getting separated. Cles planted the head on the ground, axe pointed at Bob. Then, he began rushing forwards, dragging the blade along the ground and drawing a burning streak as he approached the ranger, who was forced to stand up and run away. Seony, meanwhile, would fire the moon spirit's beam on him from behind, much to the champion's annoyance.

"Where are my troops?!" he declared and glanced towards Steve, who was sort of tangoing with his respective knight as he struggled against him. Steve eventually stamped hard and stopped the dance, pulling back before shoving forwards, knocking the sword-wielder off balance. Zerera now had the chance to strike his chest, at which Steve'd sweep his leg, before bringing it up to chop down, splintering the knight's armor. Cles would stop his advance, and see the three other warriors surround him. The champion brought his hamaxe up and propped it on his shoulder.

"Ugh, you lot are far more trouble than you're worth!" he declared. "Let's see how smart you lot feel when you have Yharim's army bearing down on your backs!" With that, he pulled a bottle from his pocket, before drinking it.

"Hey, that's-!" Michael shouted. He began to sprint forwards, but Cles became enveloped in a light, before vanishing. With that, the lot of them panted and panted, before looking over the scene. The majority of the soldiers were downed, and the remaining knight, the axe-wielder, was getting up. He then began sprinting down the stairs. The heroes chased them, before following them out of the building. There, they'd see the soldiers beginning to flee the city, apparently having been driven out thanks to the heroes' sudden attack. The heroes would pant, but would have a sense of victory amongst them all.

Meanwhile, the ninja sprinted and sprinted, until he began to skid to a halt. He finally arrived in demon civilization, where many looked down curious. The arch demon and current avatar of the Elemental, Kebber, floated down towards him.

"Who're you?" they asked. "I hadn't heard anyone talk about anyone entering from above."

"I've been living down here for the greater portion of my life," the ninja said. "I am Statis, the last of my clan as far as I know. I need to know if you know anyone that's slain the last dragon."

"The last dragon?" Kebber repeated confused.

"You don't know?" Statis asked.

"Hey, did you mention 'last dragon'?" a feminine voice asked from behind. The ninja turned towards the source, and Kebber turned towards them, spying the calamity witch alongside her two brothers.

"More mysterious travelers?!" Kebber declared.

"It's a long story," Calamitas explained. "I was stuck in a dungeon stretching down into here."

"That structure then?" Kebber asked in understanding.

"Anyways, what's this about a 'last dragon'?" Calamitas asked.

"Then you know?" Statis asked.

"Yeah, unfortunately," Calamitas said. "I had to stay under Yharim's rulership for a long time, but I saw the light recently. He had with him a dragon unlike any creature I'd seen on this world. I never saw him take it out of his castle though."

"Never left the castle?" Statis repeated. He then brought the katana forwards. "A long time ago, my clan arranged themselves with these divine beings, dragons, to construct a weapon of great powerful. It's light enough to be swung at blinding speeds and sharp enough to cut nearly any material in a single slice. After seeing it demonstrated, the dragons grew weary of its use, and constructed a sheath with a curse on it. It'd cling to the sword until their race was felled, meant to keep them safe. I'd been stationed here to monitor the blade and see when it's ready to use. And now..."

With that, the ninja pulled the sword, unveiling the shining red blade. He pulls it the rest of the way, all present backing away.

"If it can be released, then their race truly must be... But if that's the case... The dragons had with them god-like souls, capable of empowering the warriors into the most dangerous kinds of beings. So if what you say about the dragon is true..." At that, Calamitas felt a shred of worry. Yharim had always sought the soul of Xeroc to boost his power. Was he so desperate to strike down the only creature willing to care for him?

"That beast is capable of letting one ascend?" Calamitas asked.

"...The dungeon halls were weirdly quiet. Could that mean...?" Cataclysm asked.

"S...Surely it's a coincidence..." Catastrophe said.

"I don't know..." Calamitas said.

"So, you're that berserker in Yharim's army?" Kebber asked. "You seem fairly out of the loop then."

"It's a long, painful story," Calamitas said. "Long story short, I'm replaceable." Kebber seemed to understand. "Anyways, Statis was it?" Statis nodded in affirmation. "So, now you suspect someone, unsure who, has possibly ascended thanks to the dragon?"

"If it's locked away like you say, I can imagine no alternative reason," Statis explained as he sheathed the sword. "Especially if the attacker was an insider."

"With the power of a god..." Calamitas remarked, scarcely able to imagine what someone like that would be capable of. Then, she thought back to the town she'd spent her time at for a while. "Hang on, I know some people we should talk to. If what you're saying is true, then I suspect a few people will be in trouble."

"Who might you be referring to?" Kebber asked.

"Steve, Michael, Bob, Seony, they're trying to mount an offensive," Calamitas said.

"Oh yeah, you worked with them back with the Wall of Flesh!" Kebber affirmed. "Hang on, I know where they might be."

"You know about them?" Calamitas asked.

"Yeah! We fought together against Cthulhu!" Kebber answered. "Hang on, I can gather some demons and have them help you move."

"That'd be useful," Calamitas said. Kebber nodded, and four demons came down. They picked up Calamitas, Cataclysm, Catastrophe, and Statis, whisking them through the air and through the many tunnels, towards where Kebber saw the individuals.

"What could Yharim be up to now?" Calamitas remarked to herself as they flew. She knew him to be desperate, but she'd never imagine he'd stoop that low. Was he even the one that'd killed Yharon? And in that case, would he let whoever killed him live? Or would he even be able to strike him down? Whatever the case, they shouldn't ignore the worst case scenario.

## Chapter 3: Speak of the Devil

Far off in space, a certain small alien with radiant wings had flown from a currently shattered planet, a helm in his hands. This was Firefly, who'd been on a quest to construct Xeroc's body. He was flying through space, and felt a shudder. He gazed off into space in slight concern.

"What was that?" he muttered. "That felt like... Couldn't be... And yet..." He shook his head, and looked over the helm. "...I should investigate that, perhaps." He then began flying towards where he gazed.

Meanwhile, Cles would arrive in the Castletown outside of Yharim's castle, it surrounded by a thick wall. It was ordinarily a fairly calm area, as few warriors would make it close enough to cause any trouble. However, there seemed to be unrest. Several warriors were running around, converging towards the castle itself, much to Cles' confusion. He began to advance towards the castle, scanning the crowd for anyone that could help him out. Soon, he'd find a champion, one that was close to where he was stationed.

She wore the god slayer armor, except it was designed to appear slim, though had an additional coat of metal wrapping around between her shoulders and calves like a trench-coat. The helm also sort of resembled a watermelon in shape with how it was ovular, the round edges aimed towards the sides. She was significantly taller than Cles, and had a pair of sickle-like weapons in her hands, them attached to her gauntlets via a chain. She was **Misha**, and frankly terrifying to Cles. He'd much rather be anywhere she wasn't, but right now...

"Oy! Misha! The hell's going on?" Cles asked.

"Have you not received a convoy?" Misha asked in her signature tone of voice. She typically spoke in a sort of calculated, robotic fashion, as if she were specifically picking her next word carefully. "Our lord sent out orders for important individuals to come directly here. Apparently there's an important development."

"Important enough to pull forth people like you and me?" Cles asked in disbelief. The sickle-wielding champion progressed forwards, Cles following suit.

Within, Anahita was waiting to greet the soldiers, Draedon alongside her.

"Remember, we must keep the full details on Yharim's condition a secret," Draedon said.

"I know," Anahita assured. "This order will placate Yharim's subordinates, and keep them from investigating the tyrant."

"That's right."

"One question though," Anahita said. "If this is meant to distract Yharim's men, then why aren't the elite getting involved in this?"

"If my predictions are correct, those rebels wouldn't be up to snuff against the elites just yet," Draedon explained. "If we threw them at them, odds are the task will be completed too fast. And at this moment, what we need is more time. The Slime God should be busy with surveillance, and I've tasked Psuedo-Calamitas with monitoring my workers while I'm busy with construction over here. I've yet to come up with a proper mission for the Devourer, but for now he appears to be keeping his distance. Yharim has made it clear he would kill him when his use was gone and, sure enough, his use is gone. I'll just have to monitor in case he returns and finds Yharim this way."

"That makes sense," Anahita said. The doors then opened up.

"Now's your chance, do or die," Draedon said. The soldiers each came forth, spilling into the lobby, a room with a velvet carpet leading towards a set of grand stairs that'd lead up into the shaft of the main tower. Anahita and Draedon stood at the bottom of those stairs. As they approached, Anahita rose her hand, signaling them to stop. They came to a screeching halt before the stairs.

"General Anahita?" one of the soldiers asked. "Shouldn't you be reporting to Yharim?"

"He's sent me to address you personally," Anahita said. "I've been tasked with giving you orders. He's still busy with his personal project, though his attention was drawn towards a resistance group previously under the radar. They've managed to not only slay one of our... one of our sisters in arms..." Anahita gave pause at that, clutching at her chest as she took a few breaths. She then shook her head. "Recently, they managed to do what warriors of old were unable to: they eliminated some of the last dark gods." There was a collective gasp around the room.

"What once were merely annoyances have grown into legitimate threats," Anahita continued. "And who knows. If they aren't finished off now, they could grow into something worse!"

"Yeah, those guys tore me out of my town!" Cles declared dramatically from the back, raising a fist. Misha glanced towards him, her emotion unreadable. Maybe it was concern, for her own town was near his, meaning it could very well be taken over while she was away.

"You see? They've already left the island and are chewing through our territory!" Anahita declared. "And that's only the beginning! If we don't strike them down soon, we'll lose more and more land! First, Draedon will organize you to tell you what we know about our opponents. From there, each champion will have to organize a plan of attack that will be reviewed by me! And this isn't just about taking out whoever's off the island! There's more in there, I'm sure of it!" The soldiers raised their weapon enthusiastically. They then began to leave the room to organize.

"Hang on," Anahita commanded, causing them to stop. "If you find a spear-wielder, boomerang-throwing, hook guy... Leave him for me..."

Elsewhere... somewhere... Yharim groaned. He shuddered and opened his... Well, he would've opened his eyes. However, at the moment, he didn't have any. Nor a head for them to attach to. Nor a body for that to attach to. Yharim didn't have a "self" at the moment. He had awareness, but he couldn't feel the ground beneath him... The strange ground... He was in the middle of some landscape consisting of several shades of white. It seemed he was in the middle of some plane, and he could spy small bumps that he could only assume were hills far off.

As he searched, he spied a black silhouette beneath him, muscular, long hair, domineering. The figure began to stand, and Yharim found himself looking at the figure's back.

"Where am I...? Who are you...?" Yharim began to question. However, as he looked over the silhouette before him, his memory began to jog. "Hang on... you're me, aren't you? How have we parted?" The silhouette in front of him stood still, before he began to walk away. "Hang on. Where are you going? There's nothing for miles." Despite Yharim's protests, his body kept on walking and walking. Yharim would've gone after himself, but he had no feet to run with.

His body went farther and farther away, before becoming merely a dot on the landscape. And Yharim could only exist in the middle of those planes as his body left him behind.

…

A few moments later, another black silhouette appeared. This one was vaguely round with stalagmite-like shards jutting out from it. The creature floated above, before glancing down towards Yharim's vague direction. He wasn't even sure if it could see him, for there was no "him" to see. However, the black figure floated down before Yharim's consciousness.

"Ah, there you are," the round silhouette greeted. "You've been beyond my sight for a while."

"What is this?" Yharim asked. "Where am I?"

"The 'where' isn't important right now," the round silhouette said. "After all, you're missing a lot of yourself right now."

"I... suppose I am..." Yharim admitted. "Might I ask how you kept your body? Mine ran off."

"Rules vary between my kind and your kind," the round figure said. "I'm sort of stuck here while you're without yourself. However, we can end this quickly."

"We can?" Yharim asked.

"Correct. You need a body of your own to get out of here," the round figure said. "I myself have a body. Perhaps I can provide you it."

"But that isn't *my* body," Yharim said.

"Are you sure you wish to be picky right now?" the round figure asked.

"My body is what I'm familiar with," Yharim explained. "I've grown attached to it."

"...Fair..." the round figure said. "Then I shall seek out your body. Do you remember what it looked like? What way it went?"

"It ran in the way that I see."

"I cannot see where you see."

"It was the body of a man, better than most."

"At this rate, I cannot recognize man."

"I see none else around, my body surely must stick out."

"Hm... That is sound logic..." the round figure decided. "Then I shall seek out the next body I can find." With that, the round figure flew off, leaving Yharim alone yet again...

…

Soon, Yharim would feel another shadow approach. This one flew too, except it had thick wings, a large body, and claws. It too was a black silhouette. It seemed to spy Yharim as miraculously as the last had, before flying down beside him.

"I began to think I and the last creature were alone in here," Yharim said. "Who are you? And what are you doing before me?" The creature seemed to look over Yharim's presence left and right, as if trying to study whatever was there, though there wasn't much. The creature kept on looking around Yharim, before seeming to come in close and curl its forelegs around the tyrant. At that, Yharim felt a bizarre warmth, calmer than anything he'd... he hadn't even felt before ever since he came to in this world, but surely this feeling would pale in comparison to any other.

"...Yharon?" Yharim questioned. The dragon let out a gentle growl as it stepped forwards, seeming to eclipse more and more of the tyrant. "What are...? Yharon, what are you doing?" He couldn't do anything as the dragon took more and more of him in. And then, in a few moments, Yharim could feel the ground beneath his... claws? He could feel a slight breeze against his... wings? He patted around the ground beneath him, finding himself to be bigger than he's used to. "Yharon? You gave me this despite everything?"

He looked around the general area, before he came to detect a presence. There was no body there, nothing. But he could feel the consciousness of an old friend.

"...I will return this," Yharim said. With that, he extended his wings, before flying away...

As he did, the round figure from before would come across him, looking over him curiously.

"Hm, I seem to recall you saying your body was the only other in this land," the round being said. "Is this your body? The body of a man better than most?"

"This belongs to a friend," Yharim said.

"You know you can leave with that," the round figure pointed out.

"Then what'll become of the presence left behind?"

"Does it matter?"

"...My body is still out there," Yharim said. "Help me find it."

"Very well."

With that, the two beings roamed the land further...

Elsewhere, in the middle of the island the heroes' journey started on, a small siren was in a healing pool, seeming in meditation. She had on her a set of armor, a trident on her back. The water bubbled around her with a magical energy. She waited there. And waited. As she did, a mysterious attacker began to raise from the water, an icy flail in his hand. He inched closer and closer. The small siren, meanwhile, would begin to reach for her trident.

Eventually, a strikingly blue merfolk in red armor lunged from the healing water, at which he'd hurl his flail forwards. The siren, meanwhile, would swivel around to hold her trident horizontally, blocking the head, though the impact still shoved her back a little. The merfolk kept advancing forwards, retracting the head towards the handle, but at the same time using his magic to pull some of the water up, forming a spear-shape. He hurled it forth, when the siren conjured a thick wave to absorb the spear. After that, she took up the trident, and attempted to stab forwards, using some of the water magic to propel herself forwards.

The merfolk was forced to use the chain of his flail to stop the prongs nearing him. He attempted to twist his weapon around the head to ensnare it, but while he did that, the siren used water magic to swing a pillar of thick water into his gut, causing him to stop in place. The siren pulled her trident back, and stabbed towards his chest, the merfolk generating an icy wing to swing about to stop it. He swung the wing to throw the trident off target, before he swung his free hand forwards and into her abdomen. Water traveled up his form and down his arm, before a watery fist suddenly punched her forwards.

She skidded across the surface, stunned. Her eyes went wide as she saw the head of the flail rush towards her. She shut her eyes, feeling spent, but it stopped short. By the merfolk's volition. The head retreated back towards the wielder, who put the flail at his side.

"Ok, that seems like enough training for now, Angelyn," the merfolk said. The siren, apparently named **Angelyn**, sighed and stood upright.

"Ugh, I still haven't beaten you!" she declared.

"Hey, come now, you're doing amazing," the merfolk said. "You almost had me there, you know."

"Almost won't be enough," Angelyn said. "Tritan, if I can't do this, then I won't be able to stop Yharim!"

"Come on, you're making great progress," the merfolk, apparently named Tritan, said. "Look at what you're doing to the water. You've started to form wings. You're doing so much to improve yourself... Come now, let's go to the jungle and check out progress with the rest of the villagers."

"...Ok..." Angelyn said. With that, he began leading her. And so, they left the small cave, heading into the icy tundra the healing pool was hidden in. These lands were messed up by wicked monsters, though their ice mage friend and ice golem, Permafrost and respectively, were able to tame these lands. They'd progress through the grasslands, which were tended to by their dryad friend, Sylia, and a recent influx of more dryads, who arrived after the fall of the dark gods. Similarly, the jungle was laden with remnants of Yharim's foes, but the work of both the Bee Queen and the recently reformed Yharim Soldiers have been able to clear it of the enemies. Similarly, one of Michael's friends, Mercurius, would frequently travel the island with some of the soldiers to axe off the forces within to make the island more habitable. Meanwhile, Tritan's father, Amidias, alongside his aqueous pet, Duke Fishron, would patrol the waters around the island alongside the Pirate to try and find Nahlyn.

The group arrived in town, where a bunch of former strangers had formed a tightly knit community, them selling among themselves and travelers. The town was in the underground jungle, safe from detection. Out in the streets, Amidias, a regal-looking merfolk, and his shark-like pet, Duke Fishron, were about. They glanced towards the approaching mer-people, and Amidias waved.

"How've you two done today?" he asked.

"Oh she's doing splendidly," Tritan answered. Angelyn sighed and tried to avoid eye contact. Amidias looked on sadly. "So the Pirate's out on her own today?"

"Yeah, she seems ok," Amidias said. "Those travelers sent forth some volunteers to act as pirates alongside her. She says her crew should still be out there somewhere, but it may be a while before we see them."

"I suppose..." Tritan remarked. "Any luck on Nahlyn?"

"Not yet," Amidias said.

"...And what of... her..."

"...I hear that Yharim's forces have been organizing," Amidias said. "Which means they're probably converging on her position."

"No one could get close to her at that point..."

The two gave pause for a little while. However, eventually they'd hear some struggling. They glanced ahead, and would see, of all people, Mercurius. And he was holding a mysterious figure by the shoulder. He wore rusted hallowed armor, and had pale, rotted skin visible through the cracks.

"This guy was conjuring some zombies!" Mercurius announced.

"I-I've been apologizing!" the strange mage said. "I didn't realize you were with the anti-Yharim side!"

"Hang on, stand down," Amidias said, waving the acrobat down. "So, you wish to undo the tyrant, what is this about necromancy I hear?"

"Tis a portion of my abilities," the mage said. "My name's Efialti. I've practiced my magic in a different facet. I've learned to manipulate the souls of creatures to produce powerful spells, emulate the effects of the individual, or breath life into a corpse. Were I not to learn this form of magic, I may be dead by now." At that, the tension seemed to lower. Each individual backed away from the soul mage, eyeing him carefully. "I just wish to slay Yharim. Most humans are serving him now, so when I saw you, I thought you were one of his spies or something. I apologize."

"...Apology accepted," Mercurius said.

"However, perhaps you should be mindful of your casting," Amidias said. "I understand that many out here are uncomfortable with the idea of the undead roaming the land. We'd only recently finished off Cthulhu."

"I understand," Efialti said. "Thank you." With that, the mage began approaching the houses.

Meanwhile, what remained of Cthulhu was slowly being swallowed by brand new life, plants. Dryads were recolonizing and wiping out the cancer that'd plagued Terraria for far too long. Among them was Sylia, a half dryad, half human. Unfortunately, this led to an arbitrary division between her and the rest of the dryads, so many were keeping their distance from her as she worked. She was at one of the caves dotting the land, one which connected this land to the underworld.

The land behind her was green, while the cave and hill it was attached to was still fleshy. Though it was red, with the spark of life extinguished, it'd begun graying into a decayed state. Her plant magic was hard at work undoing the damage that monster had caused, and she'd eventually crossed the mouth of the cave. As she did, she'd hear flapping within. She rose a brow and looked deeper in, before suddenly, several demons flew forth! She backed up and let them approach, before she noticed they were carrying individuals. They eventually flew closer, before lowering, their passengers touching the ground.

"You look like one of the beings Kebber described," one of the demons said. "Then you are associated with the heroic forces?"

"I would be," Sylia answered. She looked over the passengers, not recognizing either of them. "And who are these?"

"Apologies, my name is Stasis," the ninja greeted. "I come bearing important news and need to approach some heroes about it."

"Apparently, someone struck down a dragon and stole its godlike soul," the fiery witch said. "And unfortunately, I have only one idea who that might be: Yharim." Sylia's eyes widened.

"You're saying Yharim absorbed a god's soul?!" she gasped. "But wait, who are you even?" At that, the witch finally began to take in the view of the surrounding environment. She recognized the flesh, though it was less than before. She rose a brow, and began to push past the dryad, looking out to find more. Her jaw began to drop as she looked over the lot of them.

"How long was I...?" she muttered. She then turned towards Sylia. "Steve, Bob, Michael, Seony, where are they?" the witch asked.

"U-uh, the lot of them went that way," she said, pointing towards the bridge they'd form. "They started branching out of the island to wrestle villages out of Yharims' control."

"Ok!" the witch said. She began to move, when her brothers held her shoulders.

"Wait, sister! We just spent all this time getting away from Yharim!" Catastrophe declared. "We can't let you go back to him!"

"This is important, I need to get in contact with them!" she declared. She wrestled herself out of their grip, before engaging her brimstone magic to suddenly fly away from the ground and out in the direction Sylia pointed, leaving the two brothers behind, along with the ninja.

"Those four... could they be the heroes, then?" Stasis asked.

"U-uh, I guess a lot of us are?" Sylia said. "Maybe I should bring you to home base to explain."

"That would be appreciated." With that, he began to follow the dryad. The two brothers, meanwhile, watched as they walked that way, before turning in the direction of Calamitas, unsure. They turned towards each other, before taking a few shaky steps in her direction.

Meanwhile, the many travelers would make their way across the fields, a few extra pieces of equipment in their inventory as they progressed. The old village was liberated, but they weren't able to find a link between them and that metal the demolitionist had. So, they kept on walking, intent on finding the next village. They soon did, only to be confused. There was Yharim architecture all over this next village, it being on the edge of the sea and boasting scary-looking fishing equipment, but there was a remarkable lack of Yharim's soldiers.

"The hell?" Steve asked. He began to up his pace, and the rest would follow after him. However, as they did, Zerera would swear she'd hear something. She narrowed her gaze and turned to face the source. There, she'd see a fireball soaring straight towards them, it seeming a long ways away.

"Guys! Projectile thataway!" she declared to the party. The rest turned in confusion and looked far off, the projectile seeming merely a dot in their gaze in comparison to Zerera's sight. The several brought up their weapons, and Michael pulled up his binoculars to look at it.

"Hm... That looks like... Brimstone Magic?" Michael repeated.

"You mean those demons are backstabbing us?!" Steve declared accusatorily.

"No, I see something in it," Michael pointed out. "It's... a girl?" Michael's expression of tension seemed to melt in one of slight relief, Bob seeming confused, and elation seeming to come to Seony. Steve and Zerera, however, seemed confused, though either for different reasons. Either way, they let the fire fly closer and closer, until it touched down on the ground before them, forming a scorched crater. Eventually, the fire faded to unveil the flier, much to the party's surprise.

