Announcement

Welcome to the Last Chapter of Volume 2! Please see the message at the end of the Epilogue for news about Volume 3!

The four Fiends walked down the long road. It was clear the road hadn’t been used much in the past years, since it only led to one location. No vehicles had been down it, that much was easy to see, but there were signs of some foot traffic. They all had their weapons at the ready, incase of a surprise attack, but it was peacefully quiet all around them.

“Ugh, this sucks!” Kada groaned. “We’re in Trap County. We just left Trap Town, now we’re walking down Trap Road to Trap Castle, and what are we gonna find there? Oh right, a trap! Why are we doing this again?”

“You know why,” Phon answered prudently, brushing off Kada’s complaints.

“That still doesn’t make it any less dumb,” Kada persisted. “And why’d we have to walk the rest of the way? We could have driven up in The Tourist and been there ages ago, but no, we had to leave it behind in the last town.”

“You know why,” Drim repeated with as little sympathy as Phon.

“Yeah, I know, I know,” Kada reluctantly admitted. “Complaining just makes me feel better, alright? The suspense is killing me.”

Xard had stayed quiet for this altercation, but he seemed just as on edge as the rest, if not moreso. The Fiends had a reasonable expectation as to what they’d find at the castle, but whether they were prepared for it was a different question entirely.

◆◆◆

A little over a month had passed since the Fiends had acted as substitutes at Xard’s former school. Nathym and Mallea continued to work tirelessly on the construction of the new facilities. Since there were a lot of small but specific details they needed to account for, it was slow progress. Ahvra continued her research at her usual pace with steady progress. The next stage in Drim’s grand plans hinged on the results of these three individuals, so the rest of them could only be patient.

Unable to assist in these matters, the others did what they could and worked on strengthening the Fiends For Hire brand. A major development in this came from the support of a neighboring country. As of Sextaugber 1st, every member of the Fiends For Hire was officially pardoned in the country of Regend.

It wasn’t entirely unheard of for countries to pardon individuals with global warrants, but it certainly wasn’t common either. The most recurring reason was national law differences. While the CP had its set of global laws that every member country had to follow, a good amount was still left to each country's discretion. These laws still contributed to a person’s global criminal score, but could be pardoned by countries where they weren’t illegal. Refugees seeking asylum could also receive pardons by the countries sheltering them.

The most rare reason for someone to receive a pardon was the ‘good deed’ clause. If someone were to help a country on a large scale, they could be pardoned of all crimes as recompense. This is exactly what had happened with the Fiends, since they had saved Regend from a national crisis. However, criminals with such high scores being pardoned was unheard of, so it of course received a lot of backlash.

Even though Merigauld Viscelli, the CP representative for Regend, hadn’t been involved in the decision, it still fell on her to calm the storm that followed from other CP members. It seemed she was able to handle it quite well. While it was unknown what tactics she used, she got the other members to drop the subject entirely within just a few days.

While the pardon may have seemed like a gesture of good faith as a reward for the Fiends contribution, it was much more for Regend’s benefit. The Fiends were used to being criminals, and it didn’t stop them from living their lives. Even while branded as villains, they walked around openly since almost no one would dare tell them otherwise. With this pardon, though, the Fiends could be hired legally by Regend citizens, and the government itself, without fear of repercussions.

The government wasted no time in this regard, presenting the Fiends with a veritable cornucopia of high-profile jobs for them to choose from. Each Fiend latched onto different sectors almost immediately, once they’d finished any request they were in the middle of at the time.

Kada’s job was the simplest but longest, working with the transportation sector. Her task was to clear a straight path from one end of the country to the other. The government would then use it to build both a highway and railway. It was a job only Kada was qualified to do, so they requested her specifically. She took it without hesitation, and loaded up The Tourist for a long journey.

She’d spend her days melting and reforming the land, and spend her nights either camping out alone or hanging out in a nearby town. Over the course of the job, she gained a bit of a reputation at taverns. Even though she’d struggle with getting drunk herself, she still spent her time playing pub games and chatting the night away with regulars. It was likely her upbringing around sailors that drew her to this type of crowd.

Xard mostly assisted the Regend police during this time. With his help, they were able to bring in a lot of the country’s most-wanted criminals. He’d lead raids, using his own body as the frontline, giving credence to his name as The Artillery. When he wasn’t on-call, he’d do some bounty hunting on his own, making his mark in that community as well. Some were even starting to call him ‘The Vixen’s Vigilante’.

Phon found her calling as a bodyguard, protecting high-ranking officials during escorts and helping those who needed witness protection. It was an easy job for her given her curse. Eventually, a notorious gang hired her, since she was known to be morally flexible. Word got around that this gang had beefed up their security, so not long after, an entirely separate gang hired her, not knowing she was the one hired by the first.

Phon easily convinced both gangs to fight each other after just a few days, since they’d have her as backup. She tricked them into getting into a shootout at an abandoned warehouse where she watched and laughed from the shadows as they whiddled each other down. Occasionally, she’d use her curse to throw the more cowardly of them into intense situations. Only a few were left standing, which she immediately teleported to a nearby police station.

Feyj became quite popular among Regend’s research community. He would join them on expeditions, and assist them with their findings. Thanks to a bit of training from Drim, he had also become quite adept at killing monsters, able to kill most with a single precision strike. This made him invaluable during expeditions as well, since he could keep the rest of the team safe.

Drim’s job was a bit more complicated than the rest. On paper, he was serving as a consultant for the military, helping them train a new monster hunting squad. He did actually do this every so often, but it was mostly just to show his face where he was expected to be. In actuality, Drim was hired as a spy. This was mainly due to the fact that he was the only one of them who could really pull-off the appearance of still being human.

Black hair with green eyes was an exceedingly rare combination due to genetics, but it wasn’t impossible like the others. It didn’t take too much for him to look like a different person. He changed his hair around a bit, then applied a makeup mask which was prepared by Mallea. It only took a few seconds of wearing it before all of his defining facial features were changed, along with a scar added for good measure.

Drim was posing as a hired thug, trying to get proof that a member of Regend’s government was involved in shady dealings. It was easy enough for Drim to find, but he stayed undercover for a while to try and root out any other bad seeds. Given his other ability, he had detected a few more unsavory individuals in the government’s employ. By the end of his operation, he had managed to get enough evidence to convict nine different individuals.

Over the course of these jobs, only Phon and Xard regularly returned to the compound. Their curses allowed them to travel to the nearby country as if it was just a regular work commute. Drim normally stayed at a military base, but would return on the weekends, and Feyj would return between expeditions. Kada was gone for the entire length of her job, sleeping in The Tourist most nights. Since everyone was quite busy, they only had a small meal on Xard’s birthday to celebrate, with Kada videoing in to give her regards.

On Feyj’s 70th birthday, he announced his retirement, stating that he was going to spend his remaining time in his current body studying as much as possible. He reverted back to being a recluse, rarely leaving his room, but would come out on occasion to observe the others if they were doing something interesting.

Everyone else’s jobs came to an end around the same time, and they all returned to regular life at the compound in early September. There were still plenty more job offers from Regend, but the Fiends were hesitant to take any more long term commitments. They were currently planning to launch their expansion plans in October, and a bit of internal work needed to be completed before then.

Things were going smoothly, until September 9th, the day after Phon’s birthday. A suspicious package came in the mail. Not being stupid enough to open it without checking, Phon did a quick scan with her eyes. Inside was a video tape, which they didn’t actually have the means to play. The technology was so outdated at this point that they had to ask Nathym to build a tape player. It didn’t take him long, but he seemed baffled by the request.

Finally, they got the tape ready to play, and gathered around the tv in the living room to watch. A young man appeared on the screen. He was around their age, and very clearly a Fiend. His eyes didn’t give him away at first, since they were brown. However, there was a strange consistency to the texture of his irises, as if they were a thick mud. His hair was the telling factor, with the color and shape of a bundle of seaweed.

