Chapter 62: Eclipse

Manhattan

Tom's team exited the Portal at the UN Headquarters. They looked up and saw the storm that blanketed the sky of New York. This was the first time they saw a Transfer Storm in person instead of videos on the internet. Lightning streaked across the sky. Buildings with lightning rods were struck every other minute.

"It's like when I got close to that obelisk back home," Reia said. "But this storm is so much worse."

"Why does everyone always have to pick on New York?" Tom thought out loud. He tapped on his helmet and connected to the local UNDF network. "Strike team, this is Specialist Everett. My team is on the ground in Manhattan. Can I get a sitrep?"

"This is Second Lieutenant Waltz," a voice replied back. "We have made contact with the NYPD and are working alongside them to eliminate the undead. We have located the obelisk in Central Park. Specifically North Meadow. We are attempting to create a perimeter around the park so our explosives team can set up their charges."

"That was fast," Tom muttered off of the radio communicator. Back on he said, "It couldn't have been more than ten minutes since the operation began. What's the status of the opposition?"

"According to the NYPD, it seems like Mordiggian tried to start outbreaks all over Manhattan Island. The situation could have been worse but the NYPD, SWAT, and the local military have managed the outbreaks. Civilians are still evacuating, but since the announcement that the rioters were zombies, the police switched tactics. With our help, we have been pushing them back on all fronts. I don't think Mordiggian was expecting for us to know how to take down zombies."

"Yeah, not like we have decades of zombie media... Any signs of Mordiggian?"

"Negative."

"Alright, my team will head over to the southern section of Central Park, Elementals out."

"You'd think someone would have spotted that bastard," Vivian said.

"It's a trap," Sylmae concluded. "Mordiggian is waiting for us to get close to the obelisk before he strikes."

"Yeah, makes sense," Tom said. "Then we assume we go into combat as soon as we get into Central Park. Everybody summon your sprites and enchant your weapons."

VVVVVV

Xoth

It has been nearly a month since the unusual purple storms appeared. Since their appearance, they have grown larger and more fierce. In some places in the world, it had been weeks since they have seen the sun or moons. The majority of the population rightfully believed it to be an omen of the end.

Today a certain sound echoed all over the world. The sound was similar to an explosion or something large crashing into the ground. A sound that made everyone with a view of the clear sky to look up.

Up in the sky was one of their two moons being rapidly consumed by a disk of purple energy. It quickly went over the moon and, at its current rate, will make it disappear within ten minutes.

VVVVVV

Xoth

West of the Eikoryu Empire's region, in a massive clearing, the Eikoryu army clashed with the army of Zokot Kingdom's army. The sound made all the soldiers stop their combat. They all looked up to see the moon get consumed by the energy disc. All of them were fearful over the event.

At the very back of the Eikoryu army, out of the combat area, a Naga man in gold and red armour sat on an ornate chair with a table, covered with fancy dishes, to his side. Two women stood to his sides. One was a yellow Naga and the other was a dark skin Elf. Both were dressed in a fancy loincloth with cloth wrapped around their breasts. Each women had a tattoo of thorns that ran from between their shoulder blades and down their spine. They had no emotion on their faces.

The man's scales were bright green with gold around his eyes. This man was Uraki Eikoryu, the prince of the Eikoryu empire. He was sent to this battle to oversee it and to gain renown in the name of his father. Uraki watched the moon with interest as he drank a goblet filled with green wine. He held out his goblet and the Elven woman poured him another cup.

"My liege," one of the subordinates said to him. The subordinate was on one knee with his head bowed and one hand over their fist in a prayer-like gesture. "Should our army retreat? The situation with the moon, it is truly an ill omen."

"We will do no such thing," Uraki growled. "I'm to be wed after this battle is done. I'm not delaying this any longer. If any soldier retreats from battle, they will be executed."

"Yes, my liege. I will spread the word to our soldiers."

The subordinate quickly got to their feet and ran in the direction of the battlefield. Uraki, meanwhile, poured another goblet full with wine.