"Calamitas!" Seony squealed. She rushed over to the witch, excitedly grabbing her hand, the witch glancing towards her in slight confusion. Michael and Bob followed suit, crowding around her, while Zerera hovered nearby, unsure of the situation. Steve, meanwhile, felt a slight sense of relief wash over his soul, and he began to approach, though with heavy steps. Calamitas couldn't help but feel slight warmth as these old acquaintances showered her in concern and elation.

"Where've you been?" Seony'd ask.

"Were you captured?" Michael asked.

"Were you fighting stuff on your own?" Bob asked.

"Man, it's a long, somewhat boring story involving sitting in some dungeon cell deep in the underworld," Calamitas explained. She looked up at the harpy, hovering overhead. "Wow, been a while since I've seen one of you so close to the surface."

"Yeah, it's been an exciting few days down here!" Zerera greeted. "By the way, who are you?" At that, Calamitas' expression dropped.

"Who... who am I?" she asked. "Did... no one tell you?" At that, the group around her began to back away, feeling somewhat ashamed.

"We're sorry, between the summoning of the Moon Lord and Cthulhu, not to mention a dryad dragging us off to search for a soul and some water business, we've been preoccupied," Seony muttered. "Still, that's no excuse..." Calamitas looked among them.

"...How long did you guys forget about me?" she asked. There was an uncomfortable silence among the group.

"W-we swear, we didn't forget about you," Michael said. "We just... we didn't know what we could do to find you..." At that, Calamitas finally turned towards Steve.

"How about you?" she asked, ushering a "hm?" from the warrior. "You've been awfully quiet. I was near you when I disappeared. Tell me, when did you realize that something was wrong? When did you entertain the possibility that I might need help?"

"U-uh..." Steve muttered, backing away. Calamitas turned towards the rest of the group, neither of which felt very comfortable talking.

"I mean, you know Steve," Michael brought up. "He has a very... one-track kind of mind. He rarely ever worries himself over anyone else." Calamitas looked over Michael, seeing clear discomfort as he spoke. She then leaned in.

"...Something happened after I was gone..." she said. Michael backed away, which only seemed to confirm her suspicions. "What was it?"

"...A bunch of us went to tackle some Draedon creatures," Michael explained. "Steve was asleep, so we left him alone. He... woke up and immediately came looking for us, seeming concerned..."

"...And how long after my disappearance was this?"

"...L-like a day..." At that, the witch snapped towards Steve, who still seemed stunned.

"...Good to know..." she muttered. She sighed before taking up a straight stance. "Anyways, I met some guy down in the underworld after I escaped. And if what he's been spouting is true, I think something really bad is going to happen on Yharim's side."

"Worse than what's already happened?" Bob asked.

"Hard to say. But I suspect that Yharim will come out far more dangerous than before. I left that guy back in town, we'll have to go there and meet him, asap. I'll explain what I can along the way."

Later, the dragon-bodied Yharim and the round figure continued flying, still scanning. As they did, Yharim looked over the round figure, still unsure of what or who they were. He was able to recognize Yharon, so why couldn't he understand who this was? Did he just know too many round people? Or, perhaps, was some other force at play. Eventually, though, the round figure seemed to shift in angle, peering down at the landscape. Yharim would follow their gaze, and spy one sole, running silhouette running across the fairly white landscape.

"That looks like it could be a body," the round figure said.

"That looks like my body," Yharim said. He began to descend, though the round figure suddenly sprinted. Yharim looked on confused, and tried following. However, eventually the round figure managed to slam into the humanoid body, causing it to tumble and tumble. The round figure was on top of what Yharim recognized as his body. Once there, it squished down on the humanoid body, jolts of silhouetted energy sparkling outwards. Yharim flew in closer and closer, and tried to slam his claws on the creature, though the energy was able to drive him away.

"What are you doing to my body?!" Yharim demanded. However, as he spoke, the round figure seemed to transform into a more gelatinous shape, same for Yharim's body. The two shadows began to meld together like two ice blocks melting into water that mixed. Soon, a puddle of shadows was left on the ground. Yharim was alarmed. He inched closer, looking over the murky liquid. Then, it shivered, causing Yharim to take on a more defensive pose. And then, the puddle seemed to take the shape of a man. No, not a man.

It looked an awful lot like Yharim's body: about 9 feet tall, muscular, thick hair that Yharim could swear was red, but that was about where the similarities ended. It seemed to bear thick chunks of stony protrusions, each extending towards the body's back, one on either shoulder, and one on either hip. He could also tell that more rockiness had formed around Yharim's torso. The muscular creature stamped forwards, before glancing towards Yharim with a malicious intent.

"You weren't supposed to get a body yet, Yharim," the body said.

"What do you mean?" Yharim asked.

"It means... that I have to destroy that," the body said, pointing at Yharim. Then, Yharim's body suddenly charged forth, dark magic converging around their fist. Yharim immediately yanked his dragon body to the side, evading a punch, which, after being thrown, sent forth a powerful blast of void-like darkness that carved through the landscape, as if erasing it. As he saw that bout of magic, a name suddenly raced through Yharim's head: "Noxus".

Yharim, in the same motion as he dodged, suddenly swung around to swing his tail into Noxus' midsection, knocking him several yards away. After knocking him a fair distance away, Yharim extended his dragon's wings, before flapping them forth to deliver twin flaming tornadoes that raced across the ground, each flying themselves straight towards Noxus. With those coming close, Noxus thrusted Yharim's hands out, before swinging them forwards to conjure magical missiles, each blasting the tornadoes.

"Neat trick," Noxus remarked to himself. He began sprinting towards Yharim, either hand glowing with that void like essence. Yharim would keep his distance, forcing himself to fly to stay out of punching range, though Noxus would through some punches, sending beams of the darkness towards the dragon. Yharim seemed able to avoid these, and was able to hurl forth balls of fire, which'd explode after getting close enough to Noxus. He'd take a few of the shots, before conjuring eldritch energy into his hand. At that, he thrusted his hand forwards, producing a flurry of eldritch tentacles that speared the fires, while racing towards Yharim.

Some managed to grab him, before he'd use both the tentacles and his own strength to swing Yharim down into the ground. Noxus would then jump up, the eldritch energy coursing through his arms to form fangs that extended from his palms. He was able to stab them into Yharim's back, eliciting a grunt of pain from the dragon. He whipped around and shook the foe off of him. With him off, Yharim would swing towards the humanoid and swing his foreclaws down, striking them. He was forming craters in the monochromatic environment, before Noxus thrusted his arms out to catch one of the fists.

Noxus climbed out of the pit, before grabbing the fist. He reared back, before starting to swing Yharim in a circle, eventually hurling him away, causing him to tumble across. Noxus would leap up and dive towards the dragon, charging more of that darkness. He was coming down at a low angle, raising his fist. Yharim swiveled around just in time, allowing the foe to punch the ground, generating a shockwave that erased a large half circle into the ground. Noxus was levitating to avoid falling into the hole, before Yharim would punch him away, causing him to tumble across the ground.

With more distance, Yharim would hurl more and more fireballs towards Noxus, hitting him several times in the air. After a few hits, Noxus would be comboed up into the air, before getting nailed and hurling him down into the ground. Noxus groaned and stood up, only for the dragon to fly in a loop around him, conjuring more fireballs, which'd each swing at Noxus, striking him and generating a massive explosion, which stunned him. While he was, Yharim flew overhead, before conjuring up fiery magic, the energy seeming to draw in from around him to form a large bundle of energy at his core.

Then, with a mighty roar, he unleasahed a mighty maelstrom of fire, the pillar reaching up into the sky as a vortex of flame swirled around Yharim, ensnaring both him and Noxus in the fire. The tornado was mighty tall, and about as thick as a city-block, though Yharim was forcing it to pull in more and more, closing in on Noxus and nailing him with more swirling fire. Noxus seemed to struggle to stand, though he fought to keep himself standing. Eventually, the tornado would die down, Yharim panting. He descended carefully towards the ground, before touching down, Noxus similarly halted.

The two were just panting, extremely exhausted from the fighting they'd just gone through.

"...So, we seem to be at an impasse..." Noxus spoke up. "I'm not fast enough to erase that body, but your physical and magical blows aren't enough to chop through the regeneration of this body. Then, perhaps... we could arrange something..."

"What is the meaning of this," Yharim asked. "Where are we? Why is my body separated? And why are you and Yharon here?" Noxus sighed and leaned back.

"We immortals have many differences with your kind," he started. "Your kind have finite existences, so your souls were given the freedom to pass onto the next world, whether it be a prosperous paradise, or a torturous eternity. Us immortals, however? We're forced to linger. When we die, our souls are required to go on with whatever entitled mortal decides they deserve to own us. And do you know what happens to a god when a mortal takes them?" At that, Noxus waved his arms out across the landscape. "Our consciousness gets thrust deep, deep into the mortal's subconscious, very few lucky to even talk to the ones that consumed them. And to think that for all my efforts, I'd only have to look forwards to what could be an eternity of limbo, where nothing happens and I just exist. I've had enough of that in my own lifetime.

"So, I decided to do something about it. I have a special power over the mind, so I had the chance to slither from the depths of your consciousness and to you. You were busy, seething with anger, so I had the chance to hold onto you and tug you deep in here, where I made sure to set the pieces."

"So what, you drag me in here to steal my body?" Yharim asked.

"Oh I would if I could," Noxus said. "But, unfortunately, this body belongs to you. I can posses the mental projection of it, but the body itself needs your mind at the wheel. So what I intended to do was meld my mental body into your mental body to form one that could house both you and me. Then, you could get out, take me with you, and I'd avoid the limbo of your depths." Noxus gave pause, before looking at Yharim curiously. "You could've left the moment you took that body. Thanks to Yharon, my goal would've been unachievable. Why'd you stay?"

"...After Yharon gifted me this, he was left body-less like myself. I hoped to return it."

"Oh? A conscious? Towards the god that wouldn't laugh no more?" Yharim thought back to his final words towards Yharon, and shuddered.

"You will give me my body back, I will take it, and then I will return Yharon his body."

"Now hang on," Noxus said. "There are only three of us here, you, me, and that dragon. Thanks to my works, there's now one less body."

"Like hell I'm doing what you wish."

"Oh truly?" he asked. Noxus laughed, and the body began to be doused in darkness. "My magic erases. If I wish, this body can be gone in a flash, which means the number of inhabitable bodies is reduced to one. The body I exist in can house two because it's made of two, but that dragon can only carry one conscious in it. I destroy this, there's no way to give that dragon a chance." Yharim gave pause at that. He didn't totally understand this depths of the mind business, but he could tell that Noxus had just forced him into a position that'd either leave Yharim alone in one body, the other consciousnesses buried in these depths, or he'd have to drag both of them with him.

Yharim thought and thought, glaring at the only body that could make things right here. He glared at Noxus, who seemed awfully confident...

…

Yharon was waiting and waiting and waiting, unsure of what was to become of him. But soon, a claw would come towards him to scoop up his consciousness.

Back in Yharim's room, the tyrant lied comatose. However, the sheets would shift.

## Chapter 4: A Few Changes

After much leading, Stasis would be led through the plains by the dryads. He decided to keep silent, fearing that if he were to pry into modern world the slightest, he'd soon become overwhelmed with the many changes that'd taken place. No, he stood nice and at attention, marching to the tune of the dryads as they led him deeper into the island. Throughout, he had one hand on his sheath, and the other over his handle, wielding the katana protectively. It was a very dangerous blade, even to the wielder if they're untrained.

They came closer and closer, soon coming into the jungle, and approaching one of the caverns. Stasis would follow, before spying the village hidden within.

"I think I can take it from here," Stasis assured. The dryads nodded, before turning and leaving. The ninja would then go down more and into the village. On approaching, he'd spy, of all things, a few fish people, one siren and two merfolk, talking amongst each other. And just to make things weirder, they appeared to be conversing with an undead, as well as a nomad, perhaps the most normal thing there. The village seemed to host a few fairly normal people for now. The ninja approached the group.

"Greetings," Stasis said. "I come looking for your leaders. It is my belief that something dangerous is afoot." The five turned towards him curiously.

"Hm? I haven't seen anything like you before," Tritan said. "Who are you?"

"Why, I am Stasis," the ninja answered.

"Wait, Stasis?" Amidias said. "Strange, your clan had all but faded from history. Stasis' age hasn't even been recorded, though he's suspected to at least be too old to live among us.

"So you've heard of my kind?" Stasis asked. "I've been hiding for a while now. Monsters in the land grew too dangerous, and my clan was overwhelmed. I took up our special sword, and hid it away down in the pits of the underworld. And I had to make sure it remained sheathed, for if it wasn't, then that meant the last dragon had fallen."

"The last dragon?" Tritan repeated. Amidias stroked his chin in confusion, feeling slight worry.

"It's a long story, though I must tell it, now..."

Elsewhere, the original travelers, with the addition of Calamitas, were amongst themselves, Calamitas telling the group about the ninja she met, and about what it could mean for their future.

"No way, you're saying that maniac's found a way to get even more powerful?!" Steve asked.

"That's the theory for now," Calamitas said. "But if there's a chance, then if we don't take necessary precautions, then we could face our end even faster than before." There was a noticeable pause among the party, them seeming uncertain of their situation.

"Well, if what you say is true, then it must be too late..." Steve said.

"N...No..." Calamitas muttered. "Y-you're supposed to be prepared to destroy him, gathering an offensive to plow through him and finish him."

"M-maybe Calamitas is right," Michael said. "We got through that one Champion's town pretty easily. Come on, we should at least try and fight back."

"Y-yeah..." Calamitas muttered. However, as they spoke, they'd soon hear rushing footsteps. The party would turn, and spy a pair of lance-wielding, fiery warriors approaching. Everyone besides Calamitas drew their weapons defensively, already anticipating the worst. However, the two would approach, no weapon drawn. They'd be huffing and wheezing, before falling down, one onto his knees and the other on his side.

"C...Calamitas…" the one on his knees said. "Y-you can't just run off like that... W-we don't have your kind of magic..." Steve looked towards Calamitas curiously.

"Who the hell are these two?" he asked.

"My brothers..." Calamitas muttered. Steve rose a brow, and the rest of the party seemed surprised. "It's really a long story, we should reorganize. Cataclysm. Catastrophe. Up you two." At that, the two downed spearmen groaned, the rest of the party following Calamitas while stepping around them.

"We just got here..." the one named Cataclysm whined. The two crawled around trying to orient themselves towards the party, before practically crawling after them. It would be a long trek, but eventually the two brothers would make it back on their feet, and they were beginning to fly over the water and towards the island, some carrying the flightless. As they did, Bob glanced off into the distance, before raising a brow.

"Hey, I think I see something over there," Bob said, pointing over there.

"What?" Michael asked. He took up his binoculars, and looked in the direction Bob was pointing. There, he'd see several soldiers marching over the land and roughly towards the bridge they'd formed. Specifically, in the direction of one of the village they'd just rescued. "It's Yharim's troops! They look like they're making an offensive!" At that, the many party members' expressions grew grimmer.

"We can't bother with that!" Calamitas said. "We've gotta get to the town and plan our attack!"

"But if they get through that town, then they'll be able to make a straight line towards our island!" Michael then put his binoculars away. "A lot of our allies will be out and about and susceptible!" Hearing that, Calamitas grit her teeth. Before she could argue, Michael began flying over in that direction. Seeing that, Steve and Zerera also followed them. Seony would glance between them and Calamitas unsure, before sighing and following the rest of the party. Calamitas narrowed her gaze, before flying after them.

They flew and flew, soon going past the village Cles controlled, soon looming over the crowd of soldiers before they were able to attack any village, thankfully. Michael took up his binoculars and looked down on the crowd.

"I see several soldiers, knights... I think I see Cles," Michael remarked. "And... I don't recognize this other one, but it's made of the same stuff as Cles', so they must be another champion."

"I wonder if they were in that empty village," Seony pondered.

"Well, whatever they are, we can take them!" Steve declared. He flexed his demonic wings, before suddenly driving himself downwards.

"Steve!" Michael shouted, reaching out towards him.

"Aw yeah, pre-emptive strike!" Zerera declared, loading a bolt. She utilized her special magic, channeling electricity into the bolt, before aiming and firing, sending the bolt flying forwards as a trail of electricity is left in its path. It goes past Steve, before flying down into the crowd of enemies and exploding into a ball of electricity, stunning several of the guards. Steve lowers towards the crowd, drawing Excalibur, before slamming down, his impact seeming to shake the earth a little and knocking the electrified ground off balance.

The champions, standing at opposite ends of the soldier crowd, turned their attention towards the impact. Cles glowered and hoisted his hamaxe, before charging towards the source of the chaos. Misha, meanwhile, seemed to take interest. It'd been a while since she'd seen electric magic. And if she was seeing some of that, then the caster must be nearby. She looked upwards and towards the source, where she could see several winged beings. Several seemed to be merely humans with wings, but she could spy one feathered being.

"Perfect," she said in an uncharacteristically expectant tone. She held the handles of her sickles tightly, and two wing-like contraptions extended from the shoulders of her armor, before thrusters popped out. A similar pair appeared over the calves. Then, the engines ignited, expelling powerful jets of fire as she soared up into the air and towards the flying group.

Steve, meanwhile, magically retracted his wings, before raising his sword and swinging at the several downed soldiers. As he did, he could hear the loud stamping of the oncoming foe. He turned, and could see the crowd of soldiers parting, making way for a familiar, rotund berserker. He was coming in close, before taking up the hammer-end of his weapon, and jumping up. Steve brought up his sword to block the blow, stopping the hamaxe though forcing him to take a knee.

"So like a devil, you descend upon the Light with your terrifying wings in a hail of lightning!" Cles declared. "Do you think I'm scared of you, devil!"

"I don't care what you think!" Steve declared. "You'll die all the same!"

Meanwhile, the rest of the fliers watched as the champion flew up.

"Well she seems awfully bold to go one on one," Calamitas remarked. While airborne, she moved Catastrophe onto her back, before zooming down towards the oncoming champion. However, Misha dove to the side, evading a monster of a tackle and continuing past her, much to Calamitas' confusion. She quickly turned around, raising her arms defensively, only to see the airborne champion continuing past her. "What the-?"

Michael similarly flew towards her, moving Cataclysm to his back while raising his spear. He brought up his spear, before trying to stab Misha, who rolled to the side to evade the stab and continue past him.

"What is she-?" Michael pondered as she looked back.

Zerera was loading a bolt, aiming, and firing. However, Misha would swipe her sickle to dash the bolt, before rearing back and swing the sickle forwards, it attached to a chain that rattled as it soared towards the harpy. Zerera gasped and dove back, narrowly evading a deadly swing of Misha's sickle. She flicked her wrist back to bring the sharp end back to her side, while throwing her other sickle towards her, forcing her to evade again.

"She's after Zerera?" Michael pondered. However, a cacophonous noise came from below, as several soldiers would rush out towards Steve, who was currently too busy with Cles. He thrust his sword to the side to force Cles to bring the head to the ground, before swinging his sword at his head, only for a soldier to come in and bring up a shield to block the blow. "I don't think even Steve can handle that many! Seony, Calamity brothers, Bob, you guys go down and help him!"

"W-we go wherever you do!" Cataclysm pointed out. Michael handed her Cataclysm while Calamitas handed her Catastrophe, who Seony summoned an imp to hold. With the warriors exchanged, the summoner, ranger, and spearmen were heading down to the crowd of enemies, while Michael and Calamitas turned towards the strange champion trying to strike Zerera.

Steve swung and backed away, though he'd be unable to evade a few blows. He blocked a few sword swings and deflected a few spears, though some spearheads would strike him as would some arrows. Cles, meanwhile, brought up his hamaxe, before charging forwards with the blade-head aimed towards the warrior. Steve saw it coming, but he couldn't spend too much on that, not while he was busy tending to these other soldiers. Cles got closer and closer, each step sending forth a foreboding, metallic clank as he got closer and closer.

However, before he could get too close, a moon beam shone down and struck him, knocking him off balance and forcing him to use his weapon to keep himself upright. Pirates would suddenly fall down and slash at the soldiers with their cutlasses, and gunfire would suddenly spray the crowd. When the fliers got close, the two spearmen jumped off, before delivering a gravity-assisted stab upon whatever soldier was beneath them. The soldiers they struck wailed and crumpled onto the ground. They each drew their lances and face the rest of the crowd, while Cles would turn towards the invaders.

"Of course, I should've expected the lot of you would annoy me!" he declared.

Meanwhile, Misha flew closer and closer to Zerera, who kept on flying away. As she flew, she'd attempt to conjure bursts, before hurling them at the champion. She took a few of the strikes, though would dive around the others. Between flurries, she'd swing her sickles towards her in an attempt to skewer her on the blades, the harpy yelping as she dodged around each blade. She'd try to conjure up a flurry of lightning to strike at short range, though Misha would respond by spinning her sickles so that the chain deflects the lightning, her armor seeming to either resist or negate the electricity. Eventually, Misha managed to throw one straight ahead, it seeming to go just under her arm and behind her, blade aimed threateningly at her back. Then, with a tug on the chain, she brought the sickle towards the harpy.

However, a sudden jungle hook flicked out and grabbed the chain, swiftly pulling it off course and instead having Misha's chain ensnared and between her and the rogue flier, Michael. While she was busy registering that, Calamitas would fly in close and send forth a ball of fire, which Misha was forced to duck under. Seeing her situation, she looked over the fighters present.

"...Calamitas, hook-wielder and spear-wielder... both of you lacking importance," she spoke mechanically. Michael rose a brow, though Calamitas didn't seem to regard it much, as though she'd already accepted she was nothing to Yharim. "You don't have to die here. I'm not interested in anything you two have to give."

"I don't know what kind of deal you think you're making," Michael pointed out. "You're surrounded by three very dangerous people."

"You are far from ordinary resistance," Misha pointed out as she looked over the two of them. "But I too am dangerous." She flicked her other sickle towards Michael the chain Michael extended. Michael rose a brow, before Misha lifted both arms, and then whipping them downwards. Michael yelped as he was suddenly yanked out of the air. Misha gave a tug and pulled Michael towards her, before delivering a powerful kick straight to his face, sending the rogue sprawling downwards and his hook undoing itself around her sickle. She pulled both towards her and held the sickles, before taking a blazing beam to the chest.

She was shoved back through the air, before coming to a halt. She glared at Calamitas, who was preparing another beam. Misha leapt up, before flying towards the Brimstone Witch, making sure she hovered just out of reach of the beam, even as she tried to move it to strike her. She'd get close and raise one sickle overhead, forcing Calamitas to summon a flaming scythe to catch the blade. Misha would then try to stab the second sickle into her, though she'd move the shaft of the scythe to catch the curve of the blade. Calamitas would also try to arrange her scythe to stop Misha from pulling the sickles out of her grip, where she'd lean in to deliver a powerful headbutt, causing the champion to lose grip on her sickles and fall down, stopped only by the chains quickly catching stopping her descent.

Misha was dazed from the blow and looked up, before she's struck by a bolt. She looked towards Zerera, who was already loading another bolt. She glanced towards Calamitas, who held the scythe carefully. She could probably dismiss it to get rid of Misha's sole anchor, but she could fly. No, she had to keep it here to make sure the champion doesn't get her weapon back. Like this, she could keep the champion strung up to be shot at without abandon.