“Greetings Fiends For Hire, my name is Sim Twelling. Only my friends can call me Sim, though, so you may address me Lord Twelling. I am sending you this message today to inform you all that I hate you. I hate you so much, with every fiber of my being! But we haven’t met, why would you hate us? That’s what you’re thinking, isn’t it? I have every reason to hate you!”

“I don’t give two zjiks about some of you being Drazahs, but everyone else won’t shut up about it. You all are famous, that I won’t refute, but you’re so damn famous that you’re hogging the spotlight. What have you all done? Nothing! Sure, you made some changes to the money, but honestly, what else? Just because of your damn last names, you and your group are hogging every ounce of notoriety.”

“In every newspaper, on every website, at the top of every news hour… All I hear about is the Cosdamned Fiends For Hire. Even the mawhging tabloids. I mean, look at this!” Sim held up a magazine and showed it to the camera. “This is from a while ago, but just look at the headline! ‘The Mermaid caught in a lingerie store. Just who is she trying to seduce? See her scandalous purchases on page 26!’ Are you kidding me?!”

“Meanwhile, I’m out here raising an army. I’m sure you’ve seen my work, my fabulous dirt soldiers that have been sewing chaos around the world. Just in case you’re all idiots too, I’ll let you know that they’ve been stealing weapons. My curse can make the soldiers, but it can’t arm them. Now, though, I have enough firepower to be taken seriously! But even with all this, I’m ignored! At best I’ll get a paragraph in the corner. This is unacceptable!”

“So here’s what we’re going to do, Fiends. You and I are going to fight and determine once and for all who the world should be watching. You Fiends versus my army. I’m sure you’re scared, and are not so stupid that you think you can win, so I’ll give you a bit of incentive. One week from now, you will come to my castle. If you don’t show up, I’ll…”

Sim paused for a moment, and looked down as if reading something off of a sheet of paper. “I’ll write nasty things about you… What? No, that’s dumb! If you don’t show up, I’ll unleash my army upon the world!” Sim then took another pause to laugh maniacally towards the sky. “I know you’re not as evil as everyone thinks, so you’ll save them from me, won’t you?” Sim grinned, and then the video cut.

“Well, that’s obviously a trap,” Xard muttered.

“Of course it is,” Phon scoffed.

“You’re still going to make us go, though, huh?” Kada inquired.

“Of course we’re going,” Drim declared.

◆◆◆

The Fiends continued their slow trek to Sim’s castle. Things were getting quite tense as they approached, especially because it was oddly quiet. If Sim’s army was as large as he claimed, then the soldiers would surely be making a lot of noise. Even the best trained soldiers can’t be completely quiet in giant groups. Small sounds add up, including breathing, to at least a notable level, especially to a Fiend’s improved senses. However, there wasn’t so much as a stir coming from the castle.

Feyj had declined joining the others on this mission due to his age, but he still provided them with some assistance. He did a full search into Sim’s background, and dug up what he could. There wasn’t much, but enough to get a general idea behind Sim’s motivations. Drim had suspicions that he’d heard the name Twelling before. It turned out that they were a former noble house aligned with the Drazah empire.

After the war, the Twelling family didn’t survive in the new world order, essentially disbanding with its members scattering across the world and assuming new identities. Sim was the direct heir to the house, but vanished entirely from the face of the planet. It was unknown who he killed or why to become a Fiend, but it was likely someone from that household.

Their best guess as to why he was doing this was that he wanted to reclaim everything he felt entitled to, every promise he heard as he was growing up. Normal people don’t hide out in abandoned castles, but it was quite possible he felt a building of that grandeur rightfully belonged to him.

The Fiends stared with stunned faces when they reached the castle. There was indeed an army in front of it, an army of thousands. Blank-faced men and women surrounded the walls on all sides. None of them were moving, standing there like lifeless statues. All of them had weapons in some form or another, some with guns and others with simple blunt objects like ladles. A few had armor, but most just had basic clothing. Even though not all of them were fully equipped, it was still a force to be feared.

“So how ‘bout it Phon, can you see him?” Drim asked.

Phon squeezed her eyes hard, straining a bit, but then sighed. “It’s no good, my curse is basically useless here,” Phon admitted. “They all have the same aura, so I can’t tell anyone apart. If he’s here, I can’t spot the difference. Plus, there are so many people clustered together that the whole castle just looks like a big brown muddy blur. I think them all having the same aura makes my curse think the castle is just one big person. Sadly, I won’t be able to teleport us much either, at least reliably anyways, as long as that horde is still around.”

“It’ll definitely be difficult to break through with that many,” Drim relayed. “I could brute force it, but it would wear me out and I probably couldn’t hold them back for long. We could use Xard’s power, and maybe mine, to approach from the air, but I imagine there are just as many inside and on the walls.”

“Unfortunately, my curse won’t help with it either,” Kada relented. “I guess that since they have auras, they count as living people. I tried it once, but nothing happened.”

“Guess that’s where I come in,” Xard spoke up. “I’ll kite them away so that you guys can infiltrate the castle and find the bastard.” Before Xard could act, a flare flew from the middle of the castle. It exploded in the air and served as a wakeup call. Every soldier was suddenly at attention. They weren’t moving or acting aggressive, but they were staring directly at the Fiends.

A familiar whirring sound started to creep into their ears, and soon there was a small fleet of helicopters on the horizon. They all had the CP insignia painted on the side. “Oh look, it’s the trap!” Kada spouted condescendingly. “Welp, guess it’s up to me to take care of that. We’ll leave Sim to the Drazah Duet.”

Phon scowled at that name, but a second later all four of their faces were contorting in pain. They all clawed at their ears, digging out their earpieces that were now blaring an unbearable screech. Undoubtedly, the CP was doing something to interfere with them. “Guess we need to upgrade our tech,” Drim surmised once they’d all been smashed.

“We left our phones behind in The Tourist too,” Kada lamented.

“It’s fine,” Drim assured them. “Stick to the plan and we should get through this. You’re up, Xard.”

“Right,” was all Xard said before stepping forward. He was a lot less sociable than usual today with a lot on his mind. He charged right towards the swarm of soldiers, and held out both of his palms. After sucking up all the energy he could, he released powerful blasts at a group of enemies. Hundreds of bodies went flying, but the energy had been so dispersed that it didn’t seem to destroy many, but injured several.

Breaking them hadn’t been his objective. He wanted their attention, and he got just that. The entire army started walking slowly towards Xard. He changed the direction that he was running, leading them away from the castle. It was striking how well his diversion worked, but the soldiers did seem pretty simple minded. It was likely that they could only process basic commands in limited amounts, and wouldn’t deviate from those instructions unless new ones were given.

Once the area was starting to clear, Kada turned her attention towards the approaching helicopters. She ran to the opposite side of the castle from Xard, not wanting to get caught up and trampled by a bunch of dirt people. Once she’d found a good spot, she switched her anchor to its launcher setting. The choppers were currently on a straight path to the Drazahs, so Kada needed to divert them.

She grabbed a few premade orbs from her purse, and launched them into the air towards the helicopter. The orbs were filled with electromagnetic disruption flares. Once they got into the sky, they exploded and a sparking fog flooded the air. It wouldn’t bring down the helicopters, or harm the people inside, but it would disrupt their systems and make them much harder to fly.

The helicopters couldn’t ignore Kada now, and would have to deal with her. This was evident as they all changed their trajectory towards her position. Kada didn’t actually have a lot of those orbs, but they wouldn’t know that. It was just enough to get them to panic, and give the two Drazahs enough time to get into the castle without the helicopters intercepting them. She glanced over towards the castle’s main entrance just in time to see the two clear the threshold. Kada’s main objective was now complete, but she still had to stop the CP from interfering further.

Drim and Phon quickly rushed through the castle. There were far fewer soldiers than they expected, assuming that Sim’s main force had been outside. They cleared through rooms one at a time as they looked for him. Phon still couldn’t pin down his exact location with her curse, but they had at least a general heading because of Drim’s unique ability. Sim was definitely on the evil side of things. It wasn’t the most evil Drim had ever felt, since no one had ever come close to matching his parents, but Sim certainly wasn’t innocent.