'Once this war is over, I am coming, Reia Zyer.'

VVVVVV

Zokot Kingdom, Xoth

On the castle wall of the Zokot King's castle, the royal family watched their moon disappear. The royal family were part of the Archon subrace of demons. As Archons, they had leaf-green skin, a tail that ends with a heart-shaped tip, and two curved horns that came from their forehead. Their eyes were crimson red with slit pupils.

The family consisted of the king, queen and their two sons and one daughter. The two sons were in their late twenties and the daughter was close to crossing the threshold of twenty. While she had horns, they were fairly short like her mothers at roughly five centimeters. Her hair was silver coloured.

The family watched the moon with great delight. As a royal family that served under Hastur in the Erlonia continent, they were privy to Hastur's plans to merge their world with that of another. They were promised additional land in this new world so long as they continued to prove their worth.

The daughter, unlike her siblings and parents, watched the event with great anxiety and fear. Unknown to her family, her claws dug into the wall's embrasure in front of her, curled towards her, and carved lines into the stone.

VVVVVV

Shrine of Kara, Sogen, Xoth

In the northern section of the Sogen continent, there is a mountain range. At the top of the tallest of these mountains, Mount Kara, is a shrine dedicated to the worship of Kara and the training of Spirit Maidens. The buildings at the top of this mountain were made of brown stone and were simple in their design as the society that lived there preferred a simple lifestyle as they focused their energy on communing with the dead and their worship of Kara. Since the storms appeared around the world, their goddess had gone silent and not spoken to them.

An orc woman with dark olive skin ran in the direction of the meditation garden. Her name was Usha Oro and, like most female orcs, she had small tusks that poked out from between her lips. The sides of her head were shaved and the hair on the top and back of her head was tied together into a braided ponytail. She wore brown leather pants and tank top that exposed her stomach and the upper part of her chest. In her right hand was a long spiraled staff.

After her mad dash through the temple grounds, Usha made it to the meditation garden. The garden had several trees that many of the residents liked to meditate under. The leaves of the trees resembled flames and when the wind blew through them, the trees looked like giant fires. Rock gardens were kept to allow the residents to create lines to imitate water and wind and aid in meditation.

At the far end of the garden, a fox Beastkin woman sat before a cliff edge. It was a sheer drop and the area below was blotted out by clouds. The Beastkin woman was dressed in clothing that was identical to the same uniform that shrine maidens in Japan wore. Her fur was bright orange in colour except for the tips of her fluffy tail and ears which were white.

"Suvie," Usha muttered out while she tried to catch her breath. "The moon-"

"Is disappearing," she finished Usha's sentence. "I know. What the spirits from the other world have told me has come to pass."

Suvie Vulez picked up her staff that laid at her side and used it to aid in getting up to her feet. The staff was not spiraled like Usha's staff and it had a golden hoop at the top with a light blue gem nested in the center. Suvie turned around to reveal that she wore a blindfold over her eyes.

Usha was friends with Suvie since they were young. At an early age, Suvie was found to be especially talented as a Spirit Medium. Sadly, this power, at one point, overwhelmed her as a child and took her eyesight. Since then she wore a blindfold to avoid making others uncomfortable at her unusual eyes.

Since Suvie was destined to become a Spirit Maiden, Usha volunteered to come with her to become her Guardian. While her friend trained in spiritual magic, Usha trained with the staff and eventually became a Summoner. Her familiars included a black Amphithere, a small meter-long dragon-like creature with only two wings as appendages and is capable of spitting light energy from its mouth, and a Sea Scorpion.

"It's going to happen soon, isn't it?," Usha solemnly said. "Our worlds merging."

"Yes."

"How long do we have?"

"For our world, we have mere days," Suvie answered.

VVVVVV

Manhattan

Tom's team teleported into Central Park. They took a moment to take in their surroundings. The leaves of the park had already changed colour to shades of yellow, orange, and red. At least a third of the leaves have fallen to the ground. The colour would have stood out more, but the purple and blue light from the obelisk in the north created a hue that bathed the area.