Meanwhile, an order came to a certain mechanical worm. Well, less an order and more a command. Draedon's machinery made it so that his armor could be controlled remotely. He was honestly surprised he wasn't asked for before now, but his short escape would bring him towards Yharim's castle, flying in to where he dropped off Noxus… He never felt that kind of anger from Yharim before. There was a fury in him none could hope to pierce, and one that'd threaten to destroy any around him. The Devourer was close minded, but he wasn't dumb. He knew that if anyone, he'd be up on the chopping block.

The only reason he could even stand right now was one assurance: Draedon had access to his armor. If this was anyone's orders, than it had to be that weapon smith. They were hardly any better than Yharim, but they didn't seem to have such hatred in them that Yharim had. The command took him only into this landing station, while another announcement asked him to go to the Weapon Testing Facility. He'd have to make the rest of the journey, and if not, then he could only assume consequences would follow. And so, he went through the halls, passing the many soldiers standing at attention.

He'd have to travel through a few staircases, before eventually arriving at the testing area, a room that seemed designed to exchange material for whatever. It was a large cube with a console of controls accessible via a different door. The Devourer was instead asked to go into the testing area. He slithered in, but would find nothing. He looked around, the area made to resemble one of the dark caves of Terraria, stony surfaces with darkness out in either direction. He continued forwards, when a voice filled the room.

"Scourge," that voice said, seeming to fill the room with its echo. It sounded alarmingly like... Yharim. And yet, there was a terrifying edge to it. Something gravely and threatening, animalistic. Yet the threat was interwoven with a calm edge to it, which only served to emphasize the terror the voice held.

"My lord?" the Devourer asked. "Where's Draedon?"

"Making sure the stage is set," the voice explained. "They brought you here under my orders after all." As he spoke, torchlight would suddenly spawn on the ground, seeming to form a path for the Devourer to follow. "Scourge, have I told you how much I hated you?"

"It occurs to my very few have earned your favor," the Devourer said, trying to lighten the tension.

"No, no," the voice said. "There are two kinds of people before me. Ants that can either get out of the way or get squashed. Or dead men. You were almost a dead man. And do you know why, Scourge?"

"...Why is that?"

"In the past, individuals would compare us, you know. Bringers of destruction, able to tear apart lands with barely a thought. Were I akin to you, I'd find hatred towards me warranted. However, I had a dream. To control the planets and end the suffering the Gods have allowed, an eternal state of prosperity, that'd have to stem from a garden of bones. You? You never fought for anything but yourself."

After his last few words, the torchlight would form a circle, marking the end of the path. They surrounded a figure wrapped up in, what appeared to be, Yharim's blanket from his bed. However, the owner appeared significantly taller than the tyrant, seeming at least twice as tall, standing with a frame as large as a boulder.

"Have you counted how many planets lay in waste because of you?"

"...Do you name every morsel at your breakfast, lunch, and dinner?" The voice scoffed and adjusted the blanket, it shifting oddly around what the Devourer could only assume to be this bizarre creature's form.

"Like a god, you've single handedly decided the fate of civilizations and planets, choosing only to sate your palette instead of aid any. Even our arrangement, you'd planned to go behind my back in the end, didn't you?" There was silence, though a silence that carried the exact answer Yharim wished for. "I detest gods, especially the likes of you. But I let you stay. Do you know why?" More silence. The figure began to turn what the Devourer assumed to be his head towards him. "Answer me."

"...To round up the Creator for you," the Devourer answered.

"...And where is the Creator now?" More silence. The covered figure began to turn, seeming to somehow emanate both fire and a darkness darker than the cave's atmosphere. "Answer me, Scourge, where is the Creator now?" The cloaked figure drew threateningly close, each step seeming to carry terrible weight with it. The Devourer was no idiot, he could tell when a fight was coming. But there was no way he was going out like this!

His armor flared to life, before launching a flurry of laser beams at the figure. They grabbed the edge of the blanket, before hurling it forth, blotting the Devourer's view of the threatening figure. The beams pierced the cloak, but seemed to completely miss the attacker, leaving only the empty cave area where he once stood. The Devourer glanced side to side, before looking up in time to see a large figure soaring down on him from above. He quickly jolted forwards, evading what sounded like an executioner's axe slamming upon the stone, managing to splinter it and send chunks of stone scattering about like a stick of dynamite had just gone off in a fissure.

Having evaded the strike, the Devourer turned towards the attacker, where he finally got a good look at him. At first glance, he appeared to be a dragon. Though instead of scales, the majority of their flesh was decorated in a familiar Auric metal, it coating the back, the dragon-wing edges, the extended dragon neck, the arms, legs, so on. However, under the armor he could see patches of old, old flesh, as well as bits of stone-like protrusions poking out, it a similar shade to that dark god the Devourer dragged in. The helm appeared to have the general shape of a dragon's head, though it seemed more like decoration, as the Devourer could see a human face covered 90% in the auric metal. He'd also see the all too familiar red plume extended out, matted over the back of the head and neck. And he held Yharim's all too familiar sword.

The draconic being stood upright, flapping his wings a little as if he wasn't used to them. He turned around, his tail making a grand sweeping motion. And in that motion, the Devourer could barely see the tyrant's eyes, this time bearing a deep, deep hatred.

Back at the scene of the battle, the many soldiers were diverting their attention between among the many warriors that'd appeared. Many figured Cles could handle Steve, so they left him alone with him, a few knights standing by in case things got dicey. A few utilized shoulder-mounted jets to lift themselves up in an attempt to get to the fliers, though Steve would try to keep them down with gunfire. The brothers and summoned pirates, meanwhile, would be busy with the soldiers, fighting them off and trying to slip past projectiles while bearing down foes. The pirates interspersed their cutlass strikes with flintlock shots, while the brothers would use their spears to help divert an oncoming attack, stab the foes, or channel brimstone magic through it to send forth a bolt of fire.

"These are all small fry compared to the old man fighting that brawler!" Catastrophe pointed out.

"I know, but it looks like he can keep him busy while we chew through their numbers!" Cataclysm said as he fought. "Besides, I'm more worried about Calamitas. These numbers will only get more dangerous if Yharim finds out she was involved on the front lines."

"Then we gotta make sure none of these can report back!" Catastrophe answered. He dashed towards a knight, who was holding a spear outwards defensively. Catastrophe rolled to the side to evade the initial stab, before thrusting his own lance forwards and rising it up to impale his chest. After that, a swordsman started to come behind, forcing him to bring his sword overhead to catch the shaft. He spun the spear around to force the blade to slide down the shaft, before rearing back and stabbing through this soldier too. A bowman was about to aim and fire, only for Cataclysm to aim his lance and launch forth a fireball at him.

As they're fighting, Steve clashes his sword against the champion's shaft, and attempts to push back, though Cles digs his feet into the ground to hold steady.

"The air reeks of Brimstone magic!" Cles declares. "The gall! How have you gotten three of our soldiers on your side?!"

"Don't know, don't care," Steve's simply answered while still trying to push. "Now, get outta my face." With that, he tried to use the hilt to shove Cles' hamaxe upwards, at which he jumped up and used his blade to vault over the champion, ending up behind him. He completed the motion by spinning to try and strike, though one of the Knights came up to slam their sword upon Steve's weapon. The, with a grunt of effort, Cles spun around and slammed the blade of his hamaxe against Steve, sending him flying back, his armor scuffed up from the blow.

"Deal with the brat," Cles ordered his knights. They each nodded, holding their swords and shields aloft, before approaching Steve. With the warrior scattered away, Cles turned to spy the summons and the spearmen striking down many soldiers. He glowered at them, before planting the blade of his hamaxe on the ground. He growled and dashed forwards, grinding the searing blade across the ground as he approached Catastrophe. The brother was withdrawing his lance from a fallen warrior, when he became aware of the stamping. Cles was rushing forwards, holding the shaft of his hamaxe with both hands, before suddenly whipping them upwards. Catastrophe brought his lance out to try and block the attack, only for the weight of the weapon to knock him off his feet and back several feet, him grunting and digging the butt of his lance into the ground to try and slow his fly back.

While he was recovering, the champion was again rushing him. Apparently, he'd kept the head of his weapon up, because now the flat, hammerhead was aimed down. He was rearing back with intent to slam it upon the brother, who suddenly rolled to the side to evade a dirt-dusting slam, the impact actually shaking the nearby area a little. While he was trying to pull his weapon up, Catastrophe reared back, and tried to stab at the champion's chest, only for him to thrust up his forearm to try and deflect the head.

"Don't know if you're bold or just stupid, brat," Cles said. "Either way, I will drag you off to Yharim. I'm sure he'll have the perfect punishment for the three of you!" Hearing that, Catastrophe lowered his gaze and held his lance, spearhead forwards, at the enemy.

Meanwhile, Calamitas would simply hold Misha aloft while Zerera fired at her with various crossbow bolts. The champion would swing forwards and back to evade the blows, while try to ascertain what she could do. If she were to simply fly, then these guys could simply hold her weapons and make sure she couldn't get far. She could try to approach Calamitas, though the witch has a lot of power in herself. Facing her could cause a lot of grief. However, little did they know that she had a little gift. She fiddled with her gauntlets a little, before popping one off, exposing her human hand, though it appeared to wear a patchwork glove of a shiny, scale-like material, a feather-covered one, and a sand-stained scaly material.

She pointed her hand towards Calamitas, before it glew with a blue, magical light. Calamitas glowered at the strange light, when suddenly, a stream of water suddenly lunged for her like a harpoon. The witch's eyes widened, and she backed off, contorting her whole body as she witnessed the shaft of her scythe break at the force of the water. With that, the sickles were freed and retreated back to Misha, who snatch them back up.

"Water magic?!" Zerera remarked. Calamitas kept her distance, though Misha made another hand motion, conjuring green magic, before hurling it at Calamitas, producing a powerful wall of wind that shoves her far away. "A-and wind?!" Misha had her sickle in hand, before turning her head methodically towards the harpy princess, who felt a lump in her throat at her gaze. She brought her crossbow forth, and fired again, Misha simply swiveling her torso to evade the projectile before flying at her. Zerera saw her coming, and thus sent forth a blast of wind to keep her back, though Misha stuck the "gloved" hand forwards, it seeming to reshape the wind to form a vacuum that she could fly through.

Misha got closer and closer, her still-gauntlet covered hand holding a sickle ready while the other hand is aimed at her, as if expecting more magic. Her fingers rap upon the handle of the sickle as she gets closer and closer, before a sudden javelin strikes one of her rear thrusters. She's forced to stop as that thruster sputters, before turning to see Michael flying up, Scourge in hand. She takes the sickle she was holding ready, before hurling it in his direction, forcing him to pull up a boomerang to block it. However, this would end up deflecting the hook towards his blind side, at which Misha whipped back in an attempt to pull the sharp hook of the weapon into her.

"Gyah!" Michael yelped as the chained sickle wraps around his thigh, his armor thankfully stopping the weapon from biting in. It yanked him up and up, Misha channeling yellow magic into her exposed hand. When he got close, she swung her fist down, delivering an electric-assisted punch that sends Michael soaring downwards. With him off her back, the champion turned towards Zerera, who was in the process of channeling electricity. Faster than she could respond, a sudden flurry of electricity strikes her from behind, overwhelming her armor and causing her thrusters to malfunction. Suddenly, with them fried, her flight path got all wonky, sending her soaring haphazardly through the air before entering a downwards thrust.

Meanwhile, Cles and Catastrophe were still standing off, Brimlance ready to thrust up and supernova hamaxe still embedded partway into the ground. While he was busy with that, Bob was sniping a few of the soldiers, though some were billowing out in the direction of the town. He aimed and fired.

"The enemy's gaining ground," Bob said to Seony. She nodded, before waving her staff in their direction, ordering her summons to rush after them. Unfortunately, this meant that the cloud of enemies would have less targets to focus on, which would be bad news for Steve, Catastrophe, and Cataclysm. Steve was getting up, and would be hit by a swift smash to the face with one of the knights' shields. He was seeing stars for a moment, when he'd suddenly see the tip of a sword coming towards him. His eyes would widen at that attack, and so he swiped his sword up to parry the blow.

The other knight would try to follow up with a stab towards his gut, prompting Steve to swing his blade down to catch it and instead shove it under his arm. Once down there, Steve would pull the knight back, before delivering a powerful headbutt, driving them back. Steve would then take his sword back and make a grand sweep at the two of them, knocking them back. Meanwhile, the many troops were getting closer and closer to the bridge that separated their home from the mainland.

Catastrophe and Cles would clash again, though the latter was more than able to swing the other away. While the two were busy, Cataclysm would fire a few fire shots at the champion, prompting him to bring the hamaxe up to guard. Cataclysm would leap up to try and ram his spear into the foe, though Cles would deliver an uppercut with the hammerhead of his weapon, sending him high up in the air. Catastrophe would rush in to catch him.

"Ugh, this guy's too tough!" Catastrophe complained.

"This makes no sense!" Cataclysm pointed out. "We were supposed to guard our sister, how can we not stand up to this guy?!"

"Oi! Do th'two of you really think you were there to hold her down?" Cles laughed, him holding his hamaxe threateningly. "Do you really think Yharim thought putting the loser brothers to threaten her into submission?" The two brothers seemed confused. They stood up and held their lances defensively, the two glaring at Cles.

"What are you talking about?" Cataclysm snapped. "You expect me to believe Yharim employed necromancy to guys that weren't meant to fight?!"

"Oh trust me, y'were'nt just random revivals," Cles pointed out. "But only because you're Calamitas' brothers." The two brothers seemed uneasy, before each glancing at each other.

"H-he's just trying to psyche us out," Catastrophe said. "We'll show him!" They each nodded at each other, before running around to try and pincer Cles. The champion, meanwhile, would glance around at the two runners, before planting the head of his hamaxe into the ground and watching them. They got closer and closer, Catastrophe from the front and Catastrophe from behind. They were rushing in to stab him from either side at the same time, when Cles suddenly swung his weapon in a circular fashion, dragging it through the ground and producing a ring of burn marks. He brought the axe-half up, using it to stop one lance, before ramming into Catastrophe's side and hurling him away.

With him away, Cles suddenly snapped around and hurled his fist at Cataclysm's chest, the latter knocked off balance by his parry. He was stunned, which allowed Cles to bring his hamaxe up in an attempt to bring the hammer-head down. Cataclysm's eyes widened, and he swiftly dashed back to evade the attack. He brought up the lance, and swung forth to try and stab Cles' chest, though the latter swung up his arm to counter the head with a forearm swipe. He'd then rush forwards and drag the weapon through the ground, swinging the flat end at him and hurling him away.

With him knocked back, Cles brought the hamaxe onto his shoulder and stamped towards him. However, Catastrophe would rush in from behind. He'd bring up his lance, before delivering a powerful stab to the champion's back. It didn't pierce, but it caused Cles to stumble forwards. Having survived the strike, he quickly pivoted around and used his momentum to swing the flat edge of the weapon at the brother's head, striking him and causing him to tumble away, the upper part of his head bleeding. Catastrophe, meanwhile, was groaning and bringing himself up, Cles spying him.

He quickly ran towards him. He squatted down, before jumping up. Cataclysm's eyes widened, and he rolled away, avoiding a hammer-head smash upon the ground he once was on. He panted and propped himself up with his lance, his arm coming up and covering his forehead. The two rejoined, though were clearly weakened from the abuse. Cles, meanwhile, had his hamaxe on his shoulder and advanced. The two ran forwards, now opting for a frontal assault if the latter attack failed. Catastrophe lunged past Cataclysm lance first, while Catastrophe would aim his lance and fire a bolt of fire at him.

Cles shouldered the bolt, though held his weapon about level with Catastrophe's lance, blocking it. He hooked the blade of his weapon under the brother's arm, before spinning around and hurling the brother at Cataclysm, the two sprawling over and landing in a heap. The two brothers were downed, when Cles advanced towards the dazed duo. He aimed his axe-head carefully, before propping the weapon up on his shoulder. He held it, before starting to bring it up... before a mighty roar interrupted the action. Cles turned towards the source, as did many of the soldiers.

Where the bridge once stood instead was the mighty form of... a leviathan? Indeed, the apex predator of the see had rammed itself through the bridge, breaking it into pieces while the many soldiers that had gotten onto it were hurled high, high into the air. Those that weren't eaten would instead fall to their death. Cles stood back from the brothers, instead focusing on the giant creature. It lurched over the edge of the mainland, its head glaring down at the sea of soldiers, and upon it was a siren, positively glowing with an almost divine radiance. All fighting had ceased to instead gaze upon the spectacle between them and the home The Final Stand had cultivated.

There was a pregnant pause between all present, filled only by the deep breaths of the mighty leviathan. It reared back, before unleashing a powerful roar over the crowd, ushering them to all stumble back in shock, some tripping over themselves and some turning and running. Cles turned to watch the many soldiers fleeing, even his own knights fleeing. He gazed up in time to see Misha's flying equipment malfunctioning, the champion hurtling through the air in some haphazard direction.

"...Today has been the worst day," Cles remarked to himself. He glanced back at the leviathan, which seemed to be charging an attack. Realizing his time was short, he quickly brought up his mirror to warp away, just in time to evade a jet of water, the likes of which rushed just above the brothers, not harming them.

With that, the many good guys would descend on the ground, approaching the leviathan, and the divine-like being upon it.

"No way, we've been looking for you!" Seony declared.

"Yeah, where've you been?!" Michael asked.

"I've been laying low to avoid Yharim's hunters," the siren upon the leviathan said. "But now the island's getting more and more targeted. I had to search you guys out to help me find the rest of my sirens and navigate through this rivers."

"Oh, certainly!" Seony assured. "Besides, Angelyn would love to see you!"

"Oh, I've missed her dearly."

Meanwhile, the many sounds of beams, fire, and metal clashing resounding through the cave-like interior. The Devourer of Gods was flung against a wall. He shook off the daze, when he suddenly wormed himself around a powerful beam of fire. The caster had sent the dangerous beam through his sword, and was advancing, before trying to swing to try and cleave the worm. The scourge was struck, though instead of being cleaved, his armor lit up with heat.

Yharim shut off the fire, before lunging forwards with a frenzied swing. The Devourer tried to flee, though his tail end was struck with the powerful edge of Yharim's weapon. Stunned, the scourge attempted to conjure up a portal to flee through. However, the draconic warrior had caught his tail, exercising some void magic to undo the portal. Then, he made a swinging motion, whipping the armored warrior into the stony ground. He brought up his weapon, before slamming it down on the heated armor, pinning it down.

The Devourer grunted and flailed around, wriggling against the tyrant's blade.

"Sentinels!" the Devourer declared. Suddenly, a trio were summoned between him and Yharim, one a mess of machinery with a void inside, one a cloaked figure, and one a miniature version of the Devourer. However, upon spying the mighty warrior, just as quickly as they appeared, they vanished, though the cloaked man held onto the smaller Scourge, the latter of which tried to stand up to the draconic creature. And just like that, the Devourer was suddenly alone with the god-like foe.

Yharim stamped down on the scourge's body to pin him down, before bringing up his sword and repeatedly smashing it at the heated metal, getting winces out of his victim. Eventually, cracks formed in the armor, at which Yharim tossed the blade away, before reaching down and grabbing the Devourer. One hand clasped just below the crack, one above. He stepped off and held the Devourer overhead, the latter grunting and writhing as Yharim pulled and pulled. Yharim grit his teeth.

Yharim pulled and pulled, before letting loose an animalistic roar. And as he did, the flesh beneath the armor tore, leaving mere ribbons of connective tissue as the terrifying Devourer's insides poured over Yharim's auric, scale-like armor. The, with a final heave of effort, a sickening snap sounded through the training area as he'd split the Devourer apart, sending the creature's ichor flying all about and staining the ground. Yharim panted and panted, taking a long time to register that the Devourer's struggles had ceased.

As he was left panting there, the mechanical smithy formed a brand new hallway, allowing him to go directly from the control station to where Yharim stood.

"An outstanding display," Draedon assured. "If the world didn't know to fear you before, they will be paralyzed with fear once you brandish your full power."

"Fear?" Yharim muttered with a strange sense of mirth. "This isn't about fear. This isn't even about control anymore."

"My lord?"

"...Organize my remaining elites... except for that Slime God," Yharim said. "That Scourge was far from the last loose end. And now, with all of this flowing through my core, I can afford to cull the numbers."

## Chapter 5: The Devil Rises

With the invasion halted, the Leviathan was able to lead them onto the island, where they would race towards the jungle. The bridge happened to go near the space the Dryads were fixing up, them spying the group, including those brimstone users that came from the underworld and a brand new siren. They progressed forwards, though Cataclysm and Catastrophe were lagging behind, the latter still nursing his bleeding forehead. The brothers would occasionally glance at each other, before sighing.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Cataclysm said.

"I'm honestly not sure what to think," Catastrophe said. "W-we're strong warriors. We were summoned to keep Calamitas imprisoned. We're not just random soldiers."

"That much is obvious," Cataclysm said. "But, what was that Cles meant? About us merely being related to Calamitas being our reason for being here?"

"...He's bluffing," Catastrophe said, groaning as he rubbed the wound.

"Ugh, hang on," Cataclysm said. He searched his pack, before pulling up a pad, wet with restorative juices. He neared his brother and spread it over the wound, the latter sighing as it seemed to suture closed. "Look, we've got some more pressing matters at hand. We'll see what Calamitas and the rest of her squad'll do, then be sure to prove that guy wrong when the chance comes up." Catastrophe nodded, and thus the two progressed forwards.

Eventually, the group neared the border of the town, where they began to see other members near it, from a few of Athena's harpies, to Permafrost, to the Pirate, and all the while Mercurius stood guard alongside those soldiers they were able to steal away from a previous general. The group was able to go through them, and find the ninja in the middle of a crowd, each member of town out of their buildings. The ninja appeared to be waiting.

"This is the guy I met," Calamitas said. "I'll go and meet him." With that, Calamitas progressed forwards, past the group. As she walked, she'd pass by a pair of merfolk, and a siren, who'd turn towards her. The merfolk each seemed alarmed.

"Calamitas?" Tritan asked. With that, the brimstone witch turned towards them, curious. "Steve and the group brought you up, but to actually see you..."

"They did...?" Calamitas remarked. Meanwhile, Angelyn would turn and see none other than Nahlyn coming down. With that, her expression lightened, and she rushed for her.

"Sis!" she cheered, before leaping up into her arms, which quickly scooped her up.

"Oh, Angelyn! I missed you so!" she declared. "Hm... Are you my Angelyn? You feel a bit... stronger."

"Tritan's been training me!" she explained. Nahlyn smiled and hugged her tightly. Meanwhile, Calamitas shook her head before turning to the middle of the crowd.

"Look, it looks like I should address a few people," she said. "Maybe we can discuss later."

"...I suppose..." Tritan said. She nods, before entering the ring and standing next to the ninja. Permafrost, meanwhile, would look at the ninja curiously, the latter turning towards the mage and pausing with curiosity. Though, he shook it off when he noticed Calamitas a couple of feet from him.

"Attention," the ninja started. "I am foreign to both this land and this time. However, in my absence, I have been tasked with guarding this, and monitoring for when it opens." With that, he holds the sheath out, while handling the handle. He then slowly slid it from the sheath, the metal scraping to the sound of a screech, before it was freed. "This sword was cursed to remain sheathed so long as the dragons live. If it is drawn now, then that means the last of the dragons have fallen. I do not know the full implications of this, but I've run into someone that does." He turned towards Calamitas, and as he was silent, there were tense whispers around the town, both in response to this talk of removing dragons and the appearance of the strange witch girl from what felt like ages ago.