They cleared out any soldiers they came across, but for whatever reason, quick cuts didn’t seem to suffice. If a soldier was cut cleanly in two, the halves of the body would start to slide towards each other and reform back into a person. The more dismembered a soldier was, the more they struggled to regenerate. Either way, the recovery process took time, so they just needed to defeat them to clear a path, not worrying about what came after.

Eventually, the pair reached a garden. It was certainly the nicest place in the castle by far, and actually seemed to have been well kept and tended to. The rest of the place was falling apart, and most of the rooms were dusty and decrepit. This garden, though, was alive and blooming. The most likely reason was the large pair of doors on the other side of the garden. The siblings felt a little silly now, since of course someone as prideful as Sim would be holed up in the throne room. It should have been the first place they looked.

There was a problem, though, in the form of the towering colossus standing in front of them. It seemed it was entirely made of dirt, but still had the distinct features of a knight. Clearly, Sim had spent more effort creating this minion than any of the rest. However, like the others had been when the Fiends had arrived, this golem was inattentive and practically sleeping

The Drazah siblings decided to try their luck at sneaking past the dormant sentry. Just as they were about to reach the large doors, a stone column came crashing down in front of them. The giant wasn’t pleased with their attempt to break in, and it was evident that he’d do anything to try and stop them. The two mainly just hoped that the column hadn’t been load-bearing, since the castle was already on the brink of falling apart.

“I’ve got this, Drim,” Phon insisted as she stepped towards the colossus. “You go catch the noble prick and give him the spanking his parents never did.”

“You sure?” Drim double-checked.

“Yup, I can handle it,” Phon confirmed as she wrapped her ribbon around her eyes. “Xard’s cleared them out enough that I can teleport with at least decent accuracy. Plus, if the great noble lord tries to run, you’ll have better luck finding him than I would.”

Drim accepted her rationality, and headed through the doors. It led into a grand foyer, with another set of even more extravagant doors behind it. There were also staircases leading upwards on either side, likely to balconies that overlooked the throne room. Drim tried opening the next set of doors, but they were hard to move. They weren’t particularly heavy, but the friction against the bottom was harsh, as if the ground was grabbing the doors and refusing to let go. He was doubtful that anyone but a Fiend could open them, and eventually managed to make a wide enough gap so that he could slip through the doors

Once inside, Drim glanced around. The entire room could be called nothing but drafty. Almost every single fancy window pane was busted, and there was a sizable hole in the roof. There were weapons hanging along the walls on every side. They seemed to be of a much higher grade than those the soldiers outside were using. Some of them even seemed like they were rare historical relics that were probably stolen from museums or collectors.

There was a single long carpet along the floor, but the rest of the space seemed exceedingly dirty. At the end of the carpet was the throne. It was worn down, but still seemed sturdy and comfortable. Sim, who was sitting upon it, didn’t seem to have any complaints.

Sim was lit up by the late-afternoon sun, as if a spotlight was shining on him through the hole in the roof. He didn’t seem phased at all by his visitor, and stared almost listlessly at Drim. After a few seconds, he sat up in his seat and spoke. “Of course you’d be the one to make it here, Drim Drazah. It seems our fates have intertwined at last. I’ve always wanted to meet you, ever since I was little, but now that you’re here before me, you don’t seem so special. What a let down.”

Drim slowly walked forward. He hadn’t been attacked immediately, which meant there was a chance that this could be resolved without violence. Drim smiled at him, and retorted, “Sorry to disappoint you, Si--”

“Lord Twelling!” Sim interrupted with a roar. “Only my friends can call me Sim, and you are certainly not one of them.” Sim then grew a smirk on his face and let out a slight laugh. “Rude and a fool, just by coming into this room, you’ve already lost.”

◆◆◆

A bead of sweat dripped down Xard’s face as he stared at the horde of golem soldiers. They were never ending, and he felt like he hadn’t made any progress. His objective wasn’t actually to defeat them, but to keep them occupied long enough for the others to capture Sim. However, there was an issue: the sheer overabundant force that was this army.

They were slow-moving, so they weren’t exactly a threat, but Xard had to keep their attention exclusively on him. He wasn’t sure how smart they were, but he wasn’t going to take any chances in letting them run. It was possible that if they saw him as an unbeatable or uncatchable enemy, they’d return to their former posts. Xard had lured them a good distance away from the castle, but he couldn’t simply abandon them and fly away. He had to keep them from focusing on the other Fiends at all costs.

The others had enough to deal with. Adding an entire army on top of their troubles could prove to be too much. It would be a lot simpler if Xard could just kill them all, but that was proving far more difficult than he expected. Originally, he compared them to zombies from movies, since they were a slow but unrelenting force. However, a simple headshot wouldn’t kill them. In fact, it barely even phased them.

Xard’s energy bullets were practically useless. No matter where he shot them, they’d just regenerate. If he used his grenade ring to blow off a few limbs, they’d regenerate too, but much slower. Even if their heads came off entirely, as long as there was a body to recombine with, they’d get back up eventually. Only his missile ring proved useful. With its power, he could obliterate their bodies entirely, and there was no coming back from that.

Unfortunately, that ring had a rather significant cooldown, and it would only take out a handful of the army’s overwhelming numbers. While the missile ring was on standby, Xard would absorb the bullet and grenade rings to stack their power. He’d practiced enough to be able to hold the energy in while waiting for the missile ring to be ready and add it to that power.

Another good source of energy was the soldiers themselves. Those who had guns had been firing them this entire time with abandon. Xard had been inflicted with a barrage of bullets for the entire encounter, but he’d gotten quite used to the experience. At this point, it wasn’t really different to being in a light rain. Eventually, the golems would run out of ammo, but Xard was going to take advantage of it while he could.

It was a tedious process of hit-and-run tactics, but Xard was slowly wearing down the army’s numbers. However, he had to admit that he was being pushed-back by them. Even though they were painfully slow, they were moving in formation and without reservation. They covered ground faster than he could destroy the front lines.

A tactic he considered was purposefully letting them swarm him, and letting those with melee weapons bash him freely. Xard could then use that energy to take out a good chunk of those around him, since he didn’t imagine they’d be conservative with the energy they’d transfer. However, he was getting flashbacks to the hexadillos he’d encountered a few months ago, and shivered when he thought about it. What if they didn’t hit him hard enough, or were able to swarm him faster than he could repel? The idea of being buried alive by a pile of bodies was nightmarish and a risk he wouldn’t take.

Damn, I really messed up, Xard conceded when his back was literally against the wall. He had been so focused on not getting caught and dwindling their forces that he hadn’t paid attention to where the army was pushing him. Now, he was trapped at a choke point: the base of a cliff, with angled walls on either side of him. The army had strategically closed off any exits, so there was nowhere to run.

Xard could easily use his curse to fly away and get to safety, but he didn’t even view that as an option. If he ran, he had no doubt the army would run too once they lost their focus on him. They’d return to the castle and cause hell for the others, and none of the other Fiends were nearly as capable as him when it came to handling an army. He could attack them from the air during their retreat, but it would be impossible for him to finish them off before they made it back.

The army slowly closed in on Xard who had nowhere to go. Either way, this was going to end soon, and for Xard, failing wasn’t an option. Drim had hammered a certain point into Xard’s head, that when an animal or monster was cornered, that was when it was the most dangerous. He was starting to think that it applied to him too. Xard reached into the front of his top, and grabbed the ring that was hidden in his outfit. He gave it a good tug, and the chain around his neck broke. Then, he slid the ring which was adorned with a nuclear symbol onto the thumb of his left hand.

Only incase of emergency, right? I’d say this qualifies, Nathym. Guess this is as far as I go. I know it’s selfish, but I’m leaving the rest to you guys. If I had one regret… Xard’s thoughts paused for a second as pressure built in the back of his eyes. He managed to hold back from crying, but it still tugged at him.

