Lacey faced off with an angry herald. She squared up, trying to ignore her uselessly dangling arm as she prepared for Atrophy’s assault. It was mending with her healing, but whatever Atrophy had done to her had massively slowed her recovery.

“!!!” She stepped to the side, separating them both as one of Atrophy’s limbs struck the space between the two of them. Lacey lobbed a fireball in response, but knew it would be ineffective. All it managed to do was produce enough smoke to inhibit its vision, buying Lacey more time. Then, she stuck her hand out to that space beside her, placing her hand directly onto the very same invisible limb Atrophy used to attack.

“Electrocute.”

Sparks traveled up towards her smokescreen, producing enough force that hopefully harms Atrophy within his bubble.

Lacey hopped a ways back, hoping their attacks bought them enough time. She scanned the field, looking for who helped her. She found the answer close to the walls, where A wall of black crystal had plugged up the breach Betrayal made. The dragon itself was high in the air, surrounded by balls of light that were battering it from all directions. One of them was Carrack, who sent crystal spikes the dragon’s way. It was massively different from his usual light attribute spells, but was more reminiscent of Conquest’s abilities.

They were spread awfully thin. A quick exchange of transmissions with his friends confirmed that much. Brandon had apparently brought down a herald, but that left three of them at large, not to mention the massive amount of demons at their doorstep.

They needed to stop wasting their time on singular demons, lest they be overrun. The other gates worried her as well. For all she knew, they had already fallen. All she could do was hope that Carrack had sorted them out before he came here.

The smoke cleared, revealing an even angrier Atrophy. The sight of it raised the hairs at the back of her neck.

In the end, it all comes back to killing you. She flexed her formerly twisted arm, wincing as she did. It still hurt, but it was the best she could do at the moment. She looked at the diminutive herald, its disproportionately massive head still distinct even this far away. It glared at her with pure hatred, nose flared and breathing heavily, as if what she just was in any way worse than the beating it gave her.

It dove down with such speed, retracting one of the . It lashed out with even more of its limbs, as deep gouges sprouted from the ground as if from nowhere. Lacey gave them a wide berth, but Atrophy closed in quickly. In seconds, she was in the thick of things once again. She was unable to care about much of anything right now aside from her own survival. She may have handled similar magic with her air steps, but Atrophy’s limbs were fast. A single mistake and she’ll be caught once again, and she didn’t know if she could survive it this time.

“Hiik!” Lacey ducked low, feeling the wind in her face as solid air the size of a log breezed overhead. She brushed her hand against it as it passed, sending another bolt of electricity through to the main body.

“G-gyah! ” She heard Atrophy’s frustrated groaning more clearly now. 

“Orion!” Lacey sent her second star as Atrophy was stunned. The collision shook the earth even though the herald didn’t touch it directly. A massive flash followed through, but Lacey dared not look away. It ended up being a good decision, as Atrophy glided towards her a beat later.

She sent more sparks its way, as it was the only effective attack in her arsenal right now. One last Orion still floated about her, ready to be used, but she was discouraged after how the previous two went. She wanted to put more distance between them, but her only chance for attack came at this range, and she wasn’t about to miss it. She had fully exhausted her options at this point, with her previous attacks proving that she could not simply use force to get through the demon’s shield.

So into the fire she went. The next couple minutes were frenzied and hectic, with neither side relenting. Lacey did her utmost to dodge and weave, occasionally sending sparks across Atrophy’s invisible limbs, until–

“Finally!” Atrophy cried. The length of the battle had taken its toll on Aleph’s disciple. A momentary lapse in concentration was all it took for Atrophy to capture her once again. He held each limb of hers with several of his, this time making completely sure she was immobile.

“You’ve proven your worth, child, such as it is. However,” There it was again, the menacing glow from his fingertips. “It's time to meet your end.”

She was helpless as it approached. She had never been closer to death than she was at this moment. Lacey took a deep breath.