"I know of this last dragon," Calamitas answered. "I often saw him alongside the most dangerous man in the world, Yharim. And I know one more thing: this dragon was not a slouch. The only other person that could measure to his power is myself, and I doubt that his clone of me would've attempted to betray him." There was more mutters among the crowd as she explained. "But there's something worse about this. Stasis, the new traveler, has explained to me that these dragons were god-like beings, bearing a divine soul. Which means that if Yharim did..." Now, the muttering slowly drew to a silence as the weight of what she was saying dawned on them. "...More than that... the dragon wasn't just a tool to Yharim, else he may've just killed it before for its power.

"Yharon was the only thing Yharim appreciated. He'd never felt any love towards anything other than himself and it, and it was what brought him to sobriety whenever Yharim acted out. I don't know what event would bring him to seek the dragon's demise, but I can say this with certainty: Even if he hasn't received their power, what we now have is centuries of hate bottled into the most powerful man in Terraria. And that man has torn apart everything, from a village to the foundations of his own castle, in his rage. And I can only assume that when he finds out about, not just your effects on this island, but your recent rebellion against his troops, that storm of rage will come here. And if we stay, despite everything you've done to bolster yourselves, you won't survive."

Now, the crowd was in worry, muttering turning to hysterics as they talked amongst themselves. Michael, Steve, Seony, and Bob, meanwhile, were concerned. They looked over their equipment, thinking about what she's saying. Could it be true? Had their foe acquired one of the highest powers a man could achieve? And after being so distant with them, would he really make an attempt on this island? Either way, Calamitas sounded deadly serious about this, meaning they shouldn't take this lightly.

"Well then, we can't just stay here in that case," Michael declared. "We need to make sure we get far from the island, and fast."

"My leviathan should be able to help with that," Nahlyn said.

"Oh! And maybe Athena and her friends can hide people up in the sky!" Zerera cheered.

"And with the last of the dark gods out, the underworld should be safe to go through, as long as you aren't made of wood," Sylia remarked.

"Oi! I'd be up for the leviathan!" the Pirate declared. There was plentiful muttering amongst the crowd, prompting Calamitas and Stasis to try and wave them down. Mercurius, meanwhile, would approach the group, where he'd take his Hard Break, before smacking it into the ground, sending a gonging noise through the crowd.

"It seems we have the inklings of a plan forming," Mercurius said. "If we're to effectively get out of this, then we'll have to organize. The Queen Bee should be able to move out, though currently only her representatives are among us. Though surely they'll warn her hive." With that, a few bees in the crowd nodded in affirmation. "Meanwhile, we appear to have three other plots out of here. If we're to effectively evacuate, then we must organize ourselves into evacuation teams." With that, he waved Athena and Nahlyn forwards. "If we are to clump too much with one group, we'll be a larger target. So we, as a community, must separate among the evacuation routes. We must gather our things, before deciding on who we are to leave with. If our teams aren't organized within 6 hours, we will leave without you."

With the time limit imposed, the crowd immediately began dispersing, many running into their houses to collect supplies to leave with. Meanwhile, the travelers would look among themselves as Mercurius and Sylia set out and in the direction of the dryads, though the group knew he'd be going down to contact the demons. The current group, meanwhile... they had a bit more than packing to concern themselves with...

Elsewhere, there was chaos inside Misha's village. The many citizens within were fleeing in fear, several guards searching around to keep them in line. Misha, meanwhile... after her frantic flight, she'd crashed into the ground, her flying mechanism halting. She'd have to fix it later, but right now, she had a deeper concern. She looked over her town, and would spy the many fishing mechanisms she'd set up torn apart, fallen and crushing a few houses and streets. She'd anticipated the leviathan to be dangerous, but she made sure to copy the design of leviathan-catchers past.

However, they each typically had a soldier taking control. With no one standing guard, that meant that a creature big enough would be able to fight them with little resistance. She had no doubt, that general had happened to call them at the worst possible time. If she were here, not only would she've gotten the leviathan, she also would've gotten the most powerful siren!

"Mistress!" one of the guards declared as the rushed up to her. "We've determined the damages! We estimate that it'll take a few weeks to make the necessary reparations!"

"...Don't bother," Misha said.

"Mistress?" She walked past them and out into the sea. Specifically towards the blank sea where the bridge once was.

"If they knew to tear this trap apart, they probably know to avoid it next time," she argued. "We should seek our leadr and see if we can reposition our trap."

"Actually, ma'am," the guard started. "Messengers have approached. They say that Yharim has come out and into the castle. At least, it claims to be Yharim..." Misha rose a brow, though her face was obscured by her helm.

"What do you mean?"

Back in the castle's meeting room, Anahita entered, still unused to actually being able to enter here. Of course, she immediately felt like she was a fish out of water, seeing as the elite were in there before her. At least, she would be if half of them weren't missing. There should be the overlord of slime, a mighty devourer of gods, and a dragon. However, those were missing, and that was in here was that flaming witch and that robot, each seated at their respective positions at the table, though Draedon stood by his. Anahita approached what was Corasnor's chair, and carefully sat at it, while looking over the current attendees.

"Now, before our meeting starts, I need to address some issues," Draedon started. "There has been a drastic change in personnel. So, our meeting will be without the usual members." With that, Draedon sat down. And then, there came stomping from far off, accompanied by huffing. Calamitas and Anahita both glanced towards the source, a grand door that Yharim and Yharon would go through. The door would open, and the two would be greeted with the terrifying sight of Yharim's new form. The draconic body, the thick wings, tail, auric-like scales...

Yharim stepped forwards with a wide gait, before arriving at his chair and pushing it away, so that he could stand right up against the table's edge. He reared his head up and looked over the current attendees for a little too long, as if he himself was addressing how quickly his elite circle had been reduced. Still, he didn't falter, just took a bit long to take in the table.

"My elite..." he addressed. "Horrors have transpired against our men the likes of which have never been seen before. It turned out that the Scourge that danced through the stars had betrayed us in our end goal," he lied.

"What do you mean?" the clone Calamitas asked.

"The Devourer was meant to battle a dark god that held the soul of the one that'd allow me to reshape the world and finally achieve our goal," Yharim explained. "However, that worm had instead scattered the soul out of our grip, apparently not having the strength to consume it himself. Yharon heard of his transgression, and we figured he had the dark god's power as well. So, he decided that my best bet would be to take his soul to do combat."

"That's awful," Anahita remarked. "To think that he'd so flagrantly betray you..."

"And not just him," Yharim said. "The slimes, the general villagers, they each have been plotting against us!"

"What?!" Anahita and Clone Calamitas declared.

"Indeed," Draedon said. "I'd decided to set up some of my own security to make sure they were in check, considering their past relation with Yharim. And, indeed, they are designing a weapon of great power against us, conspiring with rebels all the while."

"My soldiers, with my power boost, I've decided that we cannot afford to keep too many pieces attached to us," Yharim said. "We need to cull our numbers, for we ended up letting a bed of betrayal grow beneath us. We need to organize our number to get rid of them!" With that, though the two ladies were still having trouble digesting this, Clone Calamitas gave a determined nod. After all, they were under his thumb. "You two will have to lead on your own," Yharim said. "I and Draedon must personally attend to business on this end."

"What kind of business?" Anahita asked.

"I need to show the outside... that The Devil looms over them," Yharim said as he wrapped his fingers around the handle of his sword. The Clone seemed to understand, but Anahita... She knew that her own target was still here. If Yharim were to act here in her stead, then she might not have her chance for vengeance.

"Sir," Anahita said. "I feel the witch should be able to tear apart the slime kingdom on her own. But myself? I am the general, I lead the soldiers. It should be my duty to eliminate those rebels." At that, Yharim suddenly lunged across the table and stood over it, mere inches from the siren, who, despite her heart beating faster than before, stood tall. Yharim looked her over, his heavy breath beating against her.

"You're bold..." he remarked. He'd then lean back. "...You may assist me in carrying out my image." With that, he stepped across the table, before standing back where he once stood, while Clone Calamitas and Draedon looked at Anahita in awe. They seemed alarmed that she was willing to defy his orders, especially in this new, godly form. Meanwhile, she was left wondering how she could possibly survive the island on her own. The soldiers had reported that a leviathan had smashed the only bridge onto it, so she figured they'd have a defensive line. She'd just have to hope she'd find out before "The Devil" had the chance to get in there.

Meanwhile, the residents of the town were hard at work collecting their equipment. They were stripping their houses clean, either stuffing them in bags and leaving them beside the respective evacuee leaders, or keeping them on their persons. Well, most were. Tritan and Amidias, meanwhile, looked upon Calamitas with unease. Last they saw her, she'd sent them into a downward spiral as the world they knew it was lost. And yet, here she was, not only standing among them like another citizen, but offering to help them out of here. Still, the merfolk were uncertain.

"Perhaps I should extend a hand," Amidias said. However, Tritan extended his arm to stop him.

"No, I'll step up to the gallows," he said. He approached her, and glanced towards the other evacuee leaders. Athena was garnering the merchant and a few of the recruited bad guys, probably hoping that the invisible kingdom would allow them to just disappear from the conflict. Nahlyn, of course, had Angelyn by her, but also had the pirate and Sylia, a strange combo. That ninja was approaching the icy mage, and that new soul mage they got seemed confused, though seemed drawn towards Calamitas, alongside her brothers. Tritan got closer and closer, and was before the brimstone witch.

"So..." she said.

"...Do you recognize who we are?" Tritan asked.

"...I do..." she answered with resignation.

"...Why?" Before Calamitas could speak up, Tritan clarified. "I accepted that Yharim might've influenced you, if those other guys are truthful about you being a good guy when out of his control. But, throughout this, I've never understood. Of all of our people, of every creature you could've killed or taken... Why did you make Anahita an enemy?"

"The general?"

"I just... why do I have to fear standing before her?" Tritan said. "Gods know I'm being selfish, but why couldn't she've spirited away with us? Why couldn't she've just been a memory? Why's she corrupted into... that?" Calamitas wasn't sure what she was expecting. The way Tritan spoke, one'd almost think he was talking of a family member, but merfolk and sirens have almost always been exclusionary to each other.

"For a while, I wondered the same thing," Calamitas said. "...Yharim brought forth nothing but suffering while ignoring objectively terrible existences, all in the name of helping the world. For a long time, I'd wondered what the reason for any of it was. But, after a while... after I'd been cursed under him, I realized there wasn't one, at least there wasn't one that could satisfy me. Truth is, Yharim is a rotten, rotten man that can only be happy if he knows everyone else is suffering more than he is, if he is the one in control of the suffering. And I know that deep down, he knows that too, else he wouldn't inflict the kind of atrocities and tortures he has committed. He saw tools and toys out of everyone... Anahita just happened to be one more tool to toy with, her happening to be in the wrong place at the wrong time..."

"Then...?"

"If it were you that were taken and her that ended up in your shoes, I guarantee you'd end up where she is now," Calamitas said. With that, there was further pause between the two. Tritan felt like he had all the answers he could get, but he was still trying to digest them. He supposed deep down, he'd wished there was a clear answer. Because if there was an exact string that attached Anahita to Yharim, then he could clip it and bring her back. But if it was really this simple...

...

Meanwhile, Statis approached the mage.

"Permafrost?" he asked. As he approached, he saw the mage and the ice golem behind him turn towards him.

"You know me?" Permafrost asked.

"Yeah, we were a team before," Statis said. "Don't you remember?" At that, the mage scratched at his head in confusion.

"Hm... can't say I do. Though, to be honest, my memory's been on the fritz for a while now," he answered. The ninja's body then seemed to physically slump in defeat.

"The world's so different," he said. "I'd hoped to find someone to confide in..."

"...What about those guys?" Permafrost said, pointing towards Amidias and Tritan. "They're pretty old. Not sure if they're as old as myself, but they're new to this time."

"...Please, stick with me," Statis said.

"Oh ok," Permafrost said, following his lead. The ninja looked over the merfolk near Calamitas, and seemed like he was about to say something, though sighed. He didn't quite feel ready to talk to them. Instead, he turned towards Calamitas.

"Calamitas, they said your name was?" Statis asked.

"What is it?" Calamitas asked.

"Seeing Permafrost sort of dragged some memories back," Statis said. "And if you're going to the underworld, then maybe you can help make what we need to happen happen..."

Elsewhere, Yharim broke his meeting with the elites. Calamitas was heading out to lead the attack on the Slime Kingdom, and Anahita was going down to gather soldiers and lead an attack. Right now, he and Draedon were alone in the room, the dragon was providing his weapon to the android.

"I wish for this to be improved," he said. "It took a long time to carve through that Scourge." Draedon took up the weapon.

"Of course, sir," the machine said. They then bowed, before leaving the room. With them out, Yharim would step out. With his transformation, he found his walking to've changed. Whereas he could comfortably walk on his two feet in his human form, he'd usually always have to walk in a hunch, forced on all fours as he glided through the halls like a giant snake. He'd heard that a few champions had done battle with the Final Stand, and sought to communicate with them.

He progressed through the halls, before eventually arriving down near the meeting room for the soldiers. There, he'd see Cles looking over the many soldiers with a huff.

"Terrible, terrible, terrible!" he said. "If you lot were to actually do anything, we might've actually drawn blood!" The soldiers seemed resigned before him as he berated them. However, their attention would be drawn just behind them, at which their sorrow turned to fear. Cles seemed confused, before glancing back. "Ye gods!!!" he shouted, leaping several feet into the air before landing on his back. He flipped around before kneeling before Yharim. "S-sir... Yharim?"

"It is I, yes," Yharim answered.

"What in the hell happened to-?" he started. However, Yharim lifted a hand to halt him.

"Yharon gave me his godly power so that I may strike down the traitorous Scourge," Yharim explained. "His is a body you shan't insult." At that, Cles visibly tensed up, before he crawled onto his knees and bowed in reverence.

"Oh, I meant not to insult!" he insisted. "Please, sir, forgive me!" Yharim, however, didn't worry as much as he seemed to suggest. He needed to know about this very vocal resistance group.

"Sir, you battled the Final Stand," Yharim said. "I need to know everything you know about them." At that, Cles stopped bowing, before snapping upright.

"Yes sir! I-I actually needed to report!" he said. "Catastrophe, Cataclysm, Calamitas! Those three fought alongside those guys!" At that, Yharim's brow furrowed, his claws clenching on the ground beneath him.

"Those three...?" he repeated. He narrowed his gaze. "Are you sure?"

"Y-y-yes sir!" Cles assured. "Calamitas' clone was manning Draedon's slaves, and the other Calamitas was accompanied by lesser Brimstone Mages wielding lances!" Of course, Yharim should've figured Cles would know those brothers from anywhere. He was beside him when he'd summoned the two brothers to life. He actually had knowledge of the brothers project. To think that the three of those blasted brimstone brats would be so bold as to go behind his back like this.

"...If you see Anahita, keep her off the island," Yharim said. "Tell her..." He then leaned in and whispered into Cles' ear, who turned to make sure he could hear. Yharim pulled away. "I can't afford to have anyone misbehave right now. The Devil requires an introduction worthy of its power."

"Of course, sir," Cles said, bowing. With that, Yharim would then turn and retreat back towards the inside of his castle.

Meanwhile, Calamitas had gathered up the usual party. Steve, Michael, Bob, Seony, and now, of all people, a dryad named Sylia, a siren named Angelyn, a soul mage named Efialti, and a gunsmith named Ryan. Calamitas had learned something important from the ninja, and needed to convey it to the town heroes. The soul mage insisted on aiding the hero cause, and the gunsmith had apparently been really helpful during the war on the dark gods while she was out.

"Statis told me about his resistance," Calamitas said. "Back then, the likes of Cthulhu and others of his ilk had ruled the world. They struggled to battle the forces of evil, and as such, had to go out to the Elementals. In beseeching them, they were able to unite their powers. They each conjured forth what they described as the **Wrath of the Planet**. The Elementals as individuals would have to summon up their Wrath, so their ability was restricted to a sole artifact. Said artifact would be known as the Elemental Quiver, a device able to imbue arrows with the combined force of the Elementals.

"As such, it bore their smiting power, a powerful force that demanded the dark gods disappear. Essentially, this Quiver was made so that the Elementals, through the Quiver, can tell the dark gods to screw off. And so, by planting their arrows into it, they were able to send forth beaming arrows of light, the likes of which burned the dark god forces like fire through oil. He warned that, if Yharim was as dangerous as I said he was, that the Quiver might not quite melt him like it did the dark gods. Still, it'll do a lot of damage." Calamitas finished.

"Woah. So, Statis is suggesting we find some kind of god slaying Quiver to beat this guy?" Steve asked.

"Indeed," Calamitas said. "However, he also warns that if anything were to happen to the Elementals, then the Quiver would be worthless. So, while we may wish to find it, we need also protect the avatars."

"Well, if it's as tough as he says it is, why won't it totally destroy Yharim?" Steve asked.

"He said that the original Quiver was built with the rage of the dark gods in it," Calamitas said. "It's like a silver bullet: good for a specific monster, though its sheer power is still useful on other enemies. Statis said it would've probably down Cthulhu, but he was spirited away for the majority of the fight, and thrust into the depths of the sea to defend himself against monstrous scourges. And it was in fighting those creatures that he learned the Quiver wasn't as effective against those things as it was against the dark gods, though it was still strong."

"If you're only now learning about this Quiver, then maybe Yharim doesn't," Michael argued. "Which probably means he won't immediately be seeking out the Avatars. Which is good, because we have no idea where the Sand or Earth Elemental are."

"We now have Cloud and Water are among us," Bob said.

"And I met the Brimstone Avatar down in the underworld," Calamitas said. "Some people may have to go out to try and find those other two, but we need to keep Nahlyn and Zerera safe. I myself, however... Once I get my evacuees under ground and in the grip of the demons, I'll be navigating the tunnels towards the Elemental Quiver. Statis says he should be leading me, and I expect my brothers to follow."

"Then I'll come to," Steve said.

"You bet I'll stick with Nahlyn!" Angelyn said.

"I think I and Seony should keep with Zerera," Bob said. Seony nodded in agreement.

"I think I'll stick with Nahlyn," Michael said.

"There are no good places for me..." Sylia said. "I should go with Calamitas, though I suspect I'll go elsewhere through the underworld's caverns to begin searching for another Elemental."

"I'll go with you to the underworld," Efialti said.

"Then I guess I should go with Michael," Ryan said.

With that, Calamitas nodded.

"We should definitely tell everyone else," Michael said. "Mercurius may still be out talking to the demons, so unless he's back soon, you might run into him, Calamitas."

"I'll go tell Tritan!" Angelyn declared. With that, she got up and ran off towards one of the houses, one where Tritan, she, and Amidias usually rested. Amidias was still with Nahlyn, though Tritan wasn't, so she figured that he would've been in here. So, she opened the door up into the very modest home, merely a room with furniture set up and a layer of water lining the ground. Point was, there wasn't a lot of hiding spots for anyone, which only made the young siren concerned at the lack of anyone in there. "Tritan?"

She entered the house, before spying the table within. Upon it stood a trident. No, not just any trident... Tritan's. And beneath it was a note...

…

Earlier, Tritan thought to pay an ear to Statis' and Calamitas' conversation. And the more he listened, the more it sounded like this wasn't merely an evacuation. No, these guys needed time. Unfortunately, no one was sure how much time they had. Everyone had such short notice, and was in the process of gathering their supplies. And in the midst of this, it sounded sort of like these guys were still planning to serve the Final Stand in battle. And if these guys weren't aided, then it could all be futile...

He decided he'd have to do something. He thought way back, way back. He remembered the first suggestion for the new Final Stand hideout, and the drawback with it... He approached Permafrost.

"Sir, I need your assistance," Tritan said.

"Oh hey there," he said. "Oh, anything for one of the heroes. What do you wish?"

"I need your ice magic. Build a castle in the tundra."

"At this hour?"

"Just do it. I don't even need you to stay there, just make it as fast as possible, and then get back here for evacuation."

"O...ok..." he said. With that, he cautiously inched away, before making an icy car to drive away on. Tritan, meanwhile, would approach the house built for him and Amidias. He wasn't daft, he knew there was no guarantee this would work. He had to make sure she had something to continue fighting with. He got there, before drawing his trident, and setting it on the table. He also took a piece of paper and a pen, and began etching a message...

*Dear Angelyn*

*If you're reading this, then I must insist that you go on. I must keep the island safe my own way, and I fear that any that follow me might end up following me to the end, which is why I leave this with you.*

*Do not speak of this to anyone. I needn't trouble anyone with my disappearance.*

*Angelyn, I understand that it feels like you might be going nowhere fast enough, but as the one on the receiving end of your attacks, I can say with certainty you're not the same girl I took under my wing. Things are going to be scarier from here on out, but I trust that you have everyone else. And even if you don't, you have yourself. You'll have to face your own battles soon, but I expect great things from you.*

Tritan then gave pause before deciding on what to write next. He knew what was realistic, and what hurt. But he also knew that it could only draw attention towards him that wasn't needed now. So, in the end, he settled on...

*I'll see you later,*

*Tritan*

With that, he set the note under the trident. He took a deep breath, before heading outside. There, he'd use magic to form icy wings, before flying off...

Meanwhile, Anahita was leading the many soldiers out of the castle. As she was, Misha would arrive, and get a brief update about Yharim's state. She was interested in seeing this, though the siren was already moving them. Who knows how much time any of them have? Deep down, she knew she couldn't totally trust Yharim to hold his word. He was merely waiting to devastate that island. The soldiers were beginning to spread, and she'd keep moving towards the edge of the ocean the previous battle started in.

Among her group was Cles. And, on the lord's orders, he approached Anahita.

"General, what are you doing this way?" Cles asked.

"The Water Elemental was last seen over here, and this is the location of the Final Stand," she explained. "There are several powerful warriors in there, and we need to get rid of them."

"Yharim, will get rid of them," Cles said. "General, he specifically asked that this place be left to his own hands." Anahita stopped, and clenched her chaos staff.

"Are you scared of them?" Anahita asked.

"What?"

"Are you scared? I can think no other reason why Yharim wouldn't want us to destroy them. He's sat back and let Corsanor die."

"General, he's been busy with Calamitas and the dark god."

"And where's that gotten him?" There was an uncomfortable pause. Anahita shook her head, and progressed forwards. However, upon seeing her continue, Cles rushed forwards.

"General, I really should've said this earlier," Cles said. "I've been allowed confidential knowledge on various projects of Yharim, including the cloning." He then got in real close to Anahita's ear. "He says that he's got Draedon cooking more Corsanors." At that, the siren paused, before glancing towards him. "You're upset over your girlfriend? You don't have to bother with anyone over there, you can have your girlfriend back. You can even be her superior!" With that, the champion stepped back, and Anahita stood, visibly shaking. "Motivation melting, drive fading, we got our orders." Again, there was a pregnant pause.

And then, faster than Cles could realize, she sprinted.

"Wha- hey!" Cles shouted, stomping after her. However, he was significantly slower. She was more than able to race to the edge, and hurl herself over it and down to the water. Cles neared the edge, though would dig his heels to try and stop. He stumbled and waved his arms to keep himself from falling, prompting his personal knights to run forwards and hold him to stop him. He watched as the general swam away towards the island. He then saw a few other soldiers start to near the edge. "Hang back, everyone! That there's Yharim's target and Yharim's target alone." And then, they each stepped away, before retreating back towards the various clouds of soldiers that'd left. Cles glanced towards the water, before shaking his head and walking away.

