Skansi looked at me with a crazed, battle-hungry expression as I closed the distance between us. He threw out his chakram which was normally a streak of crimson light to me, but now, the bladed disc seemed to move at a slow pace. With a slight move of my head, I dodged the disc, but he was not done as he redirected it to come at my back. I twisted around and grabbed the chakram with ease, dispersing the crimson glow with the loss of momentum. 

 

Skansi's eyes grew wide with surprise, and I crushed the Soul Weapon. Despite my display of power, he lashed out with his whip and wrapped the end around one of my wrists. His energy tried to invade my arm, twisting, binding, but it could not penetrate my scales. I grabbed the whip and yanked, pulling him towards me. He was a master of Warcraft for a reason and adjusted his body to stab his sword and spear into my gut. Unfortunately for him, his weapons shattered against my scales, and I grabbed him by the throat.

 

"How many times can you die, Skansi? Can you die for each person that I have lost today? In my life? How many have you, and your Pantheon, claimed for your lust for power?" I growled, crushing his neck.

 

Again, Kali's power erupted, and Time seemed to freeze around us. I could feel it trying to shackle me, keep me from moving, locking me in place... but it could not. Time was essentially a concept of Order, while I was the representation of Chaos. Bands of teal erupted from my body and collapsed Kali's spell. 

 

Skansi only had a moment to recover, so his neck was still heavily injured. I released him and held him in place with a bit of energy. Grabbing two of his arms, one on each side, I pulled and ripped his arms off. He screamed with pain, but I ignored it and continued to tear off his remaining four arms. Placing a hand on his head, I crushed his skull, and again Kali's spell tried to restore his body, but yet again my power disrupted it, quicker this time, which stopped his return to life.

 

Tracking Kali's energy, I reached out with this new power that I had gained and pulled. Space warped in front of me and crackled with an orange energy. Out of the void, a child-like woman with ten arms and golden robes stumbled into me. Neon blue blood was dripping from her mouth and eyes, caused by a severe backlash from Skansi's death, no doubt.

 

"Going to kill me as you did my mate?" she asked weakly, looking up at me.

 

"Does your life have any more value than my fallen mate?" I asked as I picked her up by the neck.

 

"None," she said with a mocking smile.

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

The moment that we stepped out of the portal and onto Bardo, an alarm started going off. Katye and I shared a look, and while she went to the computer terminal next to the door, I stretched out my senses. I had not taken the time to examine the energies that existed on this world during our first visit, so I was surprised to find that the Light and Shadow mana were perfectly balanced on this world. On Earth, that only happened twice a day for a single second at the shift between dawn and dusk, but this was perpetual.

 

"Strange... I can't tell if it's day or night," I said, opening my eyes.

 

"The surface of Bardo was destroyed by the Transcendents. When Octavia, Echo, and Hope traveled across it, the sky seemed to be permanently overcast," Katye explained as she typed away. "But the truth is that it's likely Tori's doing. Can you summon Ishu?"

 

I pricked my thumb and drew his symbol on my hand then used my mana to call him. Seeing his ghostly blue hand ripped out of the void, I sighed with annoyance, but not because of him. If I could summon Ishu, that meant that the Yin user would likely be able to call her summoned creature. 

 

"It looks like I can, but that doesn't make me feel all warm and fuzzy; no offence, Ishu," I said.

 

"Why would you want to feel 'warm and fuzzy'?" Ishu asked with confusion.

 

"It's just an expression," I sighed.

 

"I've found her, but you're not going to like it," Katye said.

 

"There is nothing about this I like, so just spill it."

 

"They have Luna in that machine that allows them to extract her memories. It seems that she was able to resist the efforts of their members to pry out the code, so they have switched to more conventional methods. Their members have set up a defensive in the oxygen farm... and flooded everything but a thin path to the farm and to the room where Luna is being kept with the Gen-9 which killed the Bardoans. There is no way that we are going to be sneaking around this fight," Katye explained.

 

"Were you really expecting that we could? This is the end, one way or another... just like the show, only it's Luna in their clutches instead of Madi."

 

"It doesn't hurt to hope, even if I knew that it was useless," she sighed as she summoned Seluna.

 

I did not argue since I had also hoped that we could avoid a fight, but I knew that it was unlikely. The show might have ended by humanity laying down their weapons, but that would not have done a lot to help us train. Our fight against Iseto had been the spark that had completed my Dusa form and the last fight against the forces of the Disciples had allowed me to harness my Chaos power in a new and powerful way. Pressure was needed to make a diamond, so struggles like this must be what it took to reach Tori's level.