The UNDF had set-up a temporary base. Armoured vehicles from both the UNDF and SWAT were set up around the park. SWAT, the US army, and the UNDF took defensive positions and eliminated any zombie that came close to the operation site. Hundreds of zombies came in from all directions to attack, but it wasn't enough to overwhelm the soldiers. The sound of gunfire was near constant.

In the north, Tom's team could see the obelisk and the pillar of light that shot up into the sky. One of the COs in the temporary command post spotted Tom's group and quickly jogged over.

"Ah, Specialist Everett," he greeted. "Second Lieutenant Waltz."

Waltz saluted Tom and then followed up by extending his hand. The two shook hands.

"Pleased to meet you," Tom said.

Waltz looked to the Xothicans and said, "It is a real honour to have you all here."

"Wish it were under better circumstances," Reia said.

"Yeah. Well, Specialist, we have hit a certain snag."

"Snag?" Vivian repeated. "What sort of snag?"

"We have received reports from many of the artillery teams. They found that the obelisks are more durable that we originally anticipated. The explosives we took are not strong enough to take down the obelisk. We are expecting some artillery and tanks to come in soon to take down the obelisk. Until then, our orders are to keep the park clear of the undead and to help the civilians evacuate the city."

"So we wait?" Reia asked.

"We wait."

A zombie jumped over the APC near them. The undead creature was a man in a black t-shirt and jeans. The skin from the top of his head was torn off to reveal his skull. The zombie reached for Tala but she quickly moved out of its way. Vivian stomp kicked it back. Tala followed up with a Fireball that engulfed its body. For a brief moment, they saw a glint appear in the zombie's eyes.

"You!" the zombie growled before the flames turned it into ashes.

"Zombies aren't supposed to talk," Tala muttered. "They are only supposed to moan and growl."

"I don't think that was the zombie," Sylmae said.

"Control, do you read?" a voice chirped in over the radio. "This is overwatch group hotel two."

"This is control," Waltz replied. "What's your status?"

"We have spotted some unusual activity north of your position."

"What kind of activity?"

"A dark object is moving through the streets. It looks like a shadow, but it's too thick."

"Mordiggian," Reia said under her breath.

"Roger," Waltz said over the radio. "Continue observation. Over."

"Lieutenant, you need to notify everyone here that Mordiggian is on his way-" Tom tried to get out.

A loud explosion followed by a roar was heard from the other side of the park. Several APCs flew into the air. It was surreal to see multiple giant heavily armoured vehicles fly through the air. No one even reacted at first. The APCs hovered in the air for a couple seconds before gravity caught up to them and they fell. The vehicles disappeared behind the distant trees.

"All teams, fall back to southern position!" Waltz yelled into the comm. "I repeat. Fall back to southern position! Let Everett's team handle Mordiggian."

"It's show time, ladies!" Tom yelled. The glass shield of his helmet closed over his face.

The moved northwards in the direction of Mordiggian. Many soldiers ran by them. Every so often, a soldier would briefly turn back to shoot a pursuing zombie. Sylmae would pick off any zombie that came within range of them. The sprites that hovered around everyone and assisted Sylmae in eliminating the undead. The zombies were so weak that Sylmae's head shots instantly killed them. The number of zombies kept increasing in number as they ran.

"The zombies are getting a little overwhelming," Sylmae warned. At this point, she was launching an arrow every second.

"Without the northern defense line, these zombies are only going to keep coming," Amber said. "I can fix that."

Amber looked at a nearby tree and raised her hand towards it. The tree shook and it yanked it roots from the ground. The tree's shape morphed its shape and grew arms. Several holes ripped open on its front side to form eyes and a mouth.