Anahita, meanwhile, was swimming quickly through the water, the surrounding liquid practically boiling around her rage-filled body. Light? Final Stand? Who cares anymore! Did Yharim really think a promise like that would assuage her? The Corsanor she knew, **her** Corsanor, was still dead! Did he really think that this was as simple as replacing a weapon?! Corsanor had been her only light in the land without her home, her only anchor out here. And now, she was left in the darkness, a void so deep so as to swallow her whole. All she could look forwards to was the genesis of her despair to die.

She was going to die. Hell, as far as she was concerned, she was already dead, merely a corpse that hadn't accepted that the nothing she felt could never be gone, not as long as she lives in a Yharim world. She'll die, but she will take with her one final victory!

Elsewhere, Permafrost made it to the tundra. He looked around curiously, unsure of what that merfolk was planning. Still, he sort of had an obligation to the cause. He stepped off of the car, before approaching. He placed his hands on the ground, and channeled icy magic. With that, a large ring of ice formed, before stretching up. An icy wall formed, windows made in the wall. Towers and spires also began to sprout from the edges of the wall. Permafrost was panting and gritting his teeth, his veins bulging as he gave it all his effort. Tritan would actually arrive partway through construction. It took him an hour, but eventually, he was able to form it.

He panted and panted, before stumbling back and propping himself on the icy vehicle, while the merfolk looked over the giant object. It stood 20 stories tall, and was a cone-like shape, with several spires dotting the top of the castle. There was also a large gate in the front, there being a method for closing the gate inside. It seemed just right.

"This is perfect," Tritan said. "Now, you should head back. Evacuation must be soon."

"But what about you?"

"I'll see you later," Tritan said. Permafrost, however, chose not to press it any further than that. He climbed into the car, and would drive away. Tritan, meanwhile, would go ahead and enter. The building was surprisingly well defined. He'd almost thought that the mage would just make big rooms and floors up. However, there were distinct room within and a dedicated stairwell up. It was so big, and so lonely. He had a bit of uncertainty in his decision as he went up.

Up and up he went, soon arriving at a throne room, an icy throne at the far end. He began approaching it. As he did, he felt a presence in the castle, and it was close. He got up near the throne, before turning away from the throne and facing the entryway. There, he'd feel them get closer... closer... And then, having scaled the stairs and come into the room, he saw her... Anahita. His former mother stood right there, weapon in hand yet slack.

"...I'd expected more," she started. "...Where are your friends?"

"Where's your army?" Tritan asked. Of course, neither seemed willing to answer. Anahita approached, scraping the tip of her spear against the ground. "Anahita, you don't have to do this."

"Oh don't tell me what I can and can't do," she said. "My life's over, both before and after Yharim."

"What?"

"Maybe I always figured. Maybe I always accepted that I'd never be happy under him. At least, Corsanor was a good distraction. Maybe I got too dependent on her, because now that she's gone... I can't see any other path for me. All I can look forwards to... is whatever would make her happy." Tritan tightened his grip on his flail, narrowing his gaze at Anahita. "You see? My old world and my new world are blank. I'll never know a beauty my old home had, and I'll never know a love like my new world brought. That's why... I'd rather get rid of it all."

With that, Anahita reared her lance back, before charging forwards, seeming to blink from existence. In anticipation, Tritan quickly grabbed the head of his flail, managing to catch the head of the weapon before it could pierce him. He released his grip on the head, before swinging upwards and throwing the main part of Anahita's weapon out from between them. He then quickly grabbed a segment of the chain, before using it to quickly lash the head at Anahita's abdomen, delivering several hits. She growled and held her weapon back, before swinging the butt of the weapon against Tritan's face, knocking him off of the throne and tumbling over the ground.

With him down, she hoisted her lance, before leaping up, pointing the weapon down as she went down. Tritan rolled away to avoid a stab, before swinging his tail up to smack her head. With her disoriented, he glided away, sliding over the ice before twirling around. Once he was a fair distance, Anahita reoriented herself and held her spear, intent on warping again. However, Tritan leapt up to evade an oncoming stab, before slamming down on it. Once down, he swung her forehead at her, causing her to stumble back.

With her driven back, Tritan swung his flail down to wrap around her weapon, catching it. He then tried to yank back to pull it out of Anahita's hands, only for his yank to instead throw her over his head, her landing down behind him. And with her behind him, she rammed towards him in an attempt to skewer his back. Tritan ducked under the lance, before swinging his tail up to try and knock it out, though she'd warp away to avoid that attack, subsequently releasing his flail. Tritan retracted his flail, Anahita forming a few feet away.

She spun around, before bringing up her lance and planting the butt into the ground, producing a flurry of icy spikes that ran towards Tritan. However, he brought his own hand up and rammed it into the ground, forcing the icy spikes to go down before they can skewer him.

"Give up! We're too evenly matched!" Tritan declared.

"Die already!" Anahita declared. She spun around and hurled her lance at Tritan. He ducked under it, only for Anahita to rush in and raise a fist over her. She swings it down, striking his chest and slamming him into the ground. With him knocked down, she used her cryokinesis to catapult it back into her hand. She'd then plant her tail upon Tritan's midsection, pinning him down and bringing her lance up. Tritan's eyes widened as she prepared a killing blow, before forming icy wings and hurling himself upwards, knocking her off of him.

With her down, he flew down and slammed his handle into her stomach, making her wheeze. With her winded, he held the chain of his flail, before delivering a wicked flurry of swings, bashing her over and over and over. He'd hoped that he'd never have to come to this, but his slower style got him nearly killed way too soon. Abdomen, face, chest, hips, he kept on hitting. Anahita would try to stab at him, though he'd be able to dodge away from each stab and continue his offensive. Eventually, though, she warped ahead, evading his flurry and ending up behind him.

He'd start to get familiar with the way this warping was working. So, he swung the flail behind him, spreading the chain far out, managing to strike her side. She winced as she was struck, rolling over from the blow. She groaned, and Tritan approached. She was bruised and bloody, and struggling to climb up via her lance. Tritan, however, would grab the shaft of it, prompting her to look up in worry. She looked at him with hatred, and Tritan looked down with both tension and worry. There was a pause between the two.

"...You don't have to change your mind yet," Tritan said. "You will be allowed to heal yourself. You'll need to either change your tune, or leave this island. Yharim is coming." Anahita seemed confused, only for the ice beneath her to giveaway. She was suddenly sliding down a new slide, bringing her down... down... down... right into the healing pool. She got up and glanced around, only to find the path she'd taken sealed behind her. Meanwhile, her body was being restored.

With the path sealed back up, Tritan sighed. He went over to the throne and sat back. Now, all he had to do, was wait...

Meanwhile, Draedon looked over his forge. A steel sheet set in a crater with channels of lava running around it. Meanwhile, down below were dwarves, some working at their own smaller forges, others turning a wheel beneath Draedon's forge to churn the lava into the pit. Others, meanwhile, were taking Yharim's normal sword, and beating it into a brand new form, the lava allowing it to melt. Draedon, meanwhile, looked over it personally, studying the progress.

Eventually, they clanged their last. Draedon's mechanical body gave a whistling noise, alerting the dwarves to stop. They each stepped back, and Yharim approached. They held the handle, and lifted it. Black handle with auric pommel and guard, black metal extending from the edges of the hilt lined with red. And the blade itself was a similar black medal with a similar red outline, extending far out and into a crescent-shaped tipped whose corners expanded past the width of the blade. Draedon nodded in approval, before giving a swing with it. Just one swing carried tremendous weight, the wind itself seeming to scream as the blade carved through it, before slamming down at the ground with a noise akin to a cannon-shot. The dwarves each quaked in fear as the violent noise rang out through the building.

Draedon gave another nod of affirmation, before bringing the sword up and holding the blade in their other hand. With that, they'd progress back into the castle.

## Chapter 6: A God's Wrath

Yharim had been updated on Anahita's insubordination. Of all the times for her to turncoat... Whatever. Right now, that girl was far down at the bottom of his list of concerns. If she felt like being at ground zero of a god's attack, then she was more than welcome to bask in the divine power. Draedon, meanwhile, approached, wielding a far more dangerous-looking sword than the tyrant's previous one. He held it up, before offering it to Yharim. The latter wrapped one of his claws around the handle, before bringing it up.

He was used to being able to move this thing as gracefully as a stick. Which made him somewhat surprised to feel actual weight. He rose a brow and studied the sword, before giving a few test swings.

"This should do nicely," he announced. Draedon bowed in reverence. Yharim, meanwhile, approached the front doors, stepping past numerous soldiers that'd pulled back from their subjugation of the nearby villages. He stepped through the door, before extending his wings a little. He looked on in the direction of that island, with all of thorns in his side upon it. Not to mention Calamitas and her brimstone duo... He extended his wings, before flapping, generating enough wind to knock over a few nearby soldiers. He lifted off into the air, before flying off towards the island...

Meanwhile, the evacuees were now starting to move. A few of the past soldiers would go with Athena, and a few with Queen Bee. Mercurius would accompany Sylia, Steve, Statis, the calamity brothers, Calamitas, Permafrost, and Efiatli would be going through the underworld. Angelyn, Michael, the Lunatic Cultist, Ryan, the Pirate, and Amidias were going with Nahlyn upon the Leviathan. Seony, Bob, Zerera, Helen, Cryogen, and Alfred would be going with Athena up to the Harpy Kingdom. However, the absence of a certain someone was not lost on the group.

Unfortunately, they didn't have the time to look into it, for everyone could feel doom looming over them and their island. They were each moving fast, all intent on getting off of this place before Yharim torched it into oblivion. However, the group would have some parting words.

"Alright, let's make a promise that this won't be the last we see each other," Michael said to Steve and Bob.

"Of course, we've still got a war to win," Bob clarified.

"And I've got a super weapon to help find," Steve said.

"Yeah... speaking of which, you be careful with Calamitas," Michael said. "She's been on edge, especially after she found out..." The group seemed to let out a collective sigh, sans Steve.

"Yeah, I'll keep an eye on her," he assured. "Just like you should keep an eye out for Tritan."

"It wouldn't be like him to just abandon the group, especially at a time like this," Bob remarked.

"Yeah, he's the one guy we haven't accounted for..." Michael remarked. There was silence, when Steve thought to speak up.

"We're not the same as we once were," Steve pointed out. "I sometimes think back to what I was like back then, and..." He decided not to speak.

"Yeah, you're right," Michael affirmed. "The three of us... We're about to enter one of the most dangerous parts of our journey, but I know we can shoulder through it."

"And besides, it's not like we'll be alone ourselves," Bob said.

"We'll have to keep the elementals safe," Michael said. "And, if that story's anything to go by, getting them to garner hatred towards that tyrant might help our odds in case the Elemental Quiver doesn't pan out."

"So you get Nahlyn to get the other sirens and merfolk pissed, Bob gets Zerera and the other harpies pissed, we'll instigate the demons... and then there's those other two..."

"Yeah... If we don't find those guys, this whole plan could be in jeopardy..." Michael affirmed.

"Guess we could try to figure out what we can through who we're around," Bob suggested. "The harpies were around a long time ago, same for sirens and demons."

"And Sylia's gonna try and find some of the elementals herself," Steve pointed out. "I think we should be fine for a little while, Yharim doesn't seem too interested in those guys."

"Still, let's be vigilant," Michael said. "And... let's see each other again." He held out his hand. Bob held out his and grabbed Michael's. The two looked towards Steve, who rolled his eyes and decided to join the handshake. They each broke, before deciding to head off.

As they each got to their respective location, team Underworld heading towards the holes to the underworld, team Harpy taking to the skies, team Leviathan going to the sea, each would take notice of the icy kingdom off in the distance, it not being there before. They each made sure they were in position, though couldn't help but notice as a shining figure dashed towards the grand structure... and a red, shooting star seeming to come down towards it...

Tritan, meanwhile, sat at the throne, flail in hand. He could feel it in his bones, the approaching specter of doom. This aura felt similar to when the terrible monster first arrived at his father's kingdom. But he could also feel an exceptional, overflowing power from that figure. Clearly, there was some credence to that witch's threat a few hours earlier. In that moment, he actually mused over thoughts of her. Her, who had vaporized his whole kingdom... was now a highly reliable force in the Final Stand's survival.

He was putting his life on the line for this lady, despite being presented no evidence of her claims until now. Was he really going to die just because of what she said? ...Then again, he supposed the two of them were alike in someway. The two of them were ultimately victims of that madman, and each sought his finish. He didn't know what would happen to him if he were to meet his end, no telling if he could tell whether or not his decision was as useful as he kept insisting to himself as it was. He could simply fade away and have faith, or he could be forced to watch as a vengeance thousands of years in the making crumbled despite everyone's sacrifices. Which was why... he couldn't afford to hold back against that madman.

And then, a large portion of the wall across from the throne shattered, a blade seeming as long as Tritan was tall responsible for it. And it was held by a very unfamiliar figure, though the armor and aura could be long to no one else. Tritan reared back, before leaping high up, managing to evade the weapon as it stabbed into the throne and shattered it. Tritan would whip his flail down and strike the back of the monster's head, before using his ice wings to propel himself forwards, evading an overhead chop from Yharim. Tritan was down on the ground and facing the draconic being, who turned to face him.

"Y-Yharim?" Tritan stuttered out. "You certainly... changed..."

"Indeed," Yharim remarked. He dug his mighty sword out of the remnants of the throne, before hoisting it on his shoulder. With that, the two would walk in a circle, each opposite each other, each sizing the other up. "Quite the audacity, building a castle in the shadow of my empire."

"We've had a history of doing things to spite you," Tritan remarked. Despite how tough he tried to sound, he could feel Yharim's overwhelming strength billowing forth, like a wave crashing into shore.

"I realized..." Yharim would then raise his sword, before pointing the tip at Tritan. "You needn't die yet. You and your worthless allies can reside under my thumb. But... bring to me Calamitas."

"Calamitas?"

"Come on, we both know that you want her dead," Yharim pointed out. "You know, she may've acted under my orders, but she was never truly cursed until she realized I'd cloned her."

"What?"

"She had no protests against my orders, or at least she didn't bother to. And it's not that she feared me, she clearly felt it in her power to run from me. But she decided to do so only when her worth was on the line." Tritan gave pause while glaring at the monster. "I wonder what would've happened had I not chosen to clone her. Would she remain loyal? Would she've never broken? Would there be more like your kingdom?" Tritan grit his teeth, and shot Yharim an icy look.

"Spare me your speech," Tritan said. Now Yharim gave pause, raising a brow at him. "You really aren't as good at talking as you think you are." With that, he reared the flail back, before whipping it towards Yharim. The latter swung his sword up to knock the head up into the air. While he was distracted with that, Tritan would lean down and punch the ground, sending icy magic through the ground before a massive column of ice shot at Yharim's armored stomach at an angle, seeming to take him by surprise.

Tritan would glide along the ice while retracting his flail, before soaring off of the column he made and whipping his weapon horizontally at the dragon's face, managing to strike his cheek. However, the tyrant would deliver an overhead swing, punching Tritan into the ground, before delivering an uppercut-like sword swing, sending Tritan soaring into the air. Tritan tumbled through the air a little, before flailing his wings out to keep himself aloft. He'd then see Yharim flap his wings to dash towards him, prompting him to retract those ice wings and go down, evading a horizontal swing from the tyrant.

Once he was below, he hurled his flail upwards, managing to strike one of his wings, though amazingly it didn't seem to have much effect. Upon realizing he missed, Yharim retracted his wings and fell down towards the merfolk. Seeing him approach, Tritan slid away, just in time to avoid a floor-smashing drop from his opponent. Several chunks landed on the ground around the hole, so Tritan used his magic to form one of them into a solid block. He then sent it forth and sent it hurtling towards Yharim, who'd stopped his descent, only to take the thick block to the neck, it shattering upon him.

Yharim growled, before rearing his head back and sending forth a powerful jet of flame. Tritan saw the icy floor begin to light up, before rearing back. A stream of fire burned through and licked the ceiling. Then, the jet began to drag towards Tritan's position, the latter forced to run as Yharim chased him from below. And as the chase went on, chunks of the floor, incapable of being supported anymore, fell down to the ground below. Eventually, there'd be no floor left, prompting Tritan to use his ice magic to hurl another block of ice towards Yharim. However, he stopped breathing his fire, and the flames seemed to travel to his blade, with which he swiped his sword, instantly vaporizing the block of ice. With the floor gone, Tritan was forced to go down to Yharim's level.

Yharim planted the edge of his sword into the ground, and dragged the blade along it, scratching the ice and eliciting a scream of metal as he charged towards Tritan. The merfolk sidestepped the charge while attempting to use his flail to clothesline Yharim, though would only find himself being dragged along. However, he'd use his ice magic to catch his tail and turn the tables, bringing Yharim to a stop. He quickly retracted his flail before coming up, and slamming the head down between his shoulders, causing the draconic foe to stumble forwards. However, Yharim stopped himself, before quickly spinning around and smashing his edge into Tritan and sending him soaring to the wall.

Tritan was winded from the blow, and left panting. However, he'd see Yharim charging once again and holding his sword up, tip pointed towards the soldier. Seeing him approach, Tritan quickly rolled away, evading a stab that skidded across the ground before denting the wall. Having evaded it, Tritan stood up, nursing his back from the blow to the wall. He could see Yharim yank his sword free before turning to face him. Tritan held his flail defensively and kept an eye out, anticipating whatever Yharim was about to do next. However, the insides of the castle would begin to glow red, them reflecting some sort of red light.

The two would occasionally peer around curiously, though primarily kept an eye on the other... until a small speck of red light suddenly flew forth, wielding a giant greatsword. Yharim saw the approaching figure, and quickly flailed his sword up overhead, managing to clash metal against metal, forcing the latter to vault off of him and out into the middle of the room. With that strange distraction, Tritan was now able to see the attacker. They were a small bug with shimmering wings, a red exoskeleton, and a sword that appeared to be many times the bug's size. It'd even be big for Tritan!

"What the heck-?!" Tritan started.

"Firefly," Yharim glowered as he got a read on the new fighter.

"Yharim," Firefly remarked with similar venom in his voice. The two watched each other carefully, each holding their respective swords up. Yharim held his sword before his chest in defense, while Firefly stuck the tip towards Yharim in preparation for attack. "I was wondering why I felt a dark demigod around here, but now I can tell. I can smell the Cthulian energy tainting your soul."

"Dark demigod...? Cthulian energy...?" Tritan repeated.

"So you can sense when someone takes a dark god's soul, eh? Whatever. If divinity is going to come down and let me trim it, I have no reason not to accept the challenge," Yharim declared.

"D... Divinity?" Tritan question as he looked over the bug.

"I don't know what you think you're doing, kid, but you're way out of your league," Firefly explained. "I'm an agent of divinity, he's a wielder of a dark god... I wouldn't be surprised if half of this island were to be destroyed in our battle."

"Optimistic, are we?" Yharim remarked. There was a pregnant pause as the two glowered at each other, Tritan still trying to wrap his head around all that was happening. Of all things to interrupt their fight, a creature suddenly popping in from space calling itself divine? And yet, he could definitely sense a powerful aura from the creature, and not just because he was wielding a sword that shouldn't be possible given his size. No, kind of like Yharim, Firefly exhumed this strength, the likes of which seemed to heat up the battleground. And then, he'd hear Yharim's claws dig into the ice, the dragon beginning to step forwards threateningly.

In that moment, faster than the blink of an eye, Firefly dashed forwards, forcing Yharim to bring up his mighty sword to catch the tip of Xeroc Greatsword before it could stab at his chest. However, despite blocking that attack, Firefly was suddenly off the blade and over at his side, swiping and striking. Then the other. Then Yharim's left leg. Tritan watched as streaks of red danced around Yharim and struck. The air was filled with the sound of blade striking armor, or of blade locking with blade. After the fierce flurry, Yharim extended his wings and flapped, sending a powerful jet of wind that forced Firefly off of him.

With the bug distracted, Yharim quickly raced forwards, holding his sword overhead and threatening to slam it down on Firefly. However, the latter gathered his bearings fast enough to swing his sword up and parry the blade, instead forcing it to slam down on the ground below. With it down, Firefly would deliver a flurry of greatsword swings at the arm that held the sword. And all the while, Tritan looked on in awe. He wasn't sure what exactly he was expecting from this creature, but to move that fast with a weapon that big... In that moment, he felt a twinge of intimidation. But, he realized that this guy was against Yharim. He didn't trust his odds beforehand, but with someone like this here...

Yharim would then punch at Firefly, tossing him away while he brought his sword back up. Firefly would soar back a grand distance, though would dig his own sword into the ground to slow his launch. Yharim was turning towards Firefly with intent to continue the offensive, only to take an unexpected strike to the cheek from Tritan's icy flail. While he was surprised, Tritan would whip the weapon back before delivering a few hits to the tyrant's side. Yharim growled and would swing down with the intent of smashing Tritan, though the latter would glide across the ground to evade the strike, ending up beside Firefly.

"Was I not clear earlier?" Firefly asked.

"I don't care!" Tritan declared. "This man took too much away from me! And in this moment, we have a common enemy!" Firefly grunted in annoyance as he brought his blade up in preparation to attack.

"You're free to throw your life away, then," Firefly said. With that, he flew forwards, intending to strike Yharim's midsection, though the latter blocked the blade. Tritan was still alarmed with his intense speed, and thus rushed in while Yharim was assailed with fast sword slashes. He'd rush past Yharim's side before whipping his flail across it, soon arriving at Yharim's back to strike at it. While the tyrant was assailed, he whipped his tail behind him to toss Tritan away, before parrying one blow from Firefly and hitting him with a headbutt.

Firefly was sent several feet away, so Yharim blindly swung his sword behind him, while turning, to try and take out the merfolk, managing to send him flying away. With him hurtling back, Yharim prepared another stream of fire. Tritan skidded to a halt, just short of the wall, before spying Yharim's throat ignite. He quickly dove away, just in time to avoid a stream of fire that put a hole into the wall he once was beside. While Yharim's attention was on Tritan, Firefly flew up and made a stabbing motion, striking the small of Yharim's back enough to leave a dent in the armor.

Yharim stumbled forth, though planted the tip of his sword in the ground to lessen how much he skidded. He'd then bound backwards and used the momentum of his turn to try and swat Firefly out of the air, though the latter was able to dash under the swing. Firefly would swing some more, though he'd notice that Yharim's blocking was starting to get faster, more precise. He was managing to stop more and more blows. He could also see Tritan start to come in from behind.

Firefly flipped the greatsword up to hold the tip, before bringing it up to deliver an overhead slice, which Yharim was forced to block. From there, Tritan would notice that the handle of that giant sword reached past Yharim's back and towards him. Instead of swinging, Tritan pocketed his flail in his armor, grabbed the handle, and yanked the blade out of Firefly's hands. Once pulled, he stabbed towards Yharim's back, managing to strike the weakened plate and stab partway into Yharim's back. The latter lurched forwards in sheer pain, quickly struck in the chin with a fire-infused dash from Firefly. With that blow, Yharim felt his draconic teeth snip into his tongue.

Yharim stumbled back, blood starting to drip down his cheeks, before Tritan would take the butt of his flail and hammer it into Yharim's back, driving it in a few more centimeters, but the tyrant could feel the positively dreadful sensation of the giant slab of metal rocking in his sensitive insides. Yharim let out an animalistic roar, before thrusting backwards and managing to strike Tritan's midsection with the handle, driving him back. Firefly was about to ram into him again, but Yharim backhanded him away with a swing. He used his tail to hook the handle of the greatsword, before dragging it out of him and using his other hand to grab the handle. It felt lighter than his Ultisword.