If I had one regret, it’s what I said to you, Drim. I was out of line, and said things I can never take back. I’ve had a lot of time to think about what you said, what you told us about your project, and you were right. That world you want to make, it doesn’t seem so bad after all. I hope I get to see it one day, and I’m sorry.

The pain from the ring fusing to his nerves hurt, but it didn’t compare at all to what came next. Xard absorbed the energy from the ring, but he did it too early. The power was overwhelming, far more than he could have possibly imagined. His body felt like it was going to pop, but he had to hold onto the energy. The army wasn’t close enough yet. He had to make sure that he got all of them. With this amount of energy, he’d surely kill them all even if he released it right away, but that was the problem.

If he released it openly, there was no telling how far it would spread. It was highly probable it would destroy the castle and kill everyone in it, and even had the potential to ruin the nearby town. Nathym hadn’t been exaggerating when he said it had the power of a nuclear bomb. Xard would have to limit the explosion radius around him as much as possible, and fire most of it into the air above him. This meant he needed the army to be as close as he could get them.

Xard keeled over, the energy rampaging through his insides. It was far too much, and it was starting to damage his body. In a few places he felt his skin rupture, golden blood squirting out and coating the ground. His body wanted to force the energy out as soon as possible, but he had to hold on longer. Closer dammit, get closer!

At this point, Xard was barely conscious. His attention was entirely on keeping the energy from leaking out, and he barely noticed when there were footsteps directly next to him. The soldiers started wailing on his body, but his curse couldn’t protect him. He didn’t have the mental capacity to turn his curse on, and even if he could, his body couldn’t hold another drop of energy.

Finally ready to release, Xard focused all of his awareness to the area above him, a last ditch effort to direct the flow of energy. The next second, a Rathe shattering boom echoed throughout the region. In the sky directly above the epicenter, clouds were missing large chunks of fluff that had been there previously, as if they’d been bored through. There was now a massive circle of pure blue sky, with just a single glint of gold etched in crimson blood at the center.

Xard’s banner had been blown off of his body and into the air. It slowly fluttered down into the brand-new massive crater that decorated the landscape. It fell past mounds of unnaturally colored dirt, and landed on the only other object in the crater. Laid there was a mangled body, with each limb twisted and torn. Golden blood was leaking out of every inch, soaking into the cracked ground below.

◆◆◆

The helicopters had circled around Kada, as if they were a flight of bees, waiting to sting her from any direction. Like Xard, she had done her best to lure them away from the castle. Eventually, however, she found herself blocked by a wide river, preventing her from progressing further. She could easily swim across, but that would leave her exposed to an attack. While she could dive deep into the water to lessen the danger from bullets, a single well placed electric charge could be deadly.

Kada could also swim in the ground underneath the river, but wasn’t confident she could hold her breath for that long, and was now regretting not having the foresight to bring her oxygen gear. Even if she could swim the length, it probably would be counterintuitive to her efforts. The CP was only targeting her because she was a direct threat to them. Undoubtedly, their main targets were Drim and Phon, with herself and Xard as secondary objectives. If she were to vanish, they’d likely return to hunting the Drazahs.

Along this riverbed is where she’d have to make her stand. The CP had already taken a few shots at her with the mounted guns on the helicopters, but they were ineffective, of course. Kada re-formed one of the bullets that had hit her, and tried to melt the rest in their guns, but nothing happened. Wow, randomized metals for each individual bullet? That’s some dedication.

It was likely then that each helicopter was made of randomized materials as well, meaning that even if she brought down one, it wouldn’t let her take down the rest. Kada slid her thumb along the backside of her purse string, activating each material. It would likely prove a futile effort, but she might get some results out of it. A few liquids dripped from some of the helicopters, but it all seemed to be from non-essential components.

Just as Kada was about to give up, there was a clink from one of the helicopters. The rotor popped off entirely, and the helicopter immediately began plummeting towards the ground. Three men bailed out before the impact: a pilot and two soldiers. All of them managed to deploy their parachutes and get far enough away before the helicopter exploded into a fireball.

This was definitely relieving for Kada since it was one less helicopter to worry about, but now she had to deal with the troops on the ground. Both the pilot and one of the soldiers landed hard, likely breaking a few bones in the process. It seemed the pilot got off easier and could still move, but it appeared that the soldier broke both of their legs. The second soldier landed perfectly, and immediately started charging at Kada.

She didn’t hesitate in responding either, immediately flinging her anchor at him. It was thrown low to the ground, and the soldier jumped over it to dodge. However, Kada’s intention had never been to hit from the front. If the sharpened edge of her anchor hit his legs, it would sever them. As soon as the soldier landed back on his feet, Kada recalled her anchor, and it hooked the soldier’s legs while rapidly pulling him towards her. She continued the momentum, swinging the soldier past her, and slamming him into the river behind her. He was then caught in the rough currents and swept downstream.

The pilot, despite her injury, didn’t give up. She pulled out a pistol and started hobbling towards Kada while firing. While melting the bullets that were hitting her, Kada pulled out a new orb from her purse and loaded it into her anchor. It contained a substance she hadn’t tested before, but assumed it would get the job done. Kada fired at the pilot, and then the orb exploded into a thick gooey foam which expanded and wrapped around the pilot’s entire body. She was immobilized by the foam, with only her head poking out to allow her to breathe.

Wow, that worked way better than expected, Kada praised the foam’s usability. Now, I wonder if.... Kada had another foam orb, so she loaded it and then fired it at one of the helicopters. The helicopter tried to dodge, but the foam managed to hit just a small piece. That was enough, though, and the foam expanded and encapsulated the entire helicopter both inside and out.

The rotor stopped spinning, and the helicopter plummeted like the first. However, this one didn’t explode. It just sort of thumped when it hit the ground with nothing else of note happening. Kada had to guess that the foam absorbed all of the shock. Hopefully, like with the first shot, those trapped inside would be granted enough clear space to breathe.

While Kada didn’t exactly want to kill these people, they were trying to kill her, so she wasn’t going to hold back while defending herself. She rummaged through her purse to see what else she could use. There were quite a few bombs, but she’d save those as a last resort since they’d surely kill the soldiers, assuming she hit them. Oh this? I forgot I had this.

Kada pulled out the anvil orb Nathym had bequeathed to her when he first arrived. Now she just needed to find an opportunity to use it. One of the helicopters had their doors open, and the soldiers were firing out of it with assault rifles. It seemed they had tried this as a different tactic, using incendiary ammo that wasn’t compatible with their turrets. This ammo didn’t work either, and it honestly felt quite nice on Kada’s skin, kind of like a hot rock massage. She just had to make sure to melt it a few inches before it hit her, so the ammo didn’t burn her clothes.

The helicopter was flying around, trying to get different angles on her, even though none of them worked. Kada waited for them to be in the spot she wanted before firing. Once the orb was only a few feet away from hitting one of the soldiers, she broke it, and reverted the anvil back to its full form. It hit the first soldier, rammed him backwards into the second, and then both of them went flying out of the other side of the helicopter. They landed in the river beneath and were swept downstream.

After that, the other helicopters decided to regroup and fly a bit higher, in the hopes of getting out of the range of her shots. While they were settling into their new formation, Kada decided to check on the soldier with broken legs. He was unconscious, but alive at least. She felt a little bad that she was the reason his treatment was being delayed. If possible, she’d like to wrap this up quickly.

The sun was going to start setting soon, which would lower visibility. It wasn’t a problem for her, since she could use her goggles, but it would make the CP even more cautious. Kada didn’t want to drag this out any longer than she had to, wishing they had started their assault on the castle earlier in the day.

The delay had been partially her fault. They’d flown to the nearby town in The Tourist, but Kada had originally passed it by accident. In her defense, all the small towns looked exactly the same from high in the air. That detour had cost them about an hour, and when they finally arrived, it took them a good while to find a place to stash The Tourist.

Once that was settled, it was already mid afternoon, but they decided they should eat first. The flight had already made them miss lunch, and they didn’t know when they’d get to eat again. This caused a huge debate on where to eat which consumed even more time. Most people would already be on their way home from work by the time they finally headed towards the castle.

