(Ikarus) “Dang, just what the hell is this place?”

(Zeki) “You seriously asking that orangey? It’s obviously some secret illuminati style organization where they practice necromancy, duhhh!”

(Ariza) “Uh, no one gets your sense of humour Zeki. This place is pretty weird though”

(Asmodeus) “Hmm… I remember the oracle having a workshop like this once upon a time… Ah, sorry silent one, just realized your troubled past”

(Mute) “…”

(Petra) “It’s okay Mute, she’s long gone now”

Having gone through the endless corridors and now into the place I thought was a dungeon, instead we find an ancient laboratory of sorts. The place is filled with all kinds of medical shit, vials, jars, surgical equipment, basically anything you can imagine in a makeshift laboratory.

Ah, the thing about Mute getting horrid memories is down the that fact the oracle apparently used to experiment on her or something like that. She seems alright for the most part, if you exclude her unwillingness to speak and things like that, just it’s obvious both sisters are going to hate their oracle mother. Best just leave that depressing shit alone.

I’m also purply ignoring the elephant in the room, that being the five or so frozen human sized pods. I’d make a frozen TV dinner joke if those things still had occupants in, is it safe to presume that some of the undead came from inside these?

All of us have a quick search around the facility when a door left slightly adrift catches my attention, leading into a much darker room. I walk into said room and the lanterns inside begin to light up as I make my way onto the catwalk…

“Blood hell… hey guys, you may want to see this”

Ahead and all around me stands a storage facility filled with thousands and thousands of frozen corpses, stored inside pods all viewable from this walkway. This is actually insane, no Ikarus over exaggerating will change things because there are literally thousands more of these bodies.

Obviously, all the undead must’ve came from this facility answering that question, something that doesn’t get answered is why there’s a stranger inside this room…

“It’s an interesting thought, no? Knowing just how many people once lived in these lands, now all lost and frozen in time scattered around this world like ancient relics”

A mostly red, black horned creature stands to the far end of the catwalk, almost looking down on us as he gives his inner antagonist speech. He’s going to be an enemy, right? The way he expects us entering, then stands around without a care as we enter the frozen room full of corpses. All that’s missing is a white cat, a piercing laser and we have a real spy villain on our hands. His outfit kinda fits the role as well.

----------

----------

‘The final demon, the one and only… Lucifer! Status’

[Name: Lucifer   |   Species: Demon Lord   |   Level: 1,000]

[Health     166,666/166,666]

[Stamina  62,021/166,666]

[Magicka 32,642/166,666]

‘Magic and stamina are surprisingly low, maybe the necromancy has something to do with that? I presume this is his work’

“The dead you see and the ones outside are only a tiny percentage of the entire continent that once lived in these lands, all dead even further up north. You’d find more life in a world of pure devastation rather than these lands, pretty good for building an army though”

‘At least this guy is providing some decent background lor-, hold up. Was mother responsible for all this?’

A very long time ago, back at that peace conference between the dragon fam and the dead prince, a little comment mother made has always stuck around. Once upon a time, there was a continent to the north, a continent she was responsible for destroying after witnessing her first child die…

“Whether we’re friend or foe Lucifer is irrelevant right now, did a dragon cause all this devastation?”

My question actually unsettles him, making him seem a little unhinged.

“Who’s to say if a dragon were involved or not? This place was always cold but it did thrive once upon a time. If a winged lizard were to cause all this, you could probably find evidence around if you spent enough time looking. None of that matters right now though”

I know this guy has a point but something about him is making me unsure, like he knows much more than he probably should. Maybe mother didn’t cause this then because fire is supposed to be her speciality? Eh, I’ll have to ask this another time.

“Brother Luci, what a strange and unforeseen encounter this is! We can try and end this amicably with no more bloodshed if possible, let bygones be bygones and all that”

For what might be the first time ever, Asmodeus has a face that ever so slightly resembles fear. That’s definitely not good.