He swiveled around and hurled the blade towards Yharim, whose eyes widened. However, Firefly was able to dash in and grab the handle, stopping it mid-flight. He swiveled the blade around, before spying Yharim lunging at them. Tritan and Firefly separated, Yharim smashing his ultisword where they once were and cracking the ground. With that section of the floor gone, Yharim turned and smashed his blade into the edge, cracking the floor further and causing it to crack and fall apart under Tritan, who fell with the ice, though he'd slow his descent with icy wings.

Firefly stayed level with Yharim, who descended gracefully, wings extended as he came down to the next level. Firefly followed suit and stood next to Tritan. Yharim's throat glowed, before he bellowed forth yet another jet of flame, which he dragged across the ground, cleaving through it. Tritan and Firefly separated and watched as the beam made another crack in the castle's wall. Firefly lunged forwards, Tritan following suit. Yharim instinctively went down to block an upwards slash from Firefly, before swiping to the side to try and dash him, though he'd duck under the blow. Tritan, meanwhile, would dash behind him, planting his hand on the ground to conjure an icy spike, which flew up at an angle, and drove itself deep into the wound from before, giving the dragon stunned.

With him stunned, Tritan slammed his other hand in the ground. Yharim then felt the ice begin to crawl up his claws. He glanced down, and could see the ice seeming to climb him, wrapping around his every body part. His eyes widened and he tried to move, but the pillar of ice in him filled him with more pain with each tiny move. He was forced to stand there and wait as the ice wrapped around him, eclipsing his midsection, torso, wings, head... Like that, Yharim was rendered an ice statue. Tritan and Firefly would converge in front of him, panting a little.

"I think that should hold him enough to give us a breather," Tritan said. "You seem to know more about this divine stuff than me, what's your read?"

"We've only seen a fraction of his power," Firefly said.

"What? But he's struggling!"

"I know, but I felt it. He's catching up to my speed in terms of sword swings, but that's not all. I have an acute sense of gods, being descended from Xeroc. I could feel the intermingling of dark god and mortal from a long ways away, but now that I'm up close, I can get a better read on the power in him. He's holding back on all of his power, and I don't know if he's just unfamiliar with the form, or if he's toying with us for some reason." Tritan was still panting and looked on fearfully, though he'd pop himself a healing potion. "Speaking of... he's not the only one holding back." Firefly glanced towards Tritan, who seemed uneasy.

"I have to be conservative with my magic, I think I may be bottoming out just holding him like this."

"Not that. Yharim had an empathy bond with some god, I felt that when I sparred with him the first time. You too have a bond." At that, Tritan seemed especially worried.

"This is just a fight between me and him, if I involve anyone else, they could die."

"All mortals are going to die!" Firefly declared. "And frankly, I don't care how you go about it! But right now, you're standing before a monster stronger than anything you could've come to know in your lifespan. The only way you can hope to live is to either beat him, or run away, and you don't seem to be doing much running!" As they talked, the ice that surrounded Yharim started to glow a fiery orange. "Make your decision fast, the real fight's about to start."

The ice glew brighter and brighter, and was melting. As chunks would fall, jets of flame would extend from the cracks, bearing into the icy structure around Yharim. Seeing that, Tritan got worried, and Firefly steeled his blade. He looked around at the specks of flame penetrating Yharim's prison and threatening to bore into them. Even now, the icy castle was threatening to fall apart! Firefly would quickly dash upwards, leaving Tritan to his own devices. Fearful, he brought his hands down and began dragging ice around him in a spherical fashion.

He could feel the icy atmosphere begin to vanish, and watched as the cool-blue hue was turned as fiery as the underworld. Yharim himself, what few specks of him were visible still, appeared to glow like a shining, radiant divinity. The ice around him crunched as he himself moved, glaring towards Tritan with eyes that pierced the veil of flames. He then clenched up, before flexing out, casting the ice around him away and instead sending forth a grand wave of fire that gushed out from him, zooming towards Tritan like a wave!

Elsewhere, each member was in the process of evacuating. Bob's group was far from the tundra, heading towards the sea the harpy kingdom was over. Steve's group was heading towards the caves to the underworld, towards the edge of the island they'd originally started their journey outside of the island on. And Michael's group was on the opposite end, everyone seeming loaded upon the Leviathan. Each couldn't help but shake the unease of the situation, and would try to instead focus amongst the refugees that left with them. However, they'd be incapable of ignoring their fears further.

"What...?" Bob started, hanging from a harpy's talons.

"The...?" Michael questioned, perched towards the tail end of the Leviathan.

"Hell?" Steve pondered, Statis and Calamitas pausing from entering the underworld. Them, along with the majority of their allies, were left looking at the specks of flames extending from the castle, almost resembling radiant needles impaling it from many different angles. In tandem, the castle itself seemed to buckle under the attack, seeming on the verge of crumbling as it almost folded in on itself. And then, the tense moment was quickly snuffed out like an executioner's axe on a victim, as the thin streams of fire were swallowed up by a monstrous, bubble-shaped wave of fire that extended far past the walls, far above the castle's tallest spire, and threatened to kiss the tundra's ground. And with the extending fireball came a sound akin to a cannon the size of a castle expelling its ammunition.

And then, as quickly as the ball of fire swelled up, it vanished, leaving naught but the first floor of the icy castle. Though, some of the more attentive passengers would be able to see the faint silhouette within where the castle stood, hovering. A dragon seemingly only a few feet taller than their men, though boasting grand wings that gave it the appearance of a dragon of myth. Meanwhile, the setting sun seemed to give the creature's skin a twinkle, making the source of the explosion almost appear as a shining, radiant being in the wreckage, visible steam coming off of him.

And from the castle, Draedon gazed upon the scene, as did much of the other soldiers. Many were in awe, though Draedon felt something deeply uncomfortable inside his own core.

Many hadn't seen Yharim. But deep down, as they looked on this figure, this being emblematic of destruction and power... that name itched at the back of their skulls like a gnat. The main trio already accepted that they'd never fight anything like Yharim before. But looking at him now... they soon came to realize how much they still had to grow.

Tritan's ears were ringing. His body felt tingly, as if it wasn't quite able to register just how much pain was poured into his nerves. He was coated in the aqueous remains of his ice shield, though still had some burns on his shoulders, chest, and tail. He groaned and tried propping himself up, finding himself leaned several feet away from the perimeter of the castle ruins. He looked up to see what must've been hundreds of cubic feet of vapor wafting in the air. And through it, he could see Yharim, hovering there, his silhouette menacingly looming over the wreckage... sort of like... Calamitas…

The dragon, meanwhile, was panting from the effort, his metallic scales gleaming bright red and burning against him. He hovered a hand over the metal in an instinct to nurse his wounds, though the heat coming off of his armor told him better. Although, he could feel his tongue repair and the wound in his back seal up. He could even feel some of the armor that sword tore off seal back up. His contemplation would be interrupted when he'd spy the shining streak of Firefly's light rush towards him.

He brought his sword up to block, though the impact would send him flying back down, now that there was no surface to hold him up. He was a bit surprised, which gave Firefly time to rush down and attempt to stab into his abdomen like a weapon-tipped comet. However, Yharim would could swing his sword to bash Firefly aside, before he extended his wings to slow his descent. He managed to reorient himself to instead land feet-first on the remaining floor of the ice castle. Firefly would dash back, kicking up plenty of snow in his dash, before swinging down and colliding with Yharim's blade again.

Firefly would zip and zoom around Yharim, though now over half of the bug's blows were blocked by Yharim. Tritan, while the airs were filled with metal vs metal, he'd pull out another healing potion and drink it down, getting some feeling back into his body. He panted and panted, and reached back down to his flail. He briefly mulled over Firefly's warning, before gazing off towards the sea. Tritan could feel it, unfortunately. An involuntary call out to his friend... Deep down, he knew that he'd get involved, no matter how much he wished the opposite. He shook his head and brought up his flail, before rushing into the battlefield.

He saw Firefly struggling to beat back Yharim, though the latter was taking minimal damage. The two clashed and clashed. Tritan would throw the head of his flail at Yharim's back, though the latter would glance behind him and flick his tail to parry the blow away. With a sweeping slash, he's able to bat Firefly away, before he spins around towards Tritan and he belches forth a ball of fire, which Tritan is forced to leap away from. Firefly would attempt to ram his blindspot, though Yharim would rear back before swinging his shoulder into the smaller opponent with all of his might, before kicking off and going down, smashing Firefly against the ground.

The latter was groaning, pained and overwhelmed. He looked up, and tried to swing his sword up, only for Yharim to wrap his hand around his whole body and yank him up, the force of the yank causing him to lose his satchel and his sword. Yharim held the bug-shaped creature aloft, slowly clenching his fist.

"Do you feel it, puny god?" Yharim declared. "I could've killed you several times with the dark god's powers within me. But I want you to see how hopeless you are against the blade of one you looked down upon, more than anything else!" As he spoke, he clenched his fist harder and harder, until a loud squelch sounded out around. Firefly's sparkly wings were severed from what was left of his body and fluttered down into the snow, slowly losing their shine. Tritan looked on in worry and held the chain of his weapon. And then, Yharim snapped his head toward the merfolk. "They're not here, are they? Nowhere near this hideout of yours?" Tritan paused, remaining silent. Instead, he met Yharim with a steely glare and held his weapon carefully. "You are more powerful than most ocean-born I know. But... I've plenty of soldiers that outshine you."

Yharim flared his wings out, before zooming towards Tritan. Seeing him approach, Tritan utilized the ice beneath him to spring up into the air before he could hit him with a horizontal swipe. He got behind Yharim and dashed after Firefly's lost gear, scooping up the sword and satchel. He held the satchel curiously, feeling a strange energy around it. However, he couldn't focus on that too long, he just knew that this sword helped to break Yharim's armor. If that divine thing was able to upset Yharim pre ascension, then surely his gear would help to oppose him?

For now, he'd have to sidestep as a wave of fire flew towards him. He could feel his friend approaching, and he was slowly formulating a plan. For now, though: survive. After dodging, Tritan brought his flail back before swinging to stap the head at his chest, it plinking off of his chestplate. Yharim would charge towards Tritan, prompting the latter to spring up and lash his flail at his wing stems. They didn't react too much, though Yharim was able to quickly flip his sword up to catch Tritan's side and hurl him away. He tumbled across the ground, and was unable to avoid a fireball that blasted him right in the chest and hurled him further back.

Tritan was driven out of the perimeter of the castle ruins. He panted and climbed upright, before seeing Yharim fly up into the air. He went into a dive towards him, prompting Tritan to roll away before conjuring a bed of icicle spikes where he was. Yharim would slam into the bed, though his armor would splinter the shards of ice. Yharim would turn towards Tritan menacingly, before his throat glew with power. Tritan's eyes widened upon seeing that. He placed his hand on the ground and panted. He focused...

Yharim would then hurl forth a torrent of fire as grand as a terrible water rapid, to which Tritan responded by conjuring up a sheet of ice to block himself. The fire struck, and was forced to curl around the ice wall, not touching Tritan. As he laid there, he felt him. He looked back and saw the grand, teal creature approach, Duke Fishron. He was apparently blocked from view by the billowing fire and sheet of ice. He got in close to Tritan, looking at him in concern.

"Hey friend, things are very scary right now," Tritan said. He took up Firefly's stuff and offered it to Fishron, who picked up the gear. "I want you to bring this to someone. And I want you to tell father that Yharim is as dangerous as Calamitas said, and so much worse." Fishron nodded, though looked at Tritan with further concern. "Don't worry about me, I have my own plan!" As he spoke, the ice wall began to break, the edges beginning to come off in chunks. "Get out of here!" Fishron reared back, before turning and speeding away. Tritan panted and panted and searched his gear, before pulling up one of those recall potions. He may've come in expecting to die, but there's a lot more about this guy that he has to reveal! He can't let this guy's try power stay a secret! So, he quickly chugged it down, just in time to evade as the ice wall was vaporized.

…

WIth that, the terrifying land around him faded, giving him just a moment of reprieve. He felt the warmth that the word "home" brings. He'd nurse his injuries in that restorative pool and seek out Nahlyn and tell them what he learned. Soon, he'd return to his senses, back in that healing pool. However, just as suddenly as he appeared... a weapon was rammed into his back.

"Ghuk-!" Tritan gasped out, biting his lip in surprise, hard enough to draw blood. He looked down, spying the prongs of that weapon... that chaos staff... peering through his chest. Tritan's eyes were wide with shock and horror, tears starting to flee the corners of his eyes. He slowly turned his head to the side in an attempt to see the attacker, though deep down he didn't want to confirm his answer. He looked back to see the eyes of the siren that raised him, her hands now wrapped around the shaft of his murder weapon. Anahita grunted before lifting the head up, pulling Tritan up and out of the healing pool and forcing gravity to pull him deeper onto the weapon. "Gyah-ahhhh!" Anahita, meanwhile, shuddered and blinked away her own tears.

"Why... why did... why did you...?" she muttered out, her hands shaking as she held the weapon, blood now dripping down the shaft. "I told you... I-I told you I'd kill you. I told you I'd avenge- I told you- I-I-I told you- I told you I told you I told you I told you-" She was forced to gulp down a pitiful whimper before shaking her head. "Why did you come back to exist in my life?!"

"M-m-mom!!!" Tritan bellowed out, holding one of the prongs with one hand in an attempt to keep himself up. Despite this, he could feel the strength leave him. Anahita grunted and shook, gritting her teeth.

"Shut up!!!" she shouted, overpowering Tritan's words. "I-I-I didn't want this! God I didn't want to be here! B-b-but this world... I told you I couldn't let you or your friends live. I told you- Th-this is for the better! My world's dead, and so is yours! W-we're both bound for death!"

"M-mom! Wh-why-!"

"SHUT UUUUUUUUP!" With a rear back, she swung her weapon forwards, plunging Tritan from the head of the weapon and having him tumble across the ground, his blood staining the inside of the cavern and bits of the healing pool. He landed several feet away from it and laid in his blood, panting and panting as the color drained from his face. And there, as if she herself were undergoing the strain of battle, Anahita found herself only to stand if she propped herself up with her weapon. She was panting and panting, despite all of her injuries and weakness being restored by the healing pool. She looked towards Tritan, who kept on heaving and heaving. By now, he didn't even seem capable of uttering out any more whimpers. He could only give those gasps and pants that bore into Anahita's ears.

It felt like she stood there for hours, watching. She watched and watched, before she realized that those haunting eyes, filled with betrayal and sorrow, had lost their life. At that, she leaned forwards before falling to a kneeling position, her holding herself up by her hands while gazing into the healing pool. She clenched her eyes tight and was unable to hold back a few drops of tears. More than that, she felt like she was going to throw up. She didn't know why, this was what she was prepared for, this was the goal she was *supposed* to achieve. She had to make her lover happy and had to cleave herself free from the past she could no longer cherish. And yet...

For a moment, she swore she'd blacked out. She wasn't sure how much time had passed, but a part of her was sure that today was a new day. At least, it felt like she was left in this limbo of despair for that long. She craned up before taking up her weapon, and began leaving the healing pool. She reached down and grabbed Tritan's flail, before pocketing it. She turned away, making sure she was no longer gazing upon that body. She didn't need to keep looking at that, no. This was only one part of what she was here to do...

The many different evacuee parties had seen the massive torrent of flame leave the tundra. And, like that, the spirit of battle had faded. Did Yharim…? Surely not. Surely Tritan wouldn't go in just to die. Michael was sure that he'd show up next to the Leviathan at some point, though Angelyn was clearly scared, her clenching the merfolk's trident close. Either way, it seemed he'd bought enough time for the evacuees. Team Calamitas had made it underground, Team Zerera was up in the Harpy Kingdom, and Team Nahlyn was leaving the island. Yharim seemed to've spent his spirit on the combat, and was now content with returning to his castle.

Each member looked on at the island with a strange sense of... longing. As awful as the place'd been, it had served as a momentary spot of hope and courage in their time. It'd brought them all so close, and to be honest, none of them would've probably gotten this far if they didn't find this place. But for now, they'd have their own missions to attend to, only hoping that they could see each other again. Deep down, they each knew they had Tritan to thank for this opportunity. Michael gave a prayer to silently thank him, as did Bob and Seony. Steve, meanwhile, couldn't be bothered to pray to any gods. Though, at the same time...

"I better see you again," he muttered under his breath as his group traveled into the underworld.

## Chapter 7: Boiling Blood

After the fight, Yharim had returned to his base. He flew into the tower before traveling the staircase down to the bottom floors in order to meet his soldiers. And sure enough, they were entering his domain. He could see those two champions, those two that suddenly became so noticeable ever since his ascension. There, Misha stood before him with elation, while Cles was repentant. The former was stunned into silence while the latter rushed in close.

"My lord, I must declare, I tried!" he declared. "I-I told her there were more, but she sprinted off to the island!" At that, Yharim turned towards him.

"My general has fled?" he asked.

"Y-yessir, she was on the island, b-but we didn't set foot as per your orders!" At that, Yharim paused and turned.

"Why do the bad seeds unveil themselves when I reach my height...?" he pondered. He sighed before turning to the group. "Is Calamitas' group back from the Slime Kingdom?"

"No sir, as far as we can tell they're still marching," Cles explained.

"Very well," Yharim said. "It seems my elite are busy. I'll need you and your squadrons to work double time for me. Calamitas remains undetected, one of their subordinates was laying a trap for me."

"And you handled it beautifully~" Misha declared. "No way your human body could've destroyed all of that so handily~"

"Perhaps not," Yharim admitted. "Either way, that boy is gone, but I have no read on the rest of this Final Stand, much less of Calamitas. For all I know, all life on that island vanished by the time I was through with that merfolk."

"We saw a Leviathan and harpies, they could be in the sea or the sky!" Cles declared.

"That's not all," Yharim said. "We've yet to answer *how* Calamitas fled in the first place. Surely she and her wardens would've been unable to sneak up the castle, I've the dungeon's entrance lead into the castle itself, one would've found her."

"Tis a mystery, milord," Cles said. "But we will need to move fast. The more we dally over here, the more time they have to get away and do something."

"...I shall consult with my adviser," Yharim said. "In the meantime, suit up the leviathans, gather the flying vehicles, and hunt them down. I'll see to it that the copies are released and prepared for ground combat." With that, the two champions bowed, before Yharim turned to head deeper into his castle.

"I shall command a leviathan troop," Misha ordered.

"Y-yes ma'am," Cles acquiesced. "I suppose it goes without saying that-"

"That we leave the girl to the lord," Misha interrupted. "Worry not. I'll just be busy with those... fish~"

By now, the teams were separate. The underworld team had made it down this trail, finding it to be a remarkably straight path down. They hadn't quite made it to the demon territory, but Mercurius had given them warning ahead of time, so they should meet them partway up.

"The cave's a lot less dangerous than I expected," Efiatli said.

"We got the new people to thank for that," Mercurius said. "After what was left of Cthulhu was destroyed, the chaotic forces staining the underworld came to a halt, and the demons began organizing civilization. The dryads then came up and got rid of the Crimson, and in the process scared cave monsters away from this path so we can maintain communication with the demons.

"Remarkable," Efiatli said.

"Indeed..." Calamitas said. "That may've been key to my escape..." There was a pregnant pause as the group walked. And at that, Steve suddenly realized that Calamitas' brothers stood between him and Calamitas like a barrier. They didn't really know him, so assuredly that was her order. Or was he reading too far into that?

"By the way, what was it like?" Steve asked. "When you were away, I mean."

"...I challenged Yharim…" Calamitas said. "I went in expecting to die, but apparently he had more plans for me. I managed to land some good blows on him, but he overwhelmed me and cast me into a prison to be guarded by these two. I then had to appeal to them, and thus we fled when they opened up my door. I guess that was around the time Yharon was slain, because when we fled, we met the ninja."

"That doesn't sound like his normal MO..." Steve said.

"Trust me, I know," Calamitas said. The two kept on walking, though there was definitely unease in the group. Eventually, though, a few demons were finally able to show up and meet them, coming from the far end of the passageway. They quickly scooped each group member up, before flying deeper into the cave. They flew more and more, before bringing them down into the underworld. There'd ordinarily be monsters of chaos floating about and causing a stir. But ever since Cthulhu and his subordinates were felled, the demons have been able to float about to their own tune, unabated by the elements. It still looked like a wasteland, though the best cities weren't built overnight. Either way, Steve realized he hadn't spent a lot of time down here. He'd sorta expected to see the bottom part of Yharim's dungeon after Calamitas explained, though he realized it was far, far off in the distance if it was part of the tyrant's castle.

The demons flew closer and closer to a radiant archdemon, the guy that helped them in the battle against Cthulhu and bearer of the Brimstone Elemental.

"So good to see you guys!" he declared. He noticed the ninja and brimstone mage trio. "What brings you guys here?"

"We're after an artifact," Calamitas explained. "And according to Statis, it's buried in the middle of some forest far off." At Calamitas' prompting, Statis stepped forth.

"It once stood as a training grounds for my clan, though it must've died out when I went down here to guard this sword," Statis explained. He reached into his pocket before pulling up a map, this depicting the world of Terraria, or at least an old version of it. Either way, it bore the same landmass that modern maps should depict, from the island that the biomes converge on to the grander biomes that extend from it. He pointed to the forest area, pointing about midway to the forest. "We made a passage from the clan down to here, so it should be a straight shot."

"Though, we won't quite all be going there," Sylia said. "It sounds like we'll need to work with the Elementals to defeat Yharim. Their rage against the dark gods helped to beat them, so we think that if we unite the Elementals' rage against Yharim, then we may have the perfect weapon against them."

"I imagine it's hard for the Elementals to not dislike him by now," the archdemon said.

"We'll have to unite each of them against him. Which is why I'll have to separate and go to the desert in search for any lamia," Sylia clarified.

"And I'll help," Mercurius said.

"As will I," Permafrost said. At that, the ninja's eyes widened.

"Wait, Permafrost-!"

"My apologies, sir," Permafrost said. "I'm still dealing with my memory problems. It sounds like I was important to you, but that girl also needs a hand." He then looked towards the soul mage. "Besides, I can sense a lot of magic in that guy. And those brimstone wielders too."

"But-!"

"Calm, now. Tell you what, I'll look for you later, and then we can hang out." Statis seemed prepared to argue again, though he looked at Sylia. He then glanced towards that soul mage and the four strange individuals. He wasn't sure what Efiatli's deal was, but he could tell that there was a connection among the brimstone people. At the very least, neither of them seemed particularly eager to go in the direction of the desert. He sighed.

"Yes. Let's look for each other later." Permafrost nodded in affirmation, before the group split up. Sylia glanced towards Steve, who looked at her.

"Be careful," he said. She silently nodded, though was clearly still nervous as the demons came down and surrounded them. They picked them up, before flying them towards one of the tunnels. Other demons surrounded the remaining group.

"Yharim's ruined the world," Kebber said. "I'll muster as much malevolence towards him as I can from down here."

"Ok," Steve said.

"Lay low, just in case," Calamitas offered. Kebber nodded, and the demons flew away with that group in hand.

Meanwhile, Yharim approached Draedon's quarters, the adviser recovering from what they'd seen. Luckily, Draedon was able to compose themself before Yharim entered.