Kada was thinking about her next move when she heard some chatter nearby. It was coming from the unconscious soldier. She rummaged around his body and found a radio. Thinking it would prove useful, she clipped it to her swim trunks and headed back towards the river bank. Based on their conversation, it seemed her suspicions were correct, and that they were going to keep their distance from her.

“Launching a missile,” she heard over the radio, and seconds later there was one flying right at her. It wasn’t huge, but would still deal considerable damage. They had waited for her to be clear of their comrades before firing. The explosion from the missile could certainly prove dangerous to her, so she had to melt it before it made impact with the ground. She planted her feet into the ground and kicked off hard, dashing as fast as she could.

Kada made it just in time, tapping the missile mere feet before it would explode. It turned into a puddle of goop that splattered onto the ground. Well, I wasn’t going to use explosives, but if you’re just going to give them to me… Kada sucked up the missile into an orb and loaded it into her anchor. She kept a small droplet of the goop for herself just in case.

She did this as a contingency in case the anchor didn’t launch the orb the needed distance. It indeed fell short by just a bit, so Kada reformed the missile, then used the goop to make the missile crunch in on itself. This triggered the explosion, which barely managed to hit the tail rotor of one of the helicopters. It was sent into a tailspin, but all of the occupants bailed into the river before the helicopter crashed on the other side.

This made the CP even more cautious, flying even higher, annoying Kada in the process. Ugh fine, if you’re not going to come to me, then I’ll go to you. With aggravation in her hands, she loaded a bomb into her anchor. She shoved the muzzle into the ground, then stood on the anchor’s arms. An explosion erupted beneath her feet, and she was sent flying into the air.

She didn’t quite get enough height, so she flung her anchor towards the nearest helicopter. It hooked onto the skids and she used the anchor’s magnetism to pull herself to it and grab hold. Before anything else, she loaded another bomb into the anchor as preparation. The door on the helicopter slid open, and a soldier pointed a gun right at her head. Kada smirked at him and advised, “I suggest you aim for the water.”

Kada placed her hand against the helicopter's main body and melted it all away. The three occupants were suddenly exposed to the air, and started plummeting towards the ground. Kada angled herself in the air, and fired her anchor once more. She went soaring towards another helicopter, using the same method as before to latch onto it. After repeating this method for a total of four helicopters, they finally scrambled enough so that she couldn’t reach any of them.

There was no other choice but for her to return to the ground. Kada dove into the dirt with her curse, not wanting to foolishly break her legs. Once she resurfaced, she heard over the radio, “Switching to experimental ammunition.” Every door on every helicopter opened and every soldier pointed their rifles at her after swapping out their ammo mags.

Kada didn’t know what this experimental ammo was, but she decided it was probably best that she didn’t stay a stationary target. She started running along the riverbank, alternating her speed every few feet to trip up the soldiers. They started firing on her, but their distance made them lousy shots. She’d wait for a break in their firing before trying to grab one of the bullets so she could examine it and determine if it was a threat.

As she was running, there was suddenly a massive boom in the distance. The shaking almost knocked her off her feet, but she managed to keep her balance. Ultimately, she couldn’t help but divert her attention. That was the direction Xard had led the horde, so she was worried about what foolish thing he had done.

Kada wasn’t stupid enough to leave herself entirely defenseless during this, and made sure her curse continued to radiate around her, but it didn’t matter. Her eyes grew wide and her body tensed up as she felt a striking pain in her back. She knew the cause immediately. No way… are these bullets… alive? A few more shots riddled her backside before she collapsed. Silver blood trailed out of her, flowing down into the river where it was swept away by the water.

◆◆◆

“Why have I lost?” Drim inquired. “Do we really need to fight at all?”

“Of course we do!” Sim boasted. “How else will we know which of us is superior?”

“Does that really matter, though?” Drim insisted.

“I’d say nothing matters more.” Sim leaned forward in his seat as he glared at Drim. “I told you that I don’t hate you for being a Drazah, but I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a factor. You see, my family were loyal Drazah supporters during the war, and they suffered the consequences when the war ended. I can’t blame you for that, even though you were the one who ended it. They just backed the wrong horse.”

“In fact, I’d say what you did was almost inspiring, changing your destiny with your own hands. I’m not sure how much you know of this, but among the Drazah supporters, you were highly praised. Well, that’s honestly an understatement, some in my own family even saw you as a messiah after you were born. You were to be the one to lead the world after your parents.”

“I always wanted to meet you when I was little. My family talked constantly about how we would rule the world together as the successors to our houses. After the war… I was in despair. I was terrified of what was to come, our future was so uncertain and no one had any answers. One-by-one my family disappeared, taking the future they’d promised me with them. I understand now, though, that one’s future can’t be plotted out by someone else. You were the one who showed me that.”

“After you killed your parents, you were just a boy with nothing, but you carved out your own path. You became The Slayer, a world-renowned monster hunter that everyone respected. No one knew who you really were, but you were famous nonetheless. Then… then you went and ruined it! You told the world who you were, and cashed in on your name. The gaul is unimaginable. How greedy you must be?”

“I don’t know your reasons; whether you just wanted the notoriety you once held, or if it’s all part of some insidious plot, but it doesn’t matter. No one gives two zjiks about The Slayer anymore. They don’t see the monster hunter who rose to the top. It’s just Drim Drazah now, the man everyone can’t look away from. That’s why I hate you!”

“Like you, I’ve been working hard to build my own future, but I’m not relying on my past. I’ve raised my own army with my own hands, and soon the world will see just what I’m capable of. They’ll see how superior I am to Drim Drazah, the false messiah, the one unworthy of anyone’s attention. Now let me tell you why you’ve lost. Do you see what you’re standing on? It’s dirt, a foot of dirt covering every inch of the floor. With that, I can make my soldiers endlessly.”

Sim snapped his fingers, and golems appeared all around the room. They grabbed weapons off the wall and encircled Drim. In response, Drim widened his stance, and readied his blades, expecting that he’d need to block. He also activated his curse, making the air around his wrists glow, able to shoot out plants at a moment's notice. “Look at you, a true fighter,” Sim patronized him. “I want to know which is the real you; The Slayer or a child who leeches off their parent’s fame.”

Every golem attacked Drim at once; thrusting, slicing, or swinging their weapons at him. A slew of thorned black vines slipped out from Drim’s wrists, grabbing every weapon and holding them in the air. Drim then spun, slicing every dirt soldier in half. He then sent all of his thorns directly at Sim.

“Hmph, nice try,” Sim scoffed. A wall of soldiers appeared before Sim, already holding weapons that must have been hiding in the dirt. They blocked each thorned vine by either grabbing them or cutting them. Before Drim could try anything else, every soldier around him had regenerated and were preparing their next attack.

Drim used his thorns to wrap up all of his attackers, and then sent a barrage of gami leaves flying at the protective wall. The leaves vanished inside the golems and broke out on the other side. However, traversing through the dirt caused them to lose all of their momentum, so they piled up uselessly behind the wall.

Every soldier that had been trapped by Drim vanished, returning back to the dirt floor from whence they came. A minute later, they’d all reformed, free of any restraints. This was already getting annoying, having to take care of a wave of attackers before each attempt at attacking Sim.

Drim dispatched this next group a little more thoroughly, cutting each one into eight distinct pieces so they’d take longer to regenerate. Now he had a bit of time to focus, and summoned a much thicker tentacle-like vine, akin to one he would use in his Thorned Tyrant mode. Using only one was much less stressful on him, but should have substantial power. It also wouldn’t force him to stay in one spot, which would make him vulnerable to attacks from soldiers popping up beneath his feet.

The new vine pierced right through the soldier wall with ease, and was on its way to grabbing Sim directly. However, it was stopped mere inches from Sim’s face. All the soldiers forming the wall had grabbed the vine and managed to stop it in its tracks with their sheer strength. Drim wouldn’t have the power to summon another and attack with the same amount of ferocity without leaving himself weak and exposed.