“Don’t even bother trying Asmodeus, I figured out what your little pet project was centuries ago, as if something like that would ever get past me”

‘This guy defo seems a little arrogant, guess Luci is supposed to be the demon lord of pride after all’

“Heh, at least my plan involves the living rather than the dead, a pack of wolves is stronger than that army of yours that now lies destroyed”

“Undead can always be raised anew Asmodeus, much quicker and painlessly then involving life. Another pointless conversation that doesn’t need to be discussed”

Where the conversation was heading, or no longer is, has clearly made Asmodeus a little dejected from his brother’s reluctance to talk with him.

“Point taken… look Lucifer, you obviously know why we’re here so let’s try and end this peacefully. I never held any distaste to you so if there’s any chance you’ll be reasonable, now’s the time”

Even though I can only speculate on the reason, it seems Asmodeus really doesn’t want to get in combat with him. I think I can understand why this time, this demon is like an unknown entity, a foe I just can’t get a read on despite his SP and MP being drained. It’s probably the exact same for a guy who constantly relies on the future, he hasn’t visioned fighting this brother so anything is on the table.

“I don’t hate you either Asmodeus, but the tides of fate lead us to this very moment. If you want my horn for your little birdy, then you’ll have to pry it off my frozen corpse…”

The demon Lucifer snaps his fingers and all the lanterns in the room roar into flames as he charges us down, blade in hand almost surprising us if we hadn’t literally just taken our weapons out. You won’t be catching us off guard this easily.

[<Take this fight extremely cautiously Ikarus. Despite stats being matched and demon not appearing to have any insane resistances, Aesa is feeling unsettled>]

“I’m sorry everyone but I don’t know brother Luci’s skillset, treat this fight like your lives depend on it”

Two warnings flock my and the others way, making me curious just how powerful this guy is supposed to be. When you think of demons and anything resembling hell, the names Satan and Lucifer first come to mind, right? This guy must be somewhat comparable to that guy we nuked, maybe more in wit rather than brute strength though.

‘Aesa?’

[<Confirmed, -aspect of gigantomachy- is now is use>]

Anyways, me and Petra go straight in for the kill responding to his charge, only to find he puts up two magic barriers blocking mine and her flying sword’s path, breaking any momentum we had. This is going to be one of those annoying battles, I can already sense it.

“Sword art and gigantomachy, predictable”

‘Guy knows what we’re planning? Ah, screw it, matters little since we’ll still hit him’

Lucifer responds to our failed attempt following it up with one of his own, skeletal bats form from his hands while he cowers between those barriers of his.

Thankfully, Petra activates her blackened flames, coating the entire area ahead of us trying to burn the little fuckers out but it’s as if they’re resistant to fire. In what world should skeletal bats be like that!? Some definitely burn up but most get through like a swarming drone attack.

Swinging wildly against these stupid little creatures, they all go down in a single whack but still get a few cuts across into us all, the wings on these little fuckers are razor sharp so I’ve now got a sliced lip and ear. They’d be an excellent distraction if this guy wasn’t alone.

Using this brief distraction we’ve all encountered, Lucifer tries to charge at us only to find his brother standing in front of him stopping his tracks, armed with a blade and something else metallic looking.

Going straight for his neck but only finding Lucifer immediately backs off, whatever attempt Asmodeus tries is only met with distaste and annoyance, like the demon reacting thinks he’s better than this.

“Pitiful… a compliance collar, really Asmodeus? That was your grand plan to deal with me? You dragons, or ex-dragons have always been idiotic”

By the looks of it, Asmodeus tries to place one of those odd magic collars that seem to work by draining the target’s magicka, obviously not working in the slightest. At least he had something in mind for this fight but that did seem pointless considering the failure.

Now that the bats have been dealt with, all of us try to attack a different way to the pervious attempt, this time around going for ranged attacks.

Me, Petra and Zeki all shoot fire, some of which being fireball or flamethrowers, none of which seems to be passing through another barrier he puts up though.

Mute follows us up by spraying a fast beam of water towards the demon lord, then Asmodeus and Ariza follow her up using the harpoon gun and bow, then another barrier goes up to block those attacks as well! This guy is hella annoying to get through if he’s constantly this defensive.