Lesser Treant Level 1 Rank D Health 200/200 Type Common A tree endowed with a large amount of mana has gained minor consciousness and now follows the orders of its creator. This creature gains its nutrients from water, sunlight, soil, and creatures that it consumes. Resistances Physical 0% Disease 15% Fire -100% Plant 200% Ice -25% Earth 10% Lightning 0% Water 50% Wind 0% Spirit 0% Light 50% Darkness 0%

The treant approached one of the zombies and picked it up. The zombie tried to bite its hand. Its bites did minimal damage and only scrapped the bark. The treant slammed the zombie into the ground. The impact squished the midsection of the zombie leaving it in two parts on the ground. The upper half of the zombie tried to crawl away but the treant stomped on it.

"Goddess damn," Vivian exclaimed. "How many can you make?"

Amber scanned the area and saw trees everywhere. The trees shuddered and transformed. Over one and a half dozen treants came forth and Amber's skill level increased as each one was born. Regular treants were created alongside Lesser treants.

Treant Level 10 Rank D Health 500/500 Type Uncommon A tree endowed with a large amount of mana has gained minor consciousness and now follows the orders of its creator. This creature gains its nutrients from water, sunlight, soil, and creatures that it consumes. Resistances Physical 0% Disease 15% Fire -100% Plant 200% Ice -25% Earth 10% Lightning 0% Water 50% Wind 0% Spirit 0% Light 50% Darkness 0%

"About that many," she replied with a smirk.

With the zombies busy with the treants, Tom's team could continue unmolested. They manage to move forward another half a kilometer before Sylmae stopped everyone. They were in a clearing where the obelisk stood. The bright light from the obelisk made every shadow of every tree, person, and creature pure black.

"What-?" Reia tried to get out.

"Shh!" Sylmae hissed. "I hear movement."

"You have arrived," Mordiggian said.

Mordiggian remained hidden and his voice seemingly echoed in everyone's heads. The voice was cold, confident, and alien. Chills ran down everyone's spines.

"Take defensive positions," Tom ordered his team. His voice was just loud enough for them to hear.

The group made a semi-circle and searched the area for any movement.

"It brings me great relief that you came to this location and not Beijing," Mordiggian continued. "While Wendigo can handle a few Humans, he still does not have his full strength back. He would not last against your team."

"I wouldn't underestimate Garza's and Azikiwe's teams," Reia argued.

"They are nothing compared to us. Insects before a typhoon. No... They are nothing. Unlike you. The chosen of the Creator."

"What do you know?!" Vivian yelped.

The shadow of one of the trees suddenly jumped and formed into a spike that flew towards Tom's team.

"Watch it!" Sylmae yelled.

They jumped out of the way and Tom threw a Fireball towards the tree to destroy the shadow. The team quickly regroup.

"We are feared," Mordiggian answered. "So much so that the Creator bestowed a portion of it power onto a select few individuals. It doesn't understand and interferes where it doesn't belong. And then there's Kara!"

Several more shadow spikes launched out to stab the team. Again they dodged out of the way with little room for error. One of the spikes cut across Tom's shoulder. Reia got cut across her right leg.

"We need to find the bastard fast," Tom said. "We can't stay on the defensive."

"Kara!" Mordiggian growled. "That goddess assisted the Creator in Its machinations."

A couple trees were thrown in the air. The dark shadows underneath the trees provided a new source for Mordiggian's attacks. A barrage of shadow spikes came down from the trees. Tala quickly threw up a Bubble Shield to defend against the attack and Tom fired off more Fireballs to destroy the flying trees.

"Your parents knew the important role you all would play in the future. They tried to hide you all under new names. When we found out your new names, Kara used most of her power to make everyone forget. When those Phoenix soldiers told me Reia Zyer's name, my memories were unlocked. And when I told Hastur, his memories were unlocked. We remember everything."

Fives trees were thrown in the direction of Tom's group. Now that they were ready for this kind of attack, Tom and Tala used their magic to destroy the trees before they got close to them.

"You know what else I remember? I remember the look on the Heroes' faces when they were killed by Hastur."