It was becoming quite evident that he’d get nowhere with head-on attacks, not as long as Sim could maintain his protective wall. The soldiers around Drim had almost regenerated, so he dispatched them again before they could attack. Now, he’d try a new tactic: striking from above. Drim wouldn’t risk using his vines to pull him up high, since that could potentially bring down the entire room.

Instead, bamboo shoots sprouted at Drim’s feet, growing fast and launching him into the air. Drim then shot several small vines towards Sim. A few wrapped around his wrists, but he was able to easily break free of them with his own strength. That had just been a diversion, though. The other vines latched onto Sim’s throne, and then Drim reeled them in, sending Drim flying right towards Sim. Drim prepared his feet, aiming to give Sim a good kick rather than stabbing him with his blades.

Before he knew it, Drim’s entire body was in pain as he was hit with a strong blunt impact. A giant golem, not quite as large as the colossus outside, but of a similar stature had sprouted up and smacked Drim. This sent Drim flying backwards, crashing into the floor, and skidding back almost the entire way to the door, leaving a trench in his wake.

Sim didn’t waste any time, summoning two golems right next to Drim to try and strike him while his guard was down. Drim managed to roll out of the way, and leapt back up to his feet. This positioned Drim so that the two soldiers were directly in a line in front of him. Drim punched the first soldier in the face, his hand sinking into the soldier’s head as it crumbled to dust. Then, Drim made the blade on his wrist spring forward, extending and stabbing the second soldier behind the first.

Drim used his extended blade to slice downwards, chopping both soldiers in half. He then cut them up a bit more, not wanting a surprise attack from behind any time soon. Once they were dispatched, he returned to the center, and soon another circle of golems was around him.

The fight continued for a while in the same pattern. Drim would take care of those attacking him, then make another attempt at nabbing Sim. So far, not much progress had been made on either side. Sim stayed well protected, and Drim hadn’t really been injured. It was quickly becoming a war of attrition, seeing who would run out of steam first and make a mistake.

During the fight, Drim did pick up on a few things, though. The soldiers Sim was attacking with were much more nimble and strong than those outside or any he’d seen before. It was likely that Sim was controlling these directly, which gave them their power. There were also less soldiers attacking him over time, meaning Sim was likely getting a bit tired from overusing his curse.

However, Sim’s protective wall of soldiers never got weaker, and the giant golem stuck around to protect him as well. He was putting all he had into defense, while being lax with offense. This was a good strategy, because even if he couldn’t attack anymore, as long as he could defend, he’d have a higher chance at winning.

Drim was confident that he could win this through strength and endurance alone. However, he wanted to end it as quickly as possible. The longer he spent fighting Sim, the longer his companions would have to fight too. He didn’t know how they were fairing in their own fights, but he did know they were in greater danger the longer Sim was a factor. Drim needed Sim to put himself on the line, otherwise this battle could go on for hours.

He eventually came up with an idea, a tactic he didn’t really want to use. In fact, the very idea made him feel uneasy, but from what he knew of Sim, it was his best bet. Once Drim vanquished the newest batch of soldiers, he stood confident and smirked. “How are you fairing, Sim? You look tired. Would you like a break?” Drim then quickly summoned a chair made out of plants and took a seat. He didn’t have to worry about being attacked for roughly a minute, so he could afford to be relaxed.

“Don’t you dare call me Sim!” Lord Twelling belted with all his might. “Only my friends can call me that!”

“But do you have any friends, Sim?” Drim mocked him, as he got even more comfortable. “As far as I can see, you’re all alone. Do you even have anyone at all? No family either? Why is that?”

“Shut up, what could you know about my life?!” Sim responded in anger.

“You were abandoned, weren’t you?” Drim pushed further. “Was it because no one wanted you? Did they see you as the weak coward you are? You claim to be making your own future, but all I see is a scared wimp hiding behind his toy soldiers. They’re the ones doing all the work. Even if you beat me, could you say you were the one who did it? You who didn’t lift a finger and let others do all his fighting for him, just like a good worthless noble should.”

“You dare?! You dare call me a coward?! You dare judge me?!” Sim raged. “I’m the one on the throne here, and you’re the one in that pretender’s chair!”

“Yet when they talk about this fight in the future, my name will be the only one everyone remembers,” Drim went for the throat. “It will be the great battle of Drim Drazah, versus some noble from a dead family that no one remembers, some craven who was too scared to even face me head-on. I’ll be sure to clip it out and put it on my wall. At least then you’ll have one person to remember you.”

If his mother was conscious, Drim imagined she’d be fawning over him right now. However, she had expended an exorbitant amount of energy a few days ago and probably wouldn’t wake up for another week or two.

“That’s it!” Sim leapt up from his chair. Every single golem in the room vanished, and only Sim was left standing there. Dirt started to swirl around him, coating him entirely. A new creation started to form, a new monster. It was one giant body, with dozens of arms. Smaller hands formed around the room, picking up every weapon, and carrying it to the mutant.

Sim was at the center of it all. His face was covered by a protective guard, but Drim could still see the glint of his muddy eyes. “You want to fight me? Fine, I’ll crush you!” Sim started stamping towards Drim, the ground shaking under the dirt armor’s strong legs.

A hail of weapons were thrusted towards Drim. He tried to block with his vines like before, but the strength behind them was far greater. They easily broke through Drim’s defense, forcing him to dodge out of the way. Several of the weapons stabbed into the ground, and Drim used the opportunity to slice the shaft of one of the spears. He grabbed the tipped end, and lunged it directly at Sim’s face. It was a dead-on shot, but Sim managed to block it with one of his many arms.

Sim retaliated with another barrage of blows. Drim dodged again, and did his best to break as many weapons as possible when they were stuck in the ground. If a weapon wouldn’t easily break like a sword, he’d cut off the arm holding it instead. To Drim’s surprise, new weapons surfaced from the dirt, making it evident that Sim had stockpiled a cache in advance. If nothing else, Drim had to admire Sim’s preparatory skills.

The arms Drim had cut off came back in seconds as well. It was clear that it wasn’t going to be an easy fight, but this was more what Drim was used to. He wasn’t fighting an army anymore, he was fighting a rampaging beast. Drim swept the armor’s legs, ripping them from the main body. Sim dropped to the floor with an echoing thud, but sprouted up a second later sporting brand new legs.

It would be helpful if Drim had a gauge that let him know how much Sim’s curse was draining him. He didn’t know how long Sim had possessed his curse, but using them to this degree wasn’t easy. It was clear that Sim was well practiced, with excellent reaction times for someone who looks like they’ve never been in a proper fight. The idea of wearing him down from overusing his curse was still logical, but Drim was less sure of how long that’d take. Most likely, he’d need to finish this fight with a more direct method.

After dodging another fury of blows, Drim leapt a few steps backwards in the room. He swapped to his bow, and rapidly fired several shots. They were all originally aimed at Sim’s face, which he guarded in response. This had been a feint by Drim, and he redirected their trajectory mid-flight. They were now all aimed at where Drim believed his body would be in that bulging dirt armor.

Each shot pierced the dirt, but they didn’t penetrate as deeply as Drim hoped. He used his curse to push them in further. It wasn’t much since they didn’t have momentum, but he’d take any inch he could get. Sim wailed a bit, so it seemed a few pricked him, but none did any serious damage. Drim repeated the same tactic using his vines, trying to rip him out of the dirt, but the arms cut them all before Drim could burrow the thorns deep enough.

It seemed that Drim had no other choice but to accept that he’d have to use his blades. They were the only thing that could cut into the dirt deep enough without being hampered. This meant that he’d have to get in close, but it wouldn’t be easy. Drim stopped dodging Sim’s attacks. Instead, he would deflect any that would hit him directly to try and create an opening. This was far more dangerous, but it was the best way to get results.

A few attacks knicked Drim, those that he couldn’t deflect in time or chose not to because they weren’t serious. He got a few cuts and his clothes were torn up a bit, but it was nothing that would stop him from pressing on. The two of them exchanged blows for quite a while. Drim took a few slices at Sim, but he never had that perfect opportune moment.

Finally, it came. Sim was attacking wide with all of his arms, trying to pincer Drim from both sides. However, this left his body completely open to attack. Drim didn’t hesitate, and went right for the attack. About a foot away, he had his blades ready, raring to strike. A hole opened up in Sim’s armor, and a spear flew out of it, driven forward by a new hand. The spear pierced right through Drim’s torso and out the other side, impaling him with a streak of green blood trailing from the tip.

“Ahaha, I can’t believe you fell for it!” Sim mocked his skewered victim. Drim stood there silently, with blood slowly leaking out of his chest. He didn’t move or react, his eyes silhouetted by his hair. The next moment, there was a loud explosion nearby. The entire throne room reverberated, and any glass that was still in the window panes was blown free.

Sim’s eyes drifted towards the direction of the noise, but Drim’s didn’t. They started to burn brightly, cutting through the shadow on his face. He stepped forward, pushing ahead as if nothing was wrong. More blood streaked on the spear as it traveled through his body, scraping along his insides as he moved. Drim raised his arms, and slashed forward with both blades with all of his might.

◆◆◆

The column came crashing down towards Phon, bearing the full force of the titan’s strength with it. She teleported out of the way and on top of the colossus’s shoulder. Its attacks were strong but slow, so it wouldn’t have time to react to her quick actions. Phon wrapped her yo-yo around the giant’s shoulder and then activated the buzzsaw. It ripped through the shoulder as she pulled the string, severing it entirely.

The arm crashed to the ground, and the golem crashed down after it. This made Phon lose her balance and fall off, but she was able to catch herself and teleport before she hit the floor. Phon had to severely limit the range of her vision to be able to teleport at all. With all the noise caused by the dirt army, it blurred everything to the point of being useless. However, by just focusing on the garden, she could see and move freely.

It was a shame what they were doing to the place. Phon didn’t really care that much about aesthetics and decor, but could appreciate when it was done well. This garden had been well kept, and seemed like a tranquil spot to relax and have tea. Now the colossus had smashed the place to bits. Every chair and trellis was wrecked, and every flower had been trampled.

The arm didn’t take long at all to reattach, but Phon had been counting the seconds. She wanted to know exactly how much time she had to try out new tactics before she had to be on the defensive. Even if she cut off one limb, she had to be wary of the others, but if she ever damaged the giant knight, its main objective seemed to be repairing itself.

The knight tried crushing her again, swinging the pillar downwards and slamming into the dirt. She teleported on top of the now horizontal column, right next to its hand. Phon repeated the same severing tactic on its wrist that she had just done to its shoulder. The end of the column she was standing on crashed to the floor too, and the colossus knelt down to retrieve its hand.

Phon teleported next to the giant’s head, and stiffened the string on her yo-yo after unfurling it about two feet. She activated the buzzsaw again, practically transforming it into a handheld chainsaw. Phon stabbed the saw into the giant’s head, ripping it to shreds. She then pushed down, swinging the saw from side to side. Dirt flew everywhere as Phon meticulously cut the giant in half all the way through.

The colossus’s body fully split in two. One half fell forward and the other collapsed backwards. Phon had to believe she could relax now, completely separating it into two pieces that were no longer touching had to be the end of it. The other soldiers they’d come across could recover from this, but they weren’t even close in magnitude. To her dismay, the dirt started moving.

The colossus slowly reformed itself, starting from the bottom and finishing with its head. Phon didn’t even bother attacking it while it was regenerating because she didn’t know what she’d do. Electricity was useless against it, so that meant she’d have to destroy it completely in one go. This was a problem because of its size. It took so long to cut it in half that it would start regenerating before she could cut it in half again.

Phon wracked her brain for ideas, and the longer she thought on the matter, the more pissed off she got. Having an enemy that was easy to beat but impossible to kill was infuriating. Normally, when she killed something, it stayed dead. Occasionally, she’d get a stubborn bastard who’d cling to life, but this was just ridiculous.

The giant stared at her as it readied its next strike, like it was looking down on an ant it was about to crush. “Alright, I’ve had it!” Phon blurted. “I will not be looked down on by an oversized dirt clod!” Phon let her yo-yo spin at her feet for a moment to make sure it was still in perfect order. “Let me show you what the eight time-undefeated yo-yo world champion is capable of! First, let’s get rid of your toy!”

Of course, the golem ignored her words and readied itself to attack her again. This time, it tried crushing her with the tip of the column, as if it were stabbing a spike in the ground. It held the column above her, but she didn’t dodge out of the way. She flung her yo-yo straight into the air, and it spiraled around the column all the way to the top. Phon tugged the string down right as the giant began its attack. The yo-yo retracted with blazing speed, the buzzsaw digging deep into the column.

Before the column could splatter her, it shattered to pieces above her head. Phon teleported out of the way of the falling debris as it rained down on where she had been standing. While the golem was preoccupied staring at the broken remains, Phon began her next attack. From behind, she launched her yo-yo at the golem. Rather than try to strike anything, she wrapped it around the golem with the string.

Thanks to the string upgrade from Nathym, Phon could practically extend the length of it endlessly. To this day she didn’t know how long it went. She’d tried to measure it a few times, but she always got bored in the middle when it got out of the range of her vision. As far as she was concerned, its length was infinite, and she was banking on that.

Even though the string could go on forever, the momentum of her throw wouldn’t. To counteract this, she activated the buzzsaw which dug into the titan’s dirt skin. It began running all along the knight, with Phon able to control its direction like a puppet master. The yo-yo trenched all around its body, leaving string behind to bind it further.

The colossus tried to free itself, but the more it was wrapped up, the more its movements were contained. Phon had been very careful about the order she wrapped it, because if she tried to bind its arms first, it would probably be able to break free. She confined the easier areas first to limit its range of motion before tackling the limbs.

The yo-yo trenched on, eventually reaching a point where the string would overlap. Instead of the buzzsaw cutting through it, any teeth that were about to impact the string would momentarily retract as it passed over. During the process, there had been a world shaking quake, but Phon ignored it, entirely focused on her attack. It took a while, but soon the golem was entirely wrapped in Phon’s string, like a fly trapped in a spider’s web. The knight was now completely immobile, but that wasn’t good enough for Phon. She needed to destroy it.

The buzzsaw plunged into the dead center of the colossus. Phon took a deep breath as she got ready. “I think I’ll call this move ‘The Atom Splitter’,” she muttered to herself as she wrapped the end of the yo-yo’s string around her hands to get a better grip. Phon then tugged with every ounce of her strength as the yo-yo inside the giant began whirring with maximum intensity.

Slowly, the golem started to shrink. Its entire body was being pulled into the buzzsaw, which was mulching the knight to dust an inch at a time. Phon strained herself as she pulled, the golem getting smaller with each passing second, being devastated from the inside-out. Finally, the string that had wrapped up the golem hit the buzzsaw itself, causing it to shut off and limp to the floor.

Phon recalled her yo-yo, returning it to its normal setting while shaking off some excess dirt as she stared at her work. All that was left was a pile of finely shredded dirt, that was now closer to sand in texture. Finally having accomplished her task, Phon let herself relax for a moment. Once she’d let the adrenaline subside, she finally expanded her vision to see how the others were doing. “Huh…? Drim?!”

◆◆◆

Phon Drazah teleported into the throne room. At her feet, Drim was laying face-forward on the ground. There was a hole in his cloak encircled in green blood, with an upsetting amount of blood pooling beneath his body. “No way… Drim… lost?” Phon couldn’t believe her quivering eyes. She searched around for answers, but didn’t have to look far.

There was another liquid that was now starting to mix with Drim’s blood. It was brown, and looked like mud, but it had the consistency of blood as well. Phon followed the trail, but it didn’t go far, and there was no source. She continued following that direction anyways, her eyes eventually landing on the throne. “I see, he didn’t lose then.”