"Draedon, I realize we've overlooked an issue," Yharim said.

"What is that?" Draedon asked.

"Back when I was going through my transition, how many people were watching the dungeon?"

"Hm? ...I'd hoped someone would, though the destruction of Yharon had stirred up chaos in the castle. Still, the bottom of the dungeon is hundreds of feet off of the underworld ground, that should be enough to force escapees towards the front, which would've surely put them in our quarters."

"Unless they could float."

"Of course, but the dungeon leading into the underworld, which, you supposed, was a playground for chaotic souls."

"Yes yes, that's why that tumor that is the dark god's corpse has been allowed to live. To continue to sow chaos to dash anyone in the melee. Even Calamitas would've been trapped down there for a few days."

"Curious..." Draedon seemed to conjure a hypothesis of his own. He began approaching the corner of his library, where a platform was positioned beneath a telescope, though it'd have to be elevated to put them in position. Draedon sat in the seat, before inputting a code and raising the chair up to it. He held the telescope and looked out to the island that's suddenly been the source of much interest. They spent an uncomfortably long time up there. "...That's strange."

"What is?" Draedon inserted another code, and the chair lowered.

"My lord, Cthulhu's gone." Yharim's eyes widened at that, his wings flaring out a little. "My lord, did you not see it when you flew over?"

"I was preoccupied with that merfolk and divine bug," Yharim explained. "Partway through the fight, I realized that he was a distraction, but there was no way I could let him get away with toying with me. I came back here to give the orders as soon as I figured that man was dead." Draedon began pacing about.

"So then, the dungeon defense must've vanished soon ago," Draedon hypothesized. "There's no telling how long ago it was gone, but that leaves a large opening for our former prisoner. Combine that with the recent chaos, and we may have a time for her escape."

"All evidence points to one escape route," Yharim said. His eyes then widened. "Which means there's another escape route for those rebels! Bring up the Corsanor clones, we have more ground to cover."

"Of course, my lord," Draedon said with a bow. Yharim, meanwhile, was marching out of Draedon's quarters. As he did, Draedon looked after the door, before glancing towards his desk. Upon it was a container, it meant to store a soul as part of one of Yharim's projects. Draedon looked over it in contemplation, though they knew they couldn't afford too long a pause. After all, Yharim gave an order.

Elsewhere, Misha managed to organize the leviathan squadron, her standing upon one of the mechanical creatures, several other soldiers accompanying her. She looked to the sides at her knights, who each were directing a pair themselves. Three different monsters were out on sea, each boasting their own group of soldiers. Misha, meanwhile, glanced down at the body of this creature with disgust. She always preferred the sleek, beautiful sheen of a fish's body. Unfortunately, there were very few, if any, leviathan that weren't transformed like this. Which just made this mission more important to her.

She could hear the hum of machines overhead, at which she glanced up. There, she could see a large, box-shaped flying machine the size of a house lift up into the air. Blue engines lifted it overhead while turrets extended from its sides and top, them lifting high, high into the air. Within, that brute that dresses himself as a purveyor of the finer things in life would be. Cles was stationed towards the front, where he could frequently ask for updates from the fliers. And adjacent from those rooms were consoles for the turrets, manned by his knights.

"Ok, Cles, keep your cool," Cles muttered to himself. "You're looking for an unfindable city in the sky for who knows how many of those annoying resistance guys. This'll be good, this'll be good. You're coming with reinforcements, you'll show them all what's what. This'll be good, this'll be good..."

Elsewhere, Calamitas and team were flown up through the cave, and out into a section of the grand forest dressing one segment of the world. There tended to be small tribes of Yharim's men out here, though they weren't totally in touch with the tyrant, at least not to the point where they could take an immediate order. Besides, Yharim didn't quite know anyone would be over here yet, so they weren't quite on alert. They'd usually stay on guard around the usual trails through the forest in search of any Wanted men, and the clan's hideout wasn't on any trail, so it remained out of sight. Besides, apparently in Statis' absence, all evidence of the clan had vanished, leaving behind simple plains, a grassland dotted by trees that was surrounded by a horseshoe-shaped hill, it dotted with bushes and trees.

Once there, Statis looked over the area, a strange sort of serenity and longing in his eyes. He paced around and looked over the place, Calamitas, Cataclysm, Catastrophe, Steve, and Efiatli looking upon him carefully. Statis took some breaths to himself as he paced around.

"It's like walking into a painted room," he said. "I can recognize a lot of it, yet it's still alien to me... Has it really been so long...?" he asked as he placed a hand upon the hill. There was a bit of discomfort among the crowd, though they each knew that they had to search.

"H-hey, we should probably seek out that Elemental Quiver," Calamitas spoke up.

"Uh, yes," Statis remarked, withdrawing his hand. He began to walk to one side, though the group'd notice a strange reaction from the demon that brought them.

"The Avatar has sent a message," the demon said. "Black-armored creatures with shining, purple wings sprung from Yharim's dungeon, shattering the tower. The demons fled, though they each separated and began heading through the various tunnels, followed by soldiers lagging behind them." At that, each member glanced at each other, Statis and Efiatli in uncertainty, though Steve, Calamitas, and the calamity brothers seemed to have an idea.

"That sounds just like..." Catastrophe started.

"That maniac, Corsanor?" Steve interrupted. "Michael killed her off a while ago."

"Of course he'd make clones of her..." Calamitas remarked with disdain. "And I wouldn't be surprised if he had some means of communication with these ones, somehow."

"Draedon was setting up some surveillance equipment," Cataclysm said. "He probably attached some to their armor this time so he could see who was where."

"Which means that if he finds us, he'll hunt us down," Calamitas said. "Which means we don't have time to waste."

"Actually..." Steve started. "If those guys are looking for us, then, if our superweapon's here, that might not be too troublesome for us." The group's eyes widened at that suggestion.

"That's suicide," Calamitas said.

"We were gonna fight him sometime," Steve said. "We just need to get rid of those punks before Yharim shows up, and then we'll snipe him dead."

"I think I can help with the soldiers," Statis said.

"And I can provide backup," Efiatli said, demonstrating by manifesting soul magic before himself. "As a last resort, I mean."

"Stealth is the name of our game here," Statis said. "We need time between the fall of this squad and the arrival of Yharim if we're going through with this. I can set up the trap. You lot will have to dig around on top of the northeast hook of the hill surrounding this area. The quiver was buried over there." The remaining trio nodded in understanding, while the demon began to go into one of the caves adjacent from the main tunnel to hide. With that, the trio ran off in the direction he pointed. "It should be, at most, five feet deep!"

"Ok!" Steve declared as they raced to the location. Statis and Efiatli, meanwhile, were together.

"I can feel your clan lingering in the soil," he said. "I think they could help." Statis, meanwhile, held his hand out to try and and halt him.

"I will whistle to you like a quail, and then, and only then, will you do it," he ordered. The soul mage nodded in agreement, before he began to climb the hill. Statis, meanwhile, clutched the handle of the sword with one hand, while feeling his pouch with the other to look for supplies. "I apologize, my friends. The fighting persists generations past the dark gods' fall, and I must disgrace this land with bloodshed. Wicked creatures will stamp all over this, and I intend to silence them. Our goal will bring vengeance upon the tyrant, so I assure you, that this will not be in vain."

And then, in the blink of an eye, he seemed to vanish, like a bubble on a needle.

## Chapter 8: Uncharted Lands

Michael looked back at the current group. Standing at the edge of the leviathan was Ryan himself, who scanned the horizon with his scope. Michael noticed that gun he got from the dungeon in his holster, apparently what he'd originally been after. When he got it, he was still fine with fighting alongside them, so that was nice. He was still a very loyal ally. The Pirate was near him and keeping an eye on the waters. The Lunatic Cultist and Amidias were in the middle of the creature's back, while Angelyn and Nahlyn stood at the head. Angelyn seemed to look over the trident with worry.

The group seemed uncomfortable with the situation, too uncomfortable to speak to anyone. Still, someone would have to, even if it risked sparking some invisible fuse. Michael looked over the group, before deciding to approach Nahlyn.

"Do you know the seas out here?" Michael asked.

"I haven't been this far out," Nahlyn said. "Angelyn was still nearby, I couldn't just leave her."

"Yeah, makes sense," Michael said.

"Your allies called you a map-maker. Shouldn't you know?"

"I just made a map of the island area. The rest of my tribe were tasked with making maps of elsewhere."

"Then I suppose we'll have to find one of them. Do you suppose any of them are nearby?"

"Hard to say. They've been scattered to various sectors, and though they tend to stay in the same general area, that's still a large radius for them to inhabit."

"So I guess we send someone in to find them?"

"I guess... Still, we need to remember that we're looking for the Sand Elemental and the Earth Elemental. Also the rest of the merfolk. We need the rage of the Elementals to battle Yharim now."

"Well I'm feeling pretty angry at that guy. But if we get the rest of the Elemental's disciples to feed their fury into her, then that should definitely get some work done."

"Definitely," Michael assured. "Hopefully we'll be able to find a nomad that knows where the desert is." With that, Michael began to retreat, while Nahlyn redirected the Leviathan. Unbeknownst to them, a siren was following them, one seething with rage. She was hidden under the water, and was able to notice the one un-ailed Leviathan. She was following its tail.

Sylia, meanwhile, would approach the desert, followed by Mercurius and Permafrost. The trio would head deeper in, Mercurius wiping his brow.

"Oy, how're you guys not reacting to this heat?" he asked.

"I have ice magic to aid me," Permafrost answered.

"My Dryad nature helps me resist the heat," Sylia explained. "Still, this isn't the best environment for me, but the plants within should be able to help me out." The trio stepped deeper into the desert, Sylia using her branch as a staff to keep them moving forwards. As they walked, she'd occasionally stab the end of her weapon into a cactus to absorb some resources from it. They'd keep on moving forwards, and see more nothing.

Nothing.

Nothing.

Nothing.

The only absolute was the sun beating down on them, its heat beginning to ebb away at Permafrost's magical aura. They were realizing more and more that they had no idea what they were looking for. They walked more and more, and Permafrost would be required to melt some of his ice conjurations into a water for the others to drink. Still, it made him more vulnerable to the heat, so he'd have to use that sparingly. Either way, it was getting tough, and the more they searched, the more they realized how little plan they really had.

"I don't think I've ever seen a desert this hot before," Mercurius remarked.

"There's definitely something wrong here," Sylia said, her doing a little better than the two guys. As they walked, Permafrost wrenched his face upwards, his eyes widening. He reached in front of him, and took a few steps forwards, the other two watching him curiously.

"Unbelievable..." he said as he stepped forwards. He extended a hand outwards, as if what he was seeing was within arm's reach. Ahead, he could see a grand palace of ice, standing tall and mighty. He stepped forwards more and more, before going into a full sprint.

"P-Permafrost!" Sylia shouted out. Mercurius and Sylia began chasing after him, though frost mage speeding up in pace. The closer he got, the more details he could make out. He saw himself at the doorway, alongside that ninja from earlier, and a few other figures, all unfamiliar. One was muscular, the embodiment of strength. And the other appeared to be a radiant Dryad. One appeared to be a slime, though greater than any slime he knew. And another... he couldn't quite get a good read on that other one. However, the closer he got, the more the image before him began to fade. The castle suddenly vanished like an illusion, replaced by a shark-like creature covered in sand-caked scales, mouth wide open.

Permafrost's eyes widened at the creature's appearance, only for it to be startled by a ram to the side! Mercurius took up the Hard Break and used his gear to ram forwards, smashing the parasol-like edge into the Great Sand Shark, driving it back. The impact forced Mercurius to an abrupt stop, though his grasp on the shaft helped him stop. The Great Sand Shark turned and growled at Mercurius, when Sylia twirled her staff around and stabbed it into the sand, producing a thick cactus that smashed into the Great Sand Shark's jaw, causing it to rear back.

By now, Permafrost began retreating, terrified of the monster that came before him. The Great Sand Shark growled, reared its head back, and swung, snapping the cactus and hurling it away. It then turned towards Mercurius, who'd exchanged his weapon for his Tinker Sickle. It was in spear form, which he held threateningly in front of the Shark. It reared up and opened wide, before swinging its upper row of teeth down on him, him backstepping just in time for it to smash down into the sand, kicking up a thick cloud of sand. Having evaded that, Mercurius brought up his weapon, and stabbed at it.

He didn't seem to puncture the scales, though the creature did retreat from the blow as its armor got scuffed up. Upon rearing back, the creature lunged at Mercurius, him instinctively holding up his spear to block the blow, though he was sent skidding across the sand from the blow. While he was recoiling, he saw the creature swimming through the sand. His eyes widened, though Sylia would lunge forwards and extend her staff forwards, intent on stabbing the beast's side, only managing to scuff up its coat of scales. Thankfully, that seemed enough to give it pause.

Thankfully, this allowed Mercurius to extend the blade of his sickle, at which he spun it and slashed the creature's snout, now managing to draw blood. The creature snarled and reared back, seeming to hiss at them, before retreating into the sand. With it down, the trio regrouped and held their respective weaponry defensively in the direction of the beast. They each panted and panted, giving it at least a minute before they stopped.

"It left after all of that?" Permafrost asked.

"It looked like some kind of shark," Mercurius said. "It realized it was out-matched, and fled."

"I wouldn't doubt it'd show up again if we let our guard down like that," Sylia said. "Speaking of, what was that?"

"I-I saw a castle of ice!" Permafrost answered! "Big enough to rule a country!"

"There was no castle," Mercurius said. "You saw a mirage."

"A-a mirage..." Permafrost repeated. There was a pause among the crowd, before Sylia cleared her throat.

"We should keep moving," Sylia said. "Who knows how close that thing could be." With that order, the group moved more. And more. And more. And all throughout, Permafrost could only ponder what the image he saw meant...

Meanwhile, the slime kingdom stood tall. The Slime King stood in his castle of slime while the Slime God remained hidden in the base of the kingdom. Many slimes were about, the prophecy of the long gone goddess looming amongst them. However, even that would be drowned out over the new tension present in the world of Terraria. Ever since Anahita took up momentary leadership, the whole realm seemed to be in a state of unease, only added on when reports came of a god-induced fiery explosion occurring on the capital of the world. The relation with The Light has always been shaky, at best, but now... every slime felt unnerved.

However, a sudden ring from one of the kingdom's walls roused the slimes to attention. For beyond, there laid a large platoon of Yharim's soldiers marching forth, them led by a powerful warrior, her recognizable even from dozens of feet away. That was none other than Calamitas, Yharim's Calamitas. She marched closer and closer, given explicit orders to strike down the slimes. Unfortunately, this'd be a little tricky, considering this kingdom was meant to stand up to a planet-searing goddess. Still, she had her orders.

Her squad got closer, when she raised up into the air, hands extended out in front of her. She looked down over the kingdom, watching the blobs contort themselves towards her. She brought her hands close, before spreading them and conjuring brimstone magic. And then, she bellowed forth a beam of fire! The beam struck down on the edge of the wall, it somehow resisting the pure damage of the attack, except for the slimes that stood there. While the residents were shocked by the attack, she began dragging it across the square of the kingdom and through more slimes, who were now starting to bounce away in fear. While the slimes were distracted, the platoon utilized thrusters or hooks to pull themselves up the now undefended wall, where they'd then rush the fleeing slimes to splatter them into nothing.

The beam dragged further and further through the inside of the kingdom, before she dissipated it upon reaching the opposite end. With the town in a flurry, she collected brimstone magic into her hands, before conjuring a scythe. She then flew straight down, slamming into the ground with a loud *blast* of a noise, disorienting the slimes near her. And then, she quickly whipped her body around to slice and dice the nearby slimes. With them reduced to chunks, she'd turn towards the castle itself, before approaching. Her soldiers were drawing the many slimes' attention, and those that focused on her, she'd deflect their attacks with swings of her scythe before she cooked them with beams of heat. However, her advance would be halted as the ruler of the castle came forth through the front gate.

The Slime King approached her, glaring at the witch.

"I should've anticipated such audacity from the tyrant," he said. "To encroach upon us and make an attempt on our lives."

"Funny, we had something of the same thought," Calamitas said. "But, turns out your kind only thought of yourselves throughout your servitude."

"What are you talking about?"

"Stubborn to the end, I see," Calamitas mused. She glared down the Slime King, who was clearly trying to size her up. Deep down, he knew that he couldn't take her on his own. Even with his allies, the soldiers would wear them all down. From his perspective, he was facing a losing battle. Maybe... maybe the Slime God could do something? Yeah, maybe if he lived long enough he'd be able to get some assistance from his god and repel the witch. For now, though, he prepared an offensive, slimes beginning to curl around behind Calamitas.

Meanwhile, the harpies finally made it up to the Harpy Kingdom, making it to the landmass outside of the walls and setting them down. The many villagers, former Yharim soldiers, and harpies began to pool forwards and towards the kingdom, some flying over the walls while the non-fliers stuck to the ground. Seony, however, lingered close to Bob as he approached, deciding she liked sticking with someone familiar. The duo watched as the many citizens rushed forwards and into the kingdom.

"The harpy kingdom's remained untouched by Yharim for a long time," Bob spoke. "It may be one of the only friendly lines that can give us some insight into anything out of history."

"Sounds like a plan!" Seony said. "We may not be able to learn much to help us find the elementals, but maybe we can learn about these strange dragons that Yharim took his power from!" With that, the group would charge in faster than the rest of the travelers, intent on reaching the library as quickly as possible. As they did, Helen couldn't help but feel curious about them. She felt the need to follow after them. They charged forwards, the guards seeming to let them Bob and Seony through, the rest seeming cautious of the new faces. Eventually, they got close to the main castle, when the guards stood before them.

"Sorry about that, we meant merely to approach the library," Bob said.

"We don't take issue with you," one of the guards pointed out. "We're not familiar with this nurse, though." The two glanced back behind them, and spied Helen tailing them.

"What're you doing following us?" Seony asked.

"I don't know, I figured I'd see what you guys were up to," she explained. "All I can do is tend to wounds. But now that we're in neutral territory, I doubt that I can do much healing."

"I guess that's a fair assessment," Bob said. At her justification, Seony turned towards the guards.

"She's trustworthy," Seony assured. The guards took her word for it, before stepping away. They then progressed into the castle itself, before heading towards the library they sought out...

Meanwhile, a few miles off of the island's location, Cles' ship continued forwards. The champion was over at the cockpit and looked around.

"You know what I realize?" he said to the unresponsive soldiers driving. "We don't know what a harpy kingdom looks like... It hasn't been seen in ages, the architecture described in the old texts is vague... I guess it could be where harpies are, but if that one at the battle was lingering out so close to the ground, I guess it's possible that they're not restricted to the island... Pilots, have we seen a harpy yet?"

"Negative, sir," the two answered in unison. He groaned in annoyance and planted his forehead against the wall.

"We flew off the handle, didn't we?" Cles asked. "We saw one harpy, assumed the kingdom was still out there... How likely is it that the harpy kingdom doesn't exist anymore?" The two pilots seemed silent and kept driving ahead. "We could be chasing gooses, but that's fine. We can't exhaust any possibility, that witch girl could be anywhere. I guess it makes sense that one of Yharim's champions are miles away from hunting the leviathan, or pursuing this potential third hidden path, or even striking down the Slime Kingdom. But no, it's fine. It's fine it's fine it's fine it's fine-"

He'd keep on repeating his mantra as the ship flew forwards, just missing the harpy kingdom's invisible field.

Meanwhile, Draedon had finished his own project. One of the soldiers were whisked away and planted into a device that pumped a soul into them. The previous one was removed, and allowed the presence of a new one. With it in place, the red-haired, lady soldier stepped up and forwards, taking a few shaky steps. She looked around herself, and spied the machine.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"It's a bit long of a story," Draedon explained. "I need you to stay here for a little while. But first..." He withdrew a very special bow. He held it out and presented it to her, the lady gasping in shock.

"My..." she started. She carefully grasped the weapon and looked it over. "How did you get this?"

"You were planned for a little while," Draedon explained. "For now, we need you to stay here and remain a secret for a while... Ruanora..."

## Chapter 9: War Paint

The fields of the ninja clan remained still, only interrupted by the soft blow of the wind. A soul mage was near, and he had no idea where the ninja had gone. But wherever he was, he must've been watching the field like a hawk. They waited... waited... waited... Eventually, the heavy stamps of creatures came forth from the cave into the underworld. Out came a very dangerous-looking lady. She had black armor with purple highlights, a similarly-colored greatsword, a black and blue flail, similar wings and a tail, and a dragon-like head. And behind her were several soldiers. The hidden onlookers figured that the one in dark armor was this Corsanor they heard of. Or at least one of her clones.

They progressed deeper into the fields, Corsanor glancing side to side. She peered back and motioned for her soldiers to split up. With that, they began to separate. A couple of soldiers began to climb up the hill... when the sound of a quail sounded out, the soldier's throat suddenly slashed open. For a moment, a black-wrapped figure was spotted near them, before they dashed away. A couple of non-damaged soldiers raced up where he stood, only to see nothing. They seemed weary and hastily retreated from the flayed bodies, before speaking with Corsanor herself.

The clone furrowed her brow at their reaction, before stepping over to where they motioned. Sure enough, there stood the soldiers, felled. She grit her teeth.

"Hey Yharim? This good enough?" she said to apparently a piece of surveillance equipment on her armor.

"There's no certainty," a voice spoke into her earpiece. As she spoke, several of the soldiers were focused on her. However, this would turn out to be costly, as a ninja appeared at the far back of the soldier group, before stabbing one of them in the back, though he covered their mouth to prevent a noise. Then, faster than the two beside them could respond, his katana flashed before them, reducing them to halves as they fell down. Once again, he vanished.

It seemed as if ninja after ninja appeared in the middle of the crowd, eliciting gasps from the enemies, only to be swiftly silenced by a strike through them. Repeatedly the soldiers were beaten down, and Corsanor's crowd was soon reduced to pieces of meat as ninja after ninja seemed to appear throughout the crowd. Soon, Corsanor's conversation was wrapping up.

"This doesn't seem like Calamitas' usual fare, and anyone with a sword could do this. Keep looking," Yharim explained.

"Very well," Corsanor said. She turned around, only to see her army felled, though a single ninja stood in the middle of it. He looked up at the lady with a hidden gaze, though someone like Corsanor could tell when someone else was staring daggers at her. She huffed and began to step forwards. "Oh I guess you're behind this then?" No answer from the ninja. He stood steadfast before her as she got closer and closer. "You think you can intimidate me? Do you have any idea how many of those guys Yharim filets like a meat grinder? You expect me to be scared by a twig of a man like you?"

As she approached, the two onlookers watched carefully. Efiatli's magic had worked wonders and managed to spring up the many ninjas to assail the soldiers, while Statis himself lied hidden in the darkness, still holding the element of surprise. Corsanor got closer and closer, patting the thick blade of her greatsword against her palm as she got neared the ninja. Statis, meanwhile, began to draw the red blade from its sheathe. Corsanor got closer and closer, before raising her blade high in the air. And at that, Statis decided to strike.

The sound of steel ringing suddenly filled Corsanor's ears as she felt what felt like wind glide up her spine. Statis stood behind her, blade drawn. He fancily twirled the blade around, before sending it back into his sheathe. And at that, a powerful scar formed in Corsanor's armor, causing her to stumble forwards and her wings to flail out. She caught herself before she fell to a knee, and panted. With a growl, she glanced over her shoulder at the attacker, Statis looking up to meet her eye. He could see pure rage in her gaze, and realized his fears were true.