‘Four barriers and that bat attack this quickly in succession? Status’

[Name: Lucifer   |   Species: Demon Lord   |   Level: 1,000]

[Health     166,666/166,666]

[Stamina  62,014/166,666]

[Magicka 26,643/166,666]

‘At least his magic is draining slowly I suppose’

This feels like it’s becoming a war of attrition and if that’s the case, this demon surely knows he’ll lose, right? It’s literally six against one and I’ve still got a nuke and supernova still in play.

The battle continues on with Petra finally activating her dark eyed mode, regaining her flying blade and precedes to launch it again at the demon, all the while coating the area ahead of his in pitch black flame again. The demon’s barriers have already faded by this point but they’ll most likely reappear any second.

The samurai sword flies through the fire, covering itself in a healthy mixture of fire and then curves around aiming for the demon again. Like predicted, his barrier stops the sword right in the nick of time… except, it doesn’t completely stop it, the sword ever so slightly pierces through the magic and lands the tiniest cuts on one of his arms.

Using Petra’s idea as encouragement, I do the same thing flocking the area ahead me in thick flames, then charge with both weapons in hand towards the constantly retreating demon lord. You wouldn’t think there would be that much room in this facility to go but once you get off this walkway, the room is endless. Can’t even remember when we jumped down here thinking about it.

Reacting late but understanding what I’m doing after Petra’s slight teaching, he throws down two barriers back-to-back to try and stop my advance. Both my blades shatter and pierce the first obstacle in my path, the second does stop me but Excalibur gets through just enough to piece the demon’s shoulder, just like what happened with Petra previously. Obviously, his magical abilities have a slight problem when it comes to weapons drenched in magic, or specifically fire.

‘Both of us definitely got an aspect hit in there… status’

[Name: Lucifer   |   Species: Demon Lord   |   Level: 1,000]

[Health     69,998/166,666]

[Stamina  62,010/166,666]

[Magicka 26,644/166,666]

‘Ha! This little shit should’ve worn armour’

While this was going down and the guy is only focused on keeping us away, a random arrow and spear fly true, one of which landing in his cheek while the other lands by his feet. Don’t think it takes much to realize which weapon made a hit, and which weapon didn’t…

“Erk, I always knew this thing was a piece of shit! Wait… what’s it doing…”

All of a sudden, the spear of Ares starts shake and to glow a bright orange getting rapidly brighter by the second at Lucifer’s feet. Why did Zeki even think it was a clever idea to launch his weapon like that?

“Shit… it’s going to blow, run orangey and sis!”

Being the closest to the unstable spear, excluding Lucifer, me and Petra make a run for it as the temperature inside the room hits a blistering heat, all radiating from the expanding and unstable spear itself…

And then, it goes off, rocking and rattling everything from the explosion, debris falling all around and a foggy dust clouds the room making it so you can’t even see your own hands.

‘He’s starting to become a liability, why throw that freaking spear!?’

“*Cough*, uh, damn it Zeki! You trying to kill us all?”

“…!”

“Did the God of war not tell you about that orange one?”

“Of course he fucking didn’t… erk! Is everyone good?”

“*Cough* Ikarus… you okay?”

“*Cough cough*, yeah Petra, where you at?”

Getting myself up off the floor having just be thrown from the explosion, a slight feeling of dread kicks in when visibility is still impossible and I have no idea on who’s making which sets of footsteps. This is ominous as hell, did that explosion kill the demon or not? It went off right by his feet though.

“Over here Ikarus”

As soon as she answers, I see the ever so faint silhouette of her person in front of me coming closer. I’ll have to rely on her senses to see right now because this place is still a nightmare.

“We need to group up quickly, then-… fuck!”

…

(Petra) “Ikarus? Ikarus!”

The person wasn’t Petra. Dear God, that definitely wasn’t Petra…

Somehow in my disorientation caused by the idiot, I’ve walked like a headless idiot straight into the blade of the surviving Lucifer, red skin torn from his face as he looks like he’s barely clinging onto life. I’m pretty sure I’m now in worse condition considering the damn sword completely going through my midsection.