“Wait,” She mumbled. “I’ll tell you everything, so please. Spare me.”

Atrophy’s hand hovered still, inches from her chest. Lacey squirmed as she felt the herald’s mana eat away at her, draining her vitality. They stayed like that for a couple agonizing seconds. She found several points of her power, scattered all over the being before her. She concentrated on those points like she did the previous time she was captured, resuming the spell she was imagining at the time.

“Whatever knowledge you possess, child, falls away in the entropy of the abyss. Now, then…”

Her final ruse ineffective, Lacey decided on a more drastic approach. She conjured layers upon layers of solid air between them, in a desperate attempt to buy more time.

Krrkk! Krrk! Krkk! Atrophy’s hand shattered each layer as it went, imperceptibly slower than before. At the same time, Lacey started to lean forward as much as she could, straining against her bindings. Lacey briefly braced herself as she crossed the herald’s threshold, but no resistance could be felt.

Yes! She exhulted, meeting Atrophy’s outstretched hand with her lips as if to kiss it. She could still see the flecks of her first Orion, sticking to its arm. She met it literally head on, opening her mouth as soon as she felt its clammy, reptile like skin on her lips. Her mouth began to recoil as soon as she made contact. Fortunately, that was exactly what she intended.

“Mmmmmph!” Lacey mumbled, but her spell had already resolved. A stream of hot white mana flowed from her mouth onto the herald. It bypassed Atrophy’s defenses, filling the cavity with the white hot energy of Lacey’s Orion. Lacey felt her shackles loosen, and she floated away, leaving the herald to its fate.

“You fool! What did you do!?” The herald’s pitiful cries echoed. Lacey stared wordlessly at her prey, still deep in concentration. Her mouth was worryingly numb, and at the same time she felt bile stuck in her throat still, but she dared not let go of this chance. Her mind was still on the flecks of white, straining to connect to them.

“Ahhh, ahhhhhh! Ahhhhhh!” Atrophy thrashed around in his bubble as white hot flames clung to his skin. His hands burned black with his mana, but with nothing to touch but his own skin. Still, he tried to pat himself down, causing the spell Lacey painstakingly casted to dim. He would have recovered if left to his own devices, but she wasn’t having it.

“Starfield.”

A symphony of small explosions erupted from within the bubble, each one coming from each speck that was left behind. 

__________________________________

Once Aleph had come to grips with Lost’s identity and all that came with it, he found it much easier to fight her. Emily was a transcendent fighter, and even eclipsed him in terms of pure skill, but even she had weaknesses. Weaknesses that none but her regular training partners were privy to. Weaknesses that had ultimately allowed her to fall that day to Erebos. Weaknesses that Aleph now had to exploit.

And so he did. Aleph closed in once again, ducking in to evade an errant spear thrust. It was a move Emily favored, a quirk in her style that she herself may not have realized. His gauntlets glowed blue as he landed a double armed strike on her torso, applying a spell as soon as his attack hit.

“Force strike!” The attack blew her away. It sent her crashing against the far wall.

“I told you they were capable.” He taunted, jerking his head at one of the displays as Lacey destroyed Atrophy in a series of mighty explosions.

Lost huffed, sliding back into a sitting position. Ignoring the herald’s death, she took off her helmet once again, revealing a frustrated look that almost made Aleph’s heart flutter.

“What happened to you? You weren’t this good back at the capital.”

“If your soul had full control, you would have struck me down by now with what you know of me. Alas, you’re nothing but Erebos’ bastardization of my fallen wife. An accurate depiction, true, but one I know intimately. To honor her memory, it now falls to me to eradicate you.”

“Oh.” She looked crestfallen for a beat, but then suddenly she was at her feet. “You knew who I was?” She stood up, armor all but gone once again. She walked up to him, wearing the worn leather trappings they saw her in back at the capital.

“You see, I’ve always wondered. This woman, who is she? Why was I made in her image? Why was I not made in the likeness of demons, like my so-called brothers and sisters?”