Corsanor would be a bit of a problem...

The leviathan group, meanwhile, were heading deeper out to water. They were approaching the snow biome landmass, it being far from jungle territory, and began heading into the river and into it.

"We should stay on the leviathan and depart when we're deeper in," Michael suggested. "Capital was back there, so either they're following us from behind, or trying to wrap around above us. Though, that's even if they know we're here..." The group seemed to understand, and they went in deeper and deeper. More and more the leviathan swam, and the group seemed uncomfortable. More and more it went, and the group seemed uncomfortable.

"Any idea where your ally is?" Nahlyn asked.

"Nope." They went in further and further, when Nahlyn stopped the leviathan for a moment.

"I suppose now's as good a time as any to set off and search for a map," Nahlyn said. With that, the group began to get off, Ryan still standing guard. But suddenly, his eyes widened.

"Siren from the rear!" he declared. At that, Nahlyn, Angelyn, and Michael raced towards her to try and get a look at whatever they're looking at. And indeed, something is racing towards them.

"That's that siren that attacked us," Nahlyn said. "I can sense it."

"Anahita?" Angelyn asked.

"This is not a good environment to face her," Michael said as he looked around at the edge of the snow biome beside them.

"We should keep her attention here," Nahlyn said. "Else, she may seek out the other resistance members in the snow biome." The remaining units nodded. Those left on the leviathan were Nahlyn, Michael, Angelyn, and Ryan. Ryan took careful aim.

"Stand down, Amidias wants her alive," Michael said. "We'll prepare a defense." Ryan seemed uncertain, before turning his scope away. They watched her carefully as she approached. And then, once she reached the tail of the grand creature, she shot into the air, over Ryan, before landing in the middle of the beast's back, Michael and Angelyn holding their respective weapons carefully. And, sure enough, before them was Anahita herself, though looking far less composed than before. She turned and gazed at each person on the creature's back, paying special attention to the elemental and Michael.

"Oh, this looks like a good fraction of my fantasy right now," Anahita said. She flashed her wicked lance towards Nahlyn. "You stand as a grand beacon for the Final Stand." And then, she flashed the lance towards Michael. "And you... I'm sure you know why you need to die." Michael glowered and clenched his lance tighter while looking over the siren carefully.

"You know this isn't right!" Angelyn declared. Anahita's attention was immediately drawn towards the young lady, though her lance remained turned towards Michael. "Yharim, their soldiers... They've done nothing but harm for the world at large. They made you attack your fellow sirens! And Tritan… he knows your better than that maniac!" At that, Anahita's lips fell into a deep frown as hate suddenly crosses her face.

"Tritan? You rely on my safety purely what he said?" she muttered. "He was nothing but a child clinging to a world that's died around him!" For a moment, a flash of remorse was hidden in her rage-filled voice. Michael grit his teeth at her words, and Nahlyn herself brought her lance up defensively while preparing a magical attack. Angelyn, however, felt uncomfortable.

"'Was'?" she repeated. And at that, Anahita 's eyes lit up with understanding. This was it, wasn't it? These guys seemed to have the intention of letting her live, despite her threatening them directly! Maybe what they needed was a good reason to fight. Then, she could have a proper fight to the death, just as **she** would've wanted. She brought her hand towards her belt in an agonizingly slow fashion. And then, she began drawing a familiar flail. Those present looked on in shock and horror as they saw it, the weapon of their friend, now in the hands of Anahita, whose grin only seemed to grow more and more as she drew it.

Angelyn herself felt tears usher forth, while Michael was seeing red.

"Anahita!" he bellowed out in rage as he suddenly dashed forwards. Realizing the issue escalated, Ryan quickly flipped a handgun out of his belt and fired at the back of her head. Anahita immediately whipped the flail behind her to block the shot, while using her other hand to block Michael's stab with her lance. While holding down Michael's lance, she rears back and hurls the flail backwards, forcing Rye to take up his gun and dodge away. Michael eventually forced his lance out of Anahita's lock, before going for another stab, only for her to swivel aside, before wrapping her arm around the shaft, and suddenly delivering a headbutt to Michael, disorienting him.

She pulls her lance up while releasing her grip on Michael's lance and gets ready to stab, only for a Nahlyn to rush in, grab him from behind, and pull him back. Anahita's lance struck thin air while the other fighters were beginning to get their bearings back. Michael was taking up his lance, Rye was taking aim again, Nahlyn was hoisting Atlantis... But Angelyn... she still seemed saddened, unable to do anything.

"Do you have the strength to bear arms?" Nahlyn asked her.

"Wh-what-?"

"If you can't, get away from her." Anahita, meanwhile, laughed out as the three surrounded her, each preparing for their own strike, just in case one of their allies were to get in the way. Then, Michael and Nahlyn would rush forwards, each going for a stab. Anahita quickly flicked the flail towards Nahlyn, forcing her to hold out her trident to block the head, the frenzying siren stabbing towards Michael and forcing him to block. While the head was stuck on the shaft, she weighed down on the weapon and leapt over Michael to get behind her, where she'd flick the flail back and deliver a powerful strike to his back, causing him to stumble forwards and his armor to get scuffed. She'd quickly swivel away from an oncoming bullet from Rye, before backstepping from a swing from Nahlyn.

She'd chop again, the three prongs of her weapon brushing dangerously close to Anahita's abdomen, when Michael finally got up, before drawing his boomerang, and tossing it towards her. Anahita ducks under the oncoming boomerang and uses the shaft of her lance to block Nahlyn's next blow, only to have the boomerang strike the back of her head. She's alarmed, and Nahlyn is able to angle her trident to stab at Anahita, managing to bite into her torso. She seems stunned by the blow for a moment, only to grin widely. She suddenly swivels her lance around to strike Nahlyn across the face with the tail end of it, driving her back.

Anahita twirls her lance up to point the head at Nahlyn, before Michael rushes in, grabs his boomerang, and in the same motion swings it around to smash it down at the head of Anahita's weapon to block her. And with her pinned down, Rye's able to aim at her. He fires at her, managing to strike her in the shoulder just as she's about to swing with her flail again. Michael swings downwards to bring the head of her lance down, before swinging his arm to slash the boomerang across Anahita's face. And then, she forces the water around her body to move, now able to swing her flail-arm to ram the handle into Michael's side to knock him away. She swings her arm around, it moving unnaturally, as the chain fans around her and drives both Michael and Nahlyn away.

Nahlyn, while backing away, would reach her arm back. The water behind her began to bubble, before a tendril of water reached up and over the Leviathan's back and towards Anahita, only for her to pocket her flail and thrust her other hand out, stopping it in place. The two sirens are struggling to move the water, Anahita merely trying to force it down to splash over the Leviathan, Nahlyn pushing to try and strike the evil siren. Seeing them struggle, Michael and Rye would each be quick to rush towards her. Michael would run in from the side to try and stab her, only for her to worm her body around to evade the head of the lance, before flicking her torso back to avoid a gunshot. She quickly leapt up to kick her tail at Michael and hurl her back, before swiveling around and using the motion of her spin to hurl Nahlyn's tendril of water in a whole other direction.

Nahlyn grunts in annoyance at her magic being disrupted, before the Leviathan lets out a low growl, one which the avatar understands. Curious, she rears an ear down and listens to it. Meanwhile, Michael's still rushing towards Anahita, the two locking their weapons and heaving with effort, trying to overpower the other. Michael glanced around at the various other fighters, before seeing Nahlyn nod her head towards the head of the Leviathan. Realizing the reaction, Michael went for a kick, driving Anahita back. He then turned around and rushed towards the head of the Leviathan, Nahlyn following pace.

Anahita slithered across the scaly beast and towards them, snarling as her fins seem to flare out with madness. She rears her arm back and flicks it towards Michael, the latter forced to swing his lance behind him to knock the head off course. She retracts her flail, before quickly swinging it towards Rye before he can squeeze off another shot. Nahlyn and Michael both make it towards the head, the creature giving a guttural groan. Michael and Nahlyn stood close by, while the latter looked over at Angelyn pleadingly, her still fearful. She looked at her with urgency, letting her know this was do or die.

"Ok, what's the plan?" Michael asked.

"Part plan, part faith," Nahlyn said. Anahita got closer and closer, before Nahlyn grabbed Michael's shoulder, and tugged backwards. Michael gasped, and the two suddenly fell to the water, right to Anahita's strong suit. Anahita leaned over the rim of the Leviathan's maw, seeing the two of them flop into the drink. She grinned, her teeth brandishing like daggers in sunlight. She began to stretch her arm towards the water, when Angelyn had a moment of determination on her. If she did nothing, her sister would be...

She suddenly glided across the creature's back, clutching Tritan's trident defensively. She got closer and closer to the foe's backside.

"This is for Tritan!" she declared.

"Huh?" Anahita pondered, completely overlooking that whimpering guppy from before. She began to turn around, only for her to slam the shaft of the trident against Anahita's hips, forcing her to fall over the edge of the creature's mouth. She began to fall to the water, when the Leviathan opens its mouth wide, water gathering in its maw. Anahita's eyes widened for a moment, before she's struck with a pillar of water ramming into her, sending her soaring far, far away. Michael and Nahlyn pulled up from the water and looked out, watching as their foe was sent soaring into the horizon.

And with that, the warriors that fought melee were left panting. Michael flopped onto his backside, feeling overwhelmed from all of this, Nahlyn hunched over a little from the effort. Rye, meanwhile, would go down to check his weaponry and make sure they're loaded up and in good form. Angelyn, meanwhile, was looking pretty exhausted from what'd just happened. There was an uncomfortable pause among the group, until the scouting group returned, though alongside another stranger. She wore a thick, white parka, the hood lined with fuzz, alongside thick pants and thick gloves. Along her parka was a belt hosting several knives, while also hosting upon her back a blade as long as she was tall, it boasting a bird-shaped handle that bore a fiery red blade. This was Abeona, another of one of Michael's nomad troop, and she wielded a Phoenix Blade, though she preferred to use it for finishing up combos.

"We found this gal!" the Pirate declared. "And I already like her!" She, the Lunatic Cultist, and Amidias appeared successful in finding this ally. As they approached, the group would be concerned over the state of the party. "Oi, you look like the cat dragged y'in. Ah thought fer sure you would've handled that las."

"Where... is she?" Amidias asked in concern. And at that, there was definite unease among the group. Angelyn, meanwhile, was more upset, feeling tears come forth. "...Folks?"

"Anahita... she killed Tritan," Michael said solemnly. And at that, Amidias seemed horrified. His eyes were wide open and he gasped. His whole body seemed to shake, and he quaked at the edge of the snow. "When she showed us Tritan's flail, we immediately went into a melee. It was pretty much three on one, and she seemed to maneuver around our attacks dangerously well."

"In the end, our friend here blasted her clean to the horizon," Nahlyn explained. "We might be free of her for a few days." Amidias, meanwhile, didn't seem to be paying attention. Instead, he was gripping at the sides of his head as he still processed the information that was just fed to him. The Pirate carefully held him and brought him forwards, before carefully setting him on the Leviathan's back. The rest, meanwhile, stepped onto the creature's back, each looking in worry at the merfolk and the siren. Meanwhile, Abeona would approach Michael.

"Sounds like you've been busy," Abeona said. "There aren't many villages out here, but there've been a few patrols, and a few have talked about a Final Stand."

"Really? We only recently set out from the capital island," Michael pointed out.

"Well then, I suspect you have some imposter fans," Abeona said. "I hear tale of some people using the title sometimes in the tundra." At that, Michael stroked his chin in curiosity. "Either way, you've gone there on your own, and now I see you here with a pirate, some moon mage, a bunch of sea people, some sorta sniper, and a sea monster. What's up?"

"Oh yeah! It's a long story, hang on..."

Meanwhile, the desert group kept on keeping on. Sylia, Mercurius, and Cryogen kept stamping through the sand. They'd gone along so long, the sun began to set. It was still warm, but they each knew that terrible chills would be upon them. They were now starting to speed up their pace, feeling definite worry. Eventually, they had to take rest, and were fortunate enough to see something in the distance.

"Are we sure this isn't an illusion too?" Mercurius asked.

"I don't know! Are we seeing the same thing?" Sylia asked.

"Let's get closer!" Mercurius said. The three got closer and closer, before eventually stumbling upon the thing they saw. They stepped in, and saw what looked like a village. It bore sand-covered houses set up with stone, them each being square shaped. Some had gaps in them for what appeared to be snakes, as well as doorways and doorways for said gaps. Houses stood at either the size of a cabin, or a two-story house, and each appeared to be square-shaped. However, they each appeared horribly damaged. On top of scorch marks, several appeared aged, with some of their walls or segments of their ceilings caved in. Additionally there was a well in the center, though its hole was utterly smothered in sand. The group looked around in concern.

"This is awful..." Sylia said.

"It feels like something straight out of the apocalypse..." Mercurius said.

"It might have to do," Cryogen said. "Come, let's rest." The two approached one of the two-story houses. Mercurius checked the door, which crumbled on touch.

"That's not a good sign," he remarked. The two took a few steps inside and looked around. Sylia took her staff and tapped the ceiling a little, noticing no notable shifts in the structure.

"We should sleep in shifts, just to be safe," Sylia said. "Just to warn us about either monsters or the house."

"Outside of that sand shark, I don't imagine there are many creatures that could survive the sandy surface for extended periods of time," Cryogen said.

"Still, there's no certainty of what our enemies are capable of," Mercurius said. They each nodded in affirmation.

"I've still got a bit of energy, I think I can take first shift," Sylia said. The two nodded in thanks, before laying down. Almost immediately they seemed to pass out. Sylia nodded and looked out towards the desert, watching as darkness began to fill it.

Meanwhile, Bob, Seony, and Helen were in the library. They had gone from bookshelf to bookshelf and had begun investigating the many shelves. There were many children's books in there, from tales of boogeymen dark gods to tales of light protecting the populous, to tales of the average person eliminating monsters of any size. Bob and Seony were even sure that they saw a turtle-like creature on one of those book pages, curiously. Bob and Seony admired the optimism, but the world begs to differ.

Eventually, they arrived at a few history books. They immediately set to work about scanning this shelf, when Bob focused on one.

"Check it out, a beastiary," he said, pointing towards a particularly thick-looking volume. Seeing it, Seony flew up to grab it, heaving with effort. Eventually she was able to pull it free, only for gravity to send it careening down, forcing the two humans below to dash away. The book smacked upon the ground, letting out a very noticeable echo throughout the entirety of the hallway. The three gave pause, especially as they heard a "Shhhhh!" from the librarian, far in the entrance.

"Sorry," the three muttered in regret. After that brief moment, they each turned towards the book and opened it up.

"Look for draconic or reptilian," Helen suggested. The group began searching the index and cross referencing pages. They searched and searched, and found themselves looking at Lihzards several times. Eventually, they were able to find some tell of them, though not much. Just that they adapted to their environments, and had been driven near extinction during the Cthulhian period.

"There's not a lot to work with here..." Bob noted.

"Hm... That ninja said that his clan spoke with the dragon," Seony suggested. "Maybe we should seek out a book on their history."

"Makes sense," Bob said. For now, they'd search once again. Though, it'll take them a little longer to search through the many shelves.

Meanwhile, Calamitas was still squaring off with the King Slime and his many allies. She glared at the many of them, each other clearly waiting for the other to make a move. The slimes knew that if they gave Calamitas the chance, they'd dice them up by the hundreds. As they each glared at each other, the Brimstone Witch took up an arm and held it out to the side, still looking among each of the enemies. Then, magic began to form, coursing along her arm before bunching up in her hand. The magic would then flare out into the shape of a scythe. The weapon formed to the sound of an unsheathing blade, and, as if on command, the many slimes would rush her.

Calamitas took the scythe, before swinging to the side to slash one apart. Then a quick jab backwards with the tail end of her scythe smushed another. Then, she'd quickly swing her scythe in front of her to stave off the approaching front lines, before backflipping away, ending up behind the crowd of slimes. Once there, a ball of fire would form in her free hand, which she then flicked towards the many slimes, blowing several of them to smithereens.

While the cloud of smoke was in the way, several of the slimes would take up weapons, a few taking bows, javelins, or guns, and firing in her direction. She'd find herself taking a few hits, and she'd be forced to skirt around the cloud of smoke, before she'd rush towards the many slimes. However, it'd seem that King Slime had a similar idea, as he'd intercepted her and swung into her side with all his mass, driving her back. She'd skid a few feet back, and the King Slime would be quick to approach, forming several tentacle-shaped limbs and punching them at her, striking her torso and hitting her back again.

While she's recovering, he'd extend more tendrils towards her, her evading a few before slashing a few back. The Slime King'd recoil at the bites of the brimstone scythe, and he'd retreat as the slimes would form a line yet again. She'd stand up and glare at the lot of them, holding her scythe and seeing them each taking up a weapon. As she's eyeing up the foes, she'd get a signal in her ear from a certain AI. Draedon's AI companion.

"Calamitas, we're detecting high readings of magic in your area," the mechanical voice of Zero said. "It feels very Slime-like."

"What kind of magic do you detect?" she asked.

"It feels like a geyser threatening to burst, and you're on top of it," Zero said.

"Oh, so these things are just distractions," Calamitas reasoned. "Prepare my city buster, and order for the soldiers to retreat. I'll have to go all out."

"Right away." With that, the signal ceased. Calamitas would stand up straight, before holding her scythe out in front of her. She held it right at the middle of the shaft and such that its body was parallel to hers. Fiery magic flowed into the weapon, and the slimes watched with bated breath. And then, suddenly, a second blade sprung out from the tail end of the scythe, giving Calamitas a scythe with two blades, one on either end. She flipped the blade around such that one of the blades hooked around her shoulder, and she raced into the fray.

One of the slimes swung a sword down towards her, her responding by flipping her scythe about so that the shaft could catch it. And then, with a sharp swing, the bit of blade that reached past the sword would tear through the slime. She'd then spin the scythe in a circle to create a windmill of death that tore through several slimes in front of her, before changing the angle of the spin such that it spun on her back while the two blades cleaved through the slimes towards her sides. The King Slime would watch on with worry as this new fighting style greatly covered the many slimes coming towards her.

It was a little tricky for her to use, having the weight more strangely distributed. Meanwhile, she'd have to carefully position herself to make sure she doesn't get sliced by the blades, leaving more openings to herself. But with the way she moved it, she was able to carve at pretty much any angle to tear up enemies. She appeared to be the center of a razorblade! Soon, the slimes had the sense to stay away, and some lance-wielders instead would try to get their weapons in close to reach under the blades and sneak past her offensive defense. Her scythe would hook one of the shafts and would come to a halt, but not before smearing the slime across the pavement as they ended up getting dragged with their caught weapon.

Still, this moment of pause was enough to give the slimes a moment to close in. At least they thought so. While the scythe's spin was interrupted, she'd turn and see the oncoming slimes. She'd reach up for one end of the shaft, and brimstone magic would flow down to the middle of it, before the whole weapon split in two at the center, allowing her to dual wield scythes. She'd be able to take the blade still in the air, before swinging it in front of her and chopping the oncoming slimes in two. She'd then be able to pick up the other scythe and swing it overhead to pierce another slime from the top! With that scythe down, she'd be quick to slam the butt of the other scythe down onto the molten end of the downed scythe, and just as suddenly as the weapon came apart, they fused together to form the dual-ended scythe.

She brought up the weapon and would use it to drive back oncoming foes, each attempting to close in on her from either side. Now she was marching towards Slime King, who kept on backing away in worry. Eventually, she'd manage to break through the line of slimes, making sure to backhand her scythe to scrape away any slimes still nipping at her heels. Then she took the weapon before suddenly racing towards the Slime King. She leapt up into the air, and saw the King's body morph to send a flurry of tendril-like arms at her to stop her. She was able to thrust her dual-scythe outwards and spin it like a propeller blade, slicing up the arms directed at her and forcing them to retreat. Soon, she was right above the King, at which she stopped the defense so that she could swing her scythe up, before slamming it down upon the top of the King!

The blade, however, didn't seem to stop. Now, her scythe seemed to swing through the King like a knife through warm butter. The Slime King could already feel himself come apart at the seams. Calamitas reared back, and then swung her scythe erratically through the King's body, cleaving out more and more chunks of the creature. Specks of slime were torn out and splattered across the ground as if they were blood drawn from a body mid-butchering. And with the speed at which Calamitas spun her scythe and the two blades, she was able to cleave through the King extraordinarily fast. She wasn't even sure at which point it died, but she made sure to cleave through as much of it to make sure.

And now, the pieces of Slime King dressed the Empire's castle town, just before the gates of the castle. Calamitas panted and panted, using her scythe to keep herself upright. She looked into the gates' entrance, before hearing another note from Zero.

"Your city buster is arriving now," Zero said. Calamitas looked back. She could see what normal people would perceive as a red comet race across the sky. It came closer and closer, and Calamitas would recognize that mess of metal, thin channels in it for magic to flow through. This was none other than the machine Yharim had built to focus her Brimstone magic. She'd leave herself exposed as all of her focus would have to be on the machine itself, but it offered power few in the modern world had ever seen.

She floated up to the machine, and as she approached, the front of it opened outwards eagerly accepting her. She flew into a chair in the machine, the rest of it closing around her and leaving behind a thick window for her to see through. From within the cockpit was two holes, each beside either hand. She placed her hands into said holes, and immediately, Brimstone magic flowed through her and into the machine itself. Those outside this machine would see the channels around it light up with red magic, and it seemed already to be briming with great power.

The machine floated away, and the many soldiers that'd begun raiding the Slime Empire would see the machine float up into the sky.

The machine floated away, and the many soldiers that'd begun raiding the Slime Empire would see the machine float up into the sky, gleaming like a harbinger of death, and would begin racing out of the Empire's borders. Calamitas' machine, meanwhile, was charging.

Those channels were running towards the front of it, over the window in front of Calamitas' cockpit. The whole machine seemed to light up with bower, a ball of Brimstone magic beginning to form right in front of it. As she started to charge, however, a force within the Slime Empire would stir.

The deity that ruled over slime-kind occupied underneath the kingdom, and was prepared to summon Goozma, until he became aware of Calamitas' presence, He'd thought that if he were to play that piece too soon, he'd lose it and leave the Empire at a less advantageous position. No, for now, he'd have to reorganize his troops in preparation. So, he'd prepared a spell, pooling in much of the magic around. Before Calamitas' attack could strike, he'd vanish into the ether, warping far away from the Empire.

Calamitas' machine, meanwhile, was done charging. And then, a beam of powerful energy shot down into the center of the Empire. A beam of pure red energy flew forwards, before slamming down. And upon striking its destination, the beam fluctuated, before emitting a powerful dome-shaped explosion, it flying outwards from the point of impact. The whole of the Empire was covered with the resulting explosion, which extended into a mushroom-shaped cloud. The impact had shattered the ground, reducing many buildings to rubble and wiping out any slime that couldn't get away. Many nearby would see the explosion, and many would ponder what'd incurred a strike like that.

Many others, however, would recognize where the explosion struck. Many were surprised that a location like that would be targeted. An attack like that would only be attributed to Yharim's forces, but if he was willing to eliminate his subordinates like that... There's no telling what it means on The Light's end for them to eliminate such a prominent faction, but there are a few things those nearby know: the whole of Slime-kind have suffered a tremendous loss, and the wrath of Calamitas is re-instilled in the world.