Sim Twelling was sitting on his throne, with his own, even larger pool of blood at the base of the chair. Most likely, he had used one of his soldiers to pick him up and carry him, which would explain the gap in the blood trail. There was an x-shaped gash in his chest. It was extremely deep, and through the liquid that looked like sewage, Phon could practically see his organs.

Both of his arms had been cut off completely as well, and were now resting against the sides of his throne. There was no doubt in Phon’s mind. Sim Twelling would die. He was losing too much blood, and even being a Fiend wouldn’t save him now. She didn’t know how long it would take; minutes, hours, it could even be an entire day when the regenerative properties of a Fiend was factored in, but he would die nonetheless. It was possible that he could be saved if treated, but as far as she was aware, no help was coming for him.

“Alright Drim, you did a good job,” Phon smiled at her collapsed brother. “Let's get you out of her and then we’ll get you patched up.” Phonscience went to grab Drim’s piece but… “What…? I can’t move him? Why can’t I move him?!” Phon started to panic, her mind refusing to accept it as she desperately tried to grab his piece.

“Phon Drazah…” Sim rasped from his chair, clearly in pain. “I have no business with you… But I’m not done with him. Leave us!” Phon didn’t respond, still refusing to accept the situation. “I’ll be the one who ended Drim Drazah once and for all, the man who overcame him and removed any trace of his existence. I’ll devour him.”

The dirt around the room started to shift. Soon, several beasts had been formed from the soil. Their heads were those of snarling hounds, but their bodies were closer to apes. Even though they weren’t technically alive, they looked starved and feral. “Move out of the way,” Sim demanded. “Look at him, he’s already dead. All that’s left is to clean up the mess. If you stay here, my beasts will eat you too.”

“No… No, I won’t let you have him!” Phon cried. “It doesn’t matter that I can’t move him. Whether he’s alive or not, I’ll protect him! Even if I failed in saving his life, I can still save him from you! No matter what, that’s my job as his sister, to keep him safe. That’s why…”

Phon spun the ring on her finger to green, and then pulled out her yo-yo. It came apart, and she held one half in each hand. There was another ring on the second half, which she attached to her free hand. The metal of the yo-yo started to expand, getting thinner with every inch. Soon, she had two large discs, which bowed in the middle, resting on the outside of each hand. “That’s why my real weapon is shields!”

While Sim was caught off guard, Phon threw one of her shields at the beasts. Just before it hit, teeth bared around the shield’s circumference, spinning rapidly and ripping the beast to shreds. Phon pulled the shield back just in time to block a beast that had charged her. She bashed it in the head and pushed it back, then swiped her other shield at it, cutting it in half with the saw.

Then, the whole pack started to swarm her. She’d block them and then strike back as soon as there was an opening. However, the highest priority was protecting Drim. She’d do anything to keep him from getting hurt, even if it was ultimately pointless. If nothing else, Phon would make sure no more damage was done to his body, not so much as a single new scratch.

It didn’t matter how she protected him, whether it was with the shields or her own body. A few times when her shield’s were flying around, she’d block the bite of an attacking beast with one of her limbs. She had to mentally apologize to Drim over and over for getting her blood on him.

Sim had gone quiet, his eyes were closed, and it looked like he had lost consciousness. However, the beasts kept coming, spawning as rapidly as Phon could defeat them. Not a second went by that she didn’t feel overwhelmed, but somehow she kept pushing through. It didn’t take her long to fully retreat to Drim’s body, huddling over it to make sure no beast could get close.

Hours passed, or at least that was Phon’s best guess. She’d lost track of time long ago. The morning sun peaking through the hole in the ceiling was her main indicator. She’d been at this all night, or maybe the sun was a fever dream. She was beyond exhausted, and could hardly stay focused.

Her arms had ached relentlessly for hours, but now they’d just gone numb. She could still move them, but that was the only thing. The rest of her body was dead, unable to move an inch, she simply didn’t have the energy to spare. She was now straddling Drim’s back, having lost the ability to stand at some point. Her eyes had glossed over, and she was barely able to process what was in front of her anymore, mostly reacting on instinct.

The beasts never stopped, but they did slow down. Both the speed at which they were created and how fast they moved had steadily declined, seemingly inline with Phon’s own exhaustion. Finally, they stopped entirely, and the room went quiet, except for some low muttering coming from the throne.

“Don’t go… please don’t go,” Sim pleaded. “Why are you leaving? Don’t leave me all alone... Everyone always leaves me, and now you’re abandoning me too… Please stay, I beg of you. Without you, I’ll have no one… No, I won’t let you go…” With those final words, Sim Twelling finally passed away.

Phon’s arms went limp the moment she knew they were out of danger. Her shields clunked to the dirt, shrinking back to their normal size as a yo-yo. After that, she lost all semblance of time as her mind went blank. All Phon knew was that at some point there was a lot of noise.

Soldiers entered the throne room, undoubtedly from the CP, but Phon didn’t have the energy to check. They pointed guns at her, and removed the ribbon from her eyes, but she didn’t react at all. She just sat there, as lifeless as her brother, barely processing what was going on around her.

A lot of chatter was coming from the soldiers, but Phon didn’t really pay attention. Someone was giving orders to the rest. Only one line stuck out to her from the slew of reports. “We’ve recovered the bodies of The Mermaid and The Artillery.”

Eventually, Phon was lifted to her feet. She wasn’t sure how she had the energy to stay standing, but it seemed her body was working automatically at this point. A soldier roughly grabbed her arms, pulling them behind her back, and slid them into handcuffs that were closer to large metal clamps. They covered the entirety of her forearms and were extremely heavy. A normal human would need all their strength to stay balanced.

The last thing Phon saw was a bag being placed over her head. It wasn’t the normal dark bag used to obstruct people’s vision, this bag was filled with lights. They were blinding, and they stung her eyes even when they were shut. Eventually, she got used to it, but it never stopped being unpleasant.

She was escorted to a vehicle and then more time passed: hours, or maybe a day. She was carted all around, transfering vehicles a few times. At one point she may have been in a skycraft based on the noise.

Finally, her hood was removed. Phon was in a car enroute to a destination she didn’t know. There was a man sitting across from her who looked official and high ranking. He started talking endlessly. Phon listened to every word, but only retained a small fraction of the information.

She was going to be executed, that was the gist of it. There wasn’t going to be a trial, and it wasn’t going to be public. Just like everything else he said, this didn’t matter to her, nothing did. There was no point to anything anymore, so there was no reason for her to argue or resist.

The car stopped soon after, and the doors opened. An entire army of guards was waiting with guns drawn, but the official waved to them to put them away. It seemed he understood that she had no fight in her, so there was no reason to be so cautious.

Phon was led to the top of a hill on a grassy plain. Eyes followed her the entire time. There sure were a lot of people for something that wasn’t public, most of which were bearing the CP emblem.

There were gallows waiting at the top of the hill. It seemed brand new, likely assembled just for her. The noose, however, was unusual. It seemed to be made from steel cable rather than the traditional rope. Spikes were protruding upwards from it. These extra measures had to be because she was a Fiend, since it was reasonable that a normal noose wouldn’t kill her.

Phon was led onto the gallows, her feet placed on the trapdoor. The noose was wrapped around her neck and tightened to the point that the spikes were just slightly digging into her skin. The same man from the car came forward. He said a lot more pointless words as the moment passed slowly.

Finally, it was time for the conclusion. The man moved next to the gallows, and gripped the lever. He asked her if she had any last words, but Phon stayed silent as she stared off into the distance, as if she was completely unaware that she was about to die.

The man pulled the lever, and Phon’s body dropped a few inches. It was likely anticlimactic for some of those watching. She didn’t writhe or squirm or even react at all. Purple blood started trickling from her neck, running down her entire body, staining her clothes before it dribbled to the ground. Phon’s eyes slowly closed. It was an important moment for the observers and a few even cheered, because it finally meant the end of the Drazah bloodline once and for all.

 

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