 

Katye started to lead the way, but after passing the third open doorway, I took point since my defenses were stronger than hers. They were looking to end this just as much as we were, so a path was set and there were no obstacles in our way.

 

"Why didn't they just flood the Anomaly Stone room with the Gen-9?" I asked as we walked.

 

"There is only one stone on any planet and Cadogan has to use it one last time to initiate the Final War. I doubt that something that can calcify a person from the inside out is easy to clean up, so they had to leave a path in case they actually win, but it's clear that they have committed everything that they have to this. There really is going to be a Final War this time," Katye replied with a sigh.

 

"Ishu, I want you to go ahead and find that Yin user. I need you to kill her, but I need you to remain intact more. Jabo isn't smart enough to not get himself destroyed again, and I don't need a second backlash during the fight," I instructed.

 

"As you command," Ishu said then melded into the Shadows.

 

"Apologies, mistress, for being unable to complete your task," Seluna said, bowing her head.

 

"It's fine, Seluna. Your decision was right, to keep them from chasing after Rebecca, and it distracted them from looking for me. You also managed to kill one of them, so you did quite well. I want you to support Rebecca throughout the fight and keep yourself from being destroyed."

 

"Yes, mistress," Seluna replied, conjuring her bow.

 

"Katye..." I complained.

 

"Calm down, I plan on being in the back or in the air, and I have a barrier spell. I know my role in our little four-man team, plus the wild card of Jabo: the long-range, high damage magic user."

 

I chuckled, "Paladin was my favorite class on my MMOs."

 

"I think you are more of an elemental warrior, but whatever you want to call yourself," she retorted.

 

I chuckled but it was forced. We were both just trying to make each other feel better and ease the tension, though once we stepped into the oxygen farm, anything that we might have done was instantly undone. In the show, this had been a massive, thick forest where the forces of the Disciples had set up a few metallic defensive structures, so that they could face off against the forces of Wonkru in a gun battle.

 

What we were staring at was a massive wall that spanned the entire width of the indoor chamber made of stone and logs which was taller than Jabo and had no form of a gate. Along the top of the wall, likely every single Disciple, women and children alike, were standing with assault rifles and whatever weapons that they had harvested from the Bardoans. In the back, on a tall tower, I could sense the Yin user, Fire user, Water user, Artem, Bardhyl, and the three women that wore teal, green, and dark blue.

 

They were not in sync like Iseto's forces had been, but they all still raised their weapons and began to fire. I barely had time to create a stone wall in front of us which Katye reinforced with her own mana. She gave me a nod, so I let her take over the defenses while I pricked my finger and summoned Jabo. 

 

"Jabo, full Stone Armor then bring down that wall!" I shouted after the giant fully formed.

 

"Yes, little dragon!" Jabo cheered, stirring his energy.

 

Stone crept up his body and created a shell around his blue ghostly form. Thankfully, just as I had hoped, he started drawing the fire of the Disciples which gave us some breathing room. As he stomped his way towards the wall, I looked at Katye who gave me a grim smile then nodded her head. This was the final chance we had to turn around and give up, but neither of us would.

 

I shifted into my Dusa form then leapt on top of our little stone wall. Jabo punched his stone fist into the giant wall which broke a number of logs and some of the stone structure though the entire thing remained standing. The entire wall was shaken by his attack and several people fell. 

 

While he continued to rain down punches, I tried combining my Thunderstorm spell with my Chaos mana. When I had added it to the storm over Sanctum, there had been a strange ease to the process which gave me faith that I could. Silver clouds with hints violet and crimson began to form around me and expand like a fog covering the ground. For nearly a minute, no one tried to stop me, but then, some of the Disciples started shooting at me and then, when that proved ineffective, Artem, Bardhyl, and the Water user made their move.

 

Bardhyl seemed to be able to teleport, not just himself, but also the other two. With a wave of his hands, I felt him spread out his Domain which was able to repel most of the Chaos Storm clouds. Artem had no regard for the clouds and charged straight at me, but as soon as he stepped out of Bardhyl's Domain, crimson lightning lashed out at him. He was hit by a heavy blow and stumbled back, but the Water user stepped forward.

 

It was clear that she had been heavily poisoned by a similar Yin-corrosion, though worse than what I had dealt with by the blackening of her lips and around her eyes and nails. Ishu had said that he had poisoned her and Dmitriy, and it was clear that my grand master mage-assassin had not let me down despite only being a Greater Spirit. She was wise enough to not leave the safety of Bardhyl's Domain and conjured her own, overlaying it with his and strengthening it. Only then did she try to attack me, but the Chaos clouds reacted by creating a jet of violet flames which neutralized her water stream.