Aleph raised his guard, making her pause.

“You are more than her image, Lost. Your soul is that of a godkiller, one who shared my victory in the final battle. She unfortunately died before our ascension, giving me full authority as an entirely new god. Her prowess had likely enticed your god, plucking her soul from the cycle of resurrection to create you.”

Lost’s eyes lit up at the implication.

“Then, do I have a godkiller’s authority?”

“If her ascension had finished, it’s likely she would have inherited godhood by herself as she delivered the final blow…” He let the words hang in the air, but it was as clear as it could be. He watched as Lost deflated in front of his very eyes.

“Oh. That’s a shame, then.” Lost whispered, barely audible if not for the cave’s echoes. “You could have been spared, but it seems my original plan is still in effect.”

Aleph felt the temperature in the cave drop, a telltale sign of a demon king’s power. He stayed even, careful not to fall over in the face of such surging mana, as an ocean of power began to revolve around his opponent.

“I’ve been fighting you as Lost, a revenant whose thoughts and desires were my own. I do not move with the whims of gods, nor with the aching of this soul. As I’ve repeatedly declared, my wish was to usher this world into peace. I maintain that if you had submitted, this and any other battle would have been avoided, and you all would have survived.”

“That is mere sophistry, demon. You know full well that Erebos’ desires are beyond dominion. His desire is to feed, and this world is His meal.”

There was no response forthcoming. They stared each other down in silence for a while, tensions mounting until Aleph decided to address something she said.

“If your wish is truly to save these people, then our interests align. Why continue this farce? Join us, and we’ll face Him together!”

“My wish is for humanity to be freed from all gods, Aleph. No matter how much you pretend otherwise, that includes you. It is why I devised that plot to eradicate Marduk’s agents. It is why I allowed the heralds to be so diminished. It is why you face me now. For proof, look no further a d see how this world’s guardian has joined my cause.”

“...Betrayal?”

“How astute. Tell me, did your ruined world have a draconic guardian as well?”

“...It remained neutral until the end. I had to put it down.”

“Then you understand the frustrations of those whose fate lay with the whims of those in power. how ironic, then, is it that you now wield that power to extend this world’s suffering.”

“I have done nothing but try to improve these people’s lives, demon.”

That elicited a strong reaction. A massive wave of power almost launched Aleph off his feet. He lowered his stance even further, weathering the display of power.

“Yet you saw fit to teach the people of this world your magic!? What do you think these poor souls will do once you hand them a means to struggle?”

“I wish for them to survive, Demon! Same as you purportedly do.”

“My plans would have let them live their lives in peace!”

“Your so called “plans” razed Mios into the ground! Thousands dead in a single night, yet you dare claim benevolence!?”

“THAT WAS SUPERBIA!” She cried, and for a moment, Aleph almost believed her. He had always sensed some sort of dissonance within the enemies’ commands, and now it has finally come to light.

“...It matters not what you nor I believe in, Aleph. Not anymore. You can choose to believe me or not, but I have done all I could to allay this possibility, save as many lives as I can–”

“– By making them bend the knee.”

“...That’s fair. But now the worst has come. Superbia arrived with your entry to this world, disrupting my plans on both fronts. You’ve resisted enough to force the Void’s hand. Erebos marches on, and every second we waste here is a second closer to Him descending upon this world.”

From her slumped position, magic power began to swell. Her armor returned, more manic in appearance but rather whole, without the litany of cracks that Aleph spent much of the battle collecting. She took a stance, spear in one hand and a wicked looking knife in the other, wholly different in style to anything Aleph had ever seen from Emily. A black orb floated about her head, looking like a blackened halo that adorned her monstrous visage.

Krshhhhh!

The images of various battles all over shattered like glass, turning into smoke as they fell. Smoke which was sucked up by the orb above Lost’s head, forming tendrils of dark mana like a twisted wedding veil.

“Take heed, godling. You now face Satanael, Demon Lord of Rebellion.”