Rayse stood, aiming his spear at the unholy combination he was facing. Rage’s body flickered between black and red, the melding of powers in its body resulted violent looking spasms, making him think back to a few minutes ago when that was his fate. Was it pointless to hope that the two powers clashing simply eradicates the herald as it came so close to doing to him?

Krrrkk.

The sound made Rayse shift his attention towards Conquest, who had stretched out his hand to an unnatural degree. From shoulder to elbow, and elbow to hand, each joint popped out of its socket in an attempt to reach its goal. He could see new skin growing from the welts, as it stretched far beyond what any human was capable of. By the time the demon reached its head, the hand had stretched so far that it was held together with the littlest strands of muscle and sinew. Rayse belatedly realized that he had fallen to this trick a number of times as he watched the herald reform its body.

“Finally!” Conquest said, elated as his head rejoined the rest of him. The white light of King Mios repaired the breaks and injuries, causing him to appear in perfect condition almost instantly. Rage had also stopped convulsing, his body pulses now completely black.

“Greater heal!”

Conquest laid a hand on his brother, this time a shining white light. In a few moments, there would be two perfectly healthy heralds that faced them.

Rayse tried to assess his friends’ condition. Brandon looked fine, at least. He clapped his friend on the shoulder in a comfortable manner.

“Now what?” He asked.

“Dunno. Lace, got any more Orion’s Belts left in you?” He turned to see her already looking back at him, eyes welling up in tears.

“What.” She took a step. “The.” And another. “HELL!WAS!THAT!?” She dug a finger in his chest for each other word.

“You moan up a storm like that and then nothing!? Then you just send mental transmissions like normal and don’t address it!? What the hell–” She was nagging him, but all Rayse could do was smile. He pulled her in for an embrace, completely cutting her off.

“Sorry.”

“...Yeah, well, you better not do it again or I’ll… welcome back.” In the end he just accepted his apology and returned his embrace, causing a scene.

“Right, right, we’re all happy you’re alive.” Carrack cut in, breaking up their reunion. Lacey gave the commander a resentful look before pulling away.

“The kid’s right, though. What are we gonna do about them?” He jabbed a finger at the enemy.

“...You guys wanna retreat?” Brandon casually suggested. The idea held merit though. They were battered and bruised, while Conquest had just erased a lot of their progress.

As if in response, Rage finally stopped glowing. His many wounds now restored, the many orifices in its body released a thick red mist, enveloping the side of the enemy. Each firefly it touched were similarly restored. Even the broken ones pulsated on the ground, answering the red mist with their own red glow. Angry buzzing noises droned across the cave.

As if mocking them, the herald just brought the battle back to its initial state, now with two heralds to defeat instead of one. Paths of retreat were cut off, and their mana was running low.

“We can fight this, I think.” Rayse said

“If you guys can hold those guys off, I wanna have another go at Conquest.”

“What are you thinking?”

Rayse looked down on his hand, gripping his spear tight. The numbness he felt was completely gone now, effectively making him the only person on their side who was in perfect condition.

“That guy has King Mios’ gem heart. Remember when we broke it a few times back there?”

“Ohhh. Is that how you’re all healed up?” Brandon grinned back, finally catching on. Carrack look at them both for a few seconds before nodding.

“Alright. Men, focus on gathering the wounded here, while Lacey and Brandon deals with the fireflies. As for Rage, I can hold him off until you pull off whatever it is you’re thinking of with Conquest. Are we clear?”

“Yes, sir!”

“Good.” The commander said, stepping up to stand in front. He dug his hands into a satchel and yelled out a spell. “Illuminate!”

There was a bit of light coming in from the hole above, but now, in the heart of the mountain, their own sun had arrived. The light was met with the screeching of Rage’s giant fireflies, this light being more actively harmful towards them than the light Conquest exuded. They circled the humans with growing speed, making the wind kick up with their sheer numbers. Those that fell were eventually restored by the herald’s healing, but if it cut down how many they ‘d be facing at once, Illuminate was worth it.

“Holy Armament!” Carrack cast another spell, making their weapons glow with holy might. Rayse looked in awe of his speartip, which gleamed like a torch in midday.

“That’s almost all of my mana and all my reserves. Better make it count, you hear?”

““Yes sir!””

“Now, then. Attack!” Carrack roared, leading the charge himself. Rayse followed through, but found himself lagging slightly. He didn’t often see the commander in action, but going into battle with him like this, he could tell he had more than earned his position. He leapt over Conquest, trusting his back to Rayse as he took a swipe at Rage with his lightsword. The herald tried to intercept him, but his upward swipe was cut off by Rayse’s shield charge.

“You again!” It bellowed in his face, wearing a mask of unbridled anger. He could see in its face that his betrayal was unexpected, to say the least.

“Valiant Charge!” Rayse answered, smothering the herald with a magically enlarged shield. The maneuver had Conquest off balance, resulting in it being pinned in the dirt. Rayse shot out his final few scale shots point blank, pinning the monster in the ground even more. He needed to get a good hit in if his plan were to work. Conquest spat in his face, seemingly angrier that he survived their previous encounter than being taken down this way.

“How is your will intact!? Even my brother has been turned, while you–” He cut himself off, as if just now noticing something.

Sniff, sniff.

“YOU!” Whatever it was, it left him incensed. “You have that bitch’s smell! Where is she!?” His limbs began to thrash erratically, as if each one was a puppet controlled by a separate person. He pushed forward, allowing Rayse’s scales to pass through the other side before pushing against the shield. Rayse was stunned by the force as the demon put a few inches of distance between it and the shield.

Krrrrkkk!! Several other sharp objects scraped against the shield at this time, giving him a familiar sense of crisis. Fortunately, he’s learned from his previous defeat.

“Oh, no you don’t! Siege Mode!” Rayse shouted, opening up the shield into a wider form. The force of the transformation pushed him upwards, allowing him to evade several massive spikes that had been his undoing before. While in mid air, he flipped Unbroken, trying to drive it head first into the Conquest’s heart. 

“Shield Charge!”

The shield surged downward, trying to flatten Conquest once again. He held it off this time, but the herald could not pull himself out from under it. Its ribs were trapped by the shield, going through the missing patches of metal Rayse intentionally put when he casted the spell. 

Falling fast, he sought out his target, made easier by his shield missing patches of itself. It was a time when he was actually grateful that some of the shield’s scales were still broken. Otherwise, this tactic wouldn’t even be possible. The spots where the dragon scales were supposed to be would still have been broken, at the very least.

He dove spear first into the slew of unnaturally long ribs that protruded from the herald’s chest, hitting its heart with everything he had.

Krshhhhhhh!

Upon hearing the familiar sound, Rayse did not let up.

“Valiant Thrust!”

Like he did with Deceit, he enlarged the spear that he drove into Conquest’s heart as soon as he struck it. The result was a massive expulsion of smoke as its mana escaped from its container. Conquest tried to squirm, pawing at the shield so he could pull out the spear shaft, but his hands were held down by the Shield Charge. Rayse hung above the forming mist, staring Conquest dead in the eyes.

He still looked angry, but for the first time since they fought, the demon actually looked nervous as well. Good.

“Alright!” Rayse pumped his fist, shifting to sit on the butt of his spear. With Valiant Thrust active, its shaft had grown as big as his palm, so it was quite comfortable.

He stole a quick glance at the soldiers who huddled some distance away. They were fending off the fireflies, but he could see they were running on fumes. Brandon was doing his best to pick up the slack, but Lacey was completely spent. At this point, she could barely keep the ashes away from them using Tailwind. Seeing her bashing individual fireflies as they came at her was a far cry from a few moments ago when she commanded celestial bodies that blew the tops off of mountains.

“It’ll be fine.”

Rayse set to work. He held out both hands and concentrated on the mist. He sensed Conquest’s resistance, but the demon had no place to put the mana in as his heart was currently shattered. He could heal himself constantly but that doesn’t solve the problem with the massive spear that impaled through his heart.

Still, his meddling had thinned the mist somewhat, causing Rayse some concern. He had to figure out a spell to use before it was gone. Lacey’s tailwind had petered out, making the ash advance upon the group once more. In a flash of inspiration, Rayse formulated his desired image for the spell.

“Healing Breeze!”

A surging wind came from out of nowhere, drowning out the battlefield. It blasted the ash back to his side of the battlefield, healing everyone in its wake. Rayse panicked a bit, not expecting the force with which his spell took form. 

Using the mana left in his periphery, he enclosed himself in a cyclone, redirecting most of it. He looked down on the helpless herald, who had gone deadly silent. The demon looked right in his eyes, a mask of such pure contempt that he feared for his life even in such relative safety. There should hardly be any mana in its heart by now, and with it being unable to reform due to his spear, this was the perfect time to destroy it.

Rayse took hold of his spear, preparing to finish it off when–

POW!

The next thing he knew, Rayse was staring at the sky. He sat up at a start, feeling a buzzing in his head. He wanted to throw himself back into the fight, but a hand on his shoulder sat him back down.

“Hold it, kid.” Carrack warned, appearing at his side as if by magic. “They’re doing something freaky again.” 

“...Ah.”

Rayse, still sitting, felt a few people approach him from behind, but all he could do was look at the scene before him.

Rage was standing over Conquest, pulling him off of the scales that had pinned him to the ground. It created even more wounds in its body, wounds that were noticably slow to heal. The bigger herald held the smaller one, red mana beginning to flow out of its orifices. So too did mana flow out of Conquest. Not the white one he usurped from the previous king, but the glowing black power of domination.

“Brother… I need, your power…” Conquest anguished. Rage, in its ponderous tone, droned out in the halting tongue of men.

“BrOtHerRrrrrr…Tennnnndd, toooo youuuuur rageeeeeeee…”

Black and red mana engulfed the two, resulting in a terrifying display of power. Another flash erupted from the mountain, this time coming from the pair. Rayse watched for as long as he dared, analyzing whatever fell ritual the two were attempting. He lasted a long time before he could shut his eyes, but what he saw was enough to regret it. He just watched Rage to eat his own brother.