 

Although the Chaos Storm clouds were made from my mana, I did not need to keep feeding them unless I wanted to expand them outwards. It was similar to a Domain, yet not, more like an extension of my power, almost my body. I did not have to think or focus on the clouds to react to the Disciples any more than I had to think of breathing, though I could still control them if I tried.

 

I hopped down from my little perch and started walking towards the trio. As I did, the silvery clouds wrapped around their bubble of influence, trapping them inside. Artem tried to launch a crimson streak of energy at me from his axe, but like the water, it was eaten by the storm.

 

"Why did you bring the civilians into this? You must have known that there was little that they could do to us," I asked as I started to circle their Domain.

 

"All Disciples are willing to lay down their lives for the Final War!" Artem growled.

 

"The dead don't ascend, so it seems pointless to me. I guess Cadogan only cares for himself," I retorted.

 

"The Shepard is doing this for all of humanity when you would rather see it destroyed!" he yelled, sending out a strong attack that forced me to dodge to the side.

 

"I'd rather see humanity live out its life without outside influence from some judgmental, holier-than-thou race of aliens. You really think that ascension is Heaven and Cadogan is the next Jesus Christ? It's a load of crap, and if he is any Bible reference, he's the anti-Christ, making a mockery of Christian ideals. That actually fits quite well with the timeframe of where he is from," I taunted.

 

"The Shepard will deliver all of humanity! Heathens will be purged!" Artem said.

 

It seemed that Katye and I were not the only ones who discovered how to use Soul Power. Unlike us, though, the method that he employed to strengthen himself had greater returns, but it was unstable. I did not understand how he did it, but I could tell that it was just as dangerous to him as it was to me.

 

He charged into the Chaos clouds once again, but this time, he deflected the lightning with his axe that was coated in crimson and black energy. The other two followed him, trying to use their Domains to push away my silver clouds, but there was no way to separate me from them. A line cut into their circular Domain from my back and around. They could eat away at my mana by pushing against my Chaos Storm Clouds Domain, but they settled on a lower amount of force, giving Artem a safe area to fight, so that they could meddle in Artem's and my fight.

 

My early years of sparring against Indra, Anya, Roan, and Echo, combined with the occasional spars against Katye throughout the rest of my life here, gave me a more varied experience of opponents at and above my level. He had likely outclassed all of the Disciples in physical combat, so he had not refined his style, focusing on overpowering his opponents. I could almost hear Indra's voice nagging in my ear with all of his mistakes. He was now faster than me, even using my Lighting mana to increase my speed, but he was still not stronger which gave me an advantage.

 

His axe swept out in front of him, seeking to chop me in half at the waist. I could read his moves easily, so I swung a hand down on the flat of the axe, just behind the blade edge. It completely changed the momentum of his attack, and the axe went downwards while he stumbled towards me. I stabbed my other hand to pierce into his back and destroy his heart, but a jet of water hit me and knocked my hand off course, grazing his shoulder instead. I tried to follow up the attack with a knee to his jaw, but right before it connected, he was teleported away by Bardhyl.

 

With frustration, I released a jet of violet flames out of instinct at the trio. Bardhyl raised a hand towards the attack and another behind him, stirring his mana. A silver barrier opened between my fire and the trio while a second one appeared behind them. The portal swallowed up the flamethrower and released it out the other one like a familiar video game.

 

Artem was back on his feet and rushed towards me again while starting an overhead chop. There was a slight swivel to his movements, so I leaned by body to the left, hinting that I was going to dodge that way, but instead, I teleported myself to his right. He fell for it and his axe made a sudden streak to the left while I pushed my Chaos Storm clouds forward, engulfing him. The clouds reacted, not to him, but stopping the duo from interfering for a moment, which was all that I needed.

 

He had overexerted himself with the swing, and while he reacted quickly, it was not enough. He threw back an elbow in defense, but it was expected, and I blocked it easily with my left hand. With my right, I used my talons like a blade and sliced at his neck, carving a gash across his throat.

 

It was not like the movies were blood sprayed out of the wound. There was only a little splash from the initial impact and then it seeped through his fingers as he clutched the wound in some desperate attempt to stop the bleeding. For a moment I was reminded of Finn's death, but I pushed those thoughts aside and looked up at the remaining two. Bardhyl had used a good chunk of his mana so far and the Water user was on her last leg. Without Artem, they would be hard pressed to last for much longer.

 

 

A/N: I would like to ask for those of you who are enjoying the story to leave a review on the story if you haven't already since we are getting near the end goal of 100 chapters!

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