The surprise of the attack has caused me to drop my weapons and clench up as well, even when the creature’s blade still pierces me.

‘Argh! Fucking Zeki… status’

[Name: Ikarus   |   Species: Phoenix   |   Level: 999^]

[Health    56,278*/166,666]

[Stamina 161,692*/166,666*]

[Magicka 124,236*/166,666*]

[You currently have 149501 unassigned points]

---

[Name: Lucifer   |   Species: Demon Lord   |   Level: 1,000]

[Health     1,666/166,666]

[Stamina  1,666/166,666]

[Magicka 1,666/166,666]

‘Argh… how much damage did that sword do!? I’m freaking stuck on it as well’

This’s guy’s stats are somehow at one percent and I’ve got his freaking blade impaling me, causing a searing pain to course and jolt through my entire body. Ariza’s magic and a healent can heal this, I just know it but it’s like this sword has barbs crafted into it. I can’t even make the obvious animal penis joke here; I can’t break free!

[<Warning, Ikarus needs to get out of this ASAP! Demon Lucifer’s blade is currently draining HP by thousands every second it remains inside Ikarus>]

‘That’s what I’m freaking trying to do Aesa!’

Trying my best to get myself free from his sword, he takes a hold of one of my shoulders and pulls me in even further, causing the worst pain I’ve ever experienced. All but the smallest of smiles appears on his face, like he was aiming for this situation from the start. Where the fuck is everyone else!?

“Two can play your game of second chances, little phoenix. Say hello from me to your mother when you get the chance, she’ll be joining you down in the Underworld someday as well”

‘Second chances and mother? Fuck this, I don’t have the time to be curious on this guy’s hatred’

That clearly comes from a place on anger towards mother and in time, I’ll try to put the pieces together if I can just get out of this fucking draining sword!

“Someone fucking shoot this gu-… you irritating demonic piece of shit!”

Without even realizing it, there’s a thick barrier completely surrounding us and everyone else, a barrier so thick even Petra can’t break through despite her best attempts. This situation was intricately planned, I know that now…

‘This fucker knows bits of the future… it’s obvious now’

[<HP is currently at 33922*… Ikarus!>}

‘Would changing form help in any way?’

[<Negative Ikarus, form change won’t work in this situation while HP is rapidly draining>]

‘Then you need to find me some way out, I just can’t do it Aesa! I don’t even have the strength to lift my arms up right now!’

[<…>]

Complete silence from Aesa, am I seriously going to waste my death right now!? Argh, this stupid demonic fuck! It’s almost like my system is being paralysed as well, I can’t even roast this guy full of magic!

The demon’s smile seems to be building every second I get closer to death, almost relishing the fact he’s gotten me beat. If I’m to pass this very moment, I’m not letting him win this way.

“You know, I only wish I could be there to see the look on your mother’s face when she loses another daughter. It really would be worth dying for”

I don’t think it takes a genius to figure out what happened now, I’m basically fucked so I couldn’t care less about speculating. Mother must’ve killed someone really close to this guy and his way of getting even, is by killing me. Always knew the oracle would end up screwing me over someday, something seems off from this situation though.

“You fucker… you do know this won’t kill me, right? I’m goi”

Despite knowing I probably shouldn’t play my only card like this, that statement completely destroys his morale, making that smile reverse instantly. That was totally worth it then, I guess the future he was foretold involved me already dying once and this would be the very last.

“That’s… annoying. Even in death, the oracle knew this would happen. I’ll just have to kill you again”

“Hmph… dare you to try it… heh. If I’m going down… you’re coming with me”

[<HP is currently at 11306>}

It doesn’t matter how much I try to break free; I’m still stuck. Exhaustion is now starting to kick in and it won’t be long before I inevitably pass out. Since things seem bleak, might as well go out in a way I know will destroy him. If he somehow has another chance to revive from this, then this is unbalanced bullshit.

[<HP is currently at 2712 Ikarus… Aesa guesses she’ll see you on the other side then>}

‘Heh, right… activate everything Aesa, would you? One hundred percent is a given… I’m going to rest… just for a little whil-…’

…