Those words made the girls tensed up in rage and despair. Even the timid Tala was baring her fangs.

"Which one should I describe first? Leo Ordata. The greatest Mage to have ever lived. Had each of his limbs blown off and he bled out. Such a slow and painful death."

Tears came to Tala's eyes and she choked on her breath.

"Evaline Acer. Crucified on a tree with her own arrows."

"Bastard," Sylmae growled under her breath.

"Axel Jordfodt. Torso crushed and lungs punctured."

"How bout you come out and I return the favour?" Vivian yelled out.

"Delix and Niala Ryzerious. Oh, he was in tears when he was forced to watch Hastur tear his wife's head off before he left his mortal coil."

"You fucking monster!" Reia yelled as she charged forth.

"Wait!" Tom said as he grabbed her tail and yanked her to the ground.

"What are you-?" Reia whimpered. "My parents!"

"He's trying to separate us. He's taunting us to make mistakes. Do not let him control you."

"What are we supposed to do then?" Reia demanded. "He keeps hiding in the trees."

"I have an idea. Tala?"

"Yes, Tom?"

"Burn the forest."

Tala nodded and started to launch Fireballs at the trees around them. Tom assisted her in the endeavour.

"I should say that, as a Dryad, I do find this scene very disturbing," Amber said.

"Can't you grow this forest back afterwards?" Sylmae asked.

"I can, but the same way you all can regrow your limbs. It doesn't change how disturbing it is."

The fire began to spread across the forest and destroy every source of shadow. Soon the fire surrounded the clearing. Mordiggian howled in pain and jumped up out of the fire. He had several fires on his body. His skeletal face couldn't make facial expressions, but the team could see it in his eyes. He was furious.

"Did you think we learned nothing while fighting Phoenix?" Tom yelled. "You can thank Rika for when we burn you to ashes."

Tom launched a Lightning Strike at the Old One. The bolt of electricity struck Mordiggian and caused him to groan.

"Vi, Reia, charge forward!" Tom ordered. "Everyone else as support."

Tom, Vivian, and Reia dashed forward with their weapons drawn. Tala, Sylmae, and Amber stood back to give supportive magic and attacks. Amber threw down her boosting plants and casted Alert on everyone so she could monitor their physical conditions. Tala and Sylmae used their range attacks while they made sure to avoid hitting their companions.

Mordiggian created a wall of shadows to block their attacks. When the Tom, Vivian, and Reia got close, Mordiggian launched the wall forward to knock the three back. When he did, Mordiggian felt a pain hit his mind.

"No..." he muttered. "No, no, no, no!"

Mordiggian grabbed his head in a panicked motion and continued to scream. Tom's squad was confused by Mordiggian's sudden change in his attitude.

"What the fuck?" Vivian said.

"He's dead!" Mordiggian yelled. "Wendigo is dead!"

"So what was that about those soldiers being nothing compared to him?" Tom mocked.

Tom motioned for his companions to ready another attack.

"It's... over for me," Mordiggian muttered in a whimper. "Hastur will never forgive me."

Mordiggian slid away as the team tried to attack again. He stopped himself at the obelisk.

"What are you doing?!" Tom yelled as he chased after him.

"I would rather face the Agony than Hastur," Mordiggian answered. "But before, I will be sure to drag you down with me!" Mordiggian placed his hand on the obelisk and said, "ah'mnahn'."

When they heard the word, it caused a sharp pain in their minds. Blood came from everyone's noses.

"Shrink?" Reia repeated.

The obelisk stopped casting its energy into the sky and begun to shrink. The clouds immediately started to clear.

"The moon!" Vivian called out.

Everyone looked up and saw a disk of purple energy with a moon halfway through it.

"That's the Yuntha moon!"

Tom looked back to Mordiggian. The obelisk continued to shrink.

"Forget the moon, we need to stop him!" Tom said.

The obelisk shrank down until it was small enough to fit into Mordiggian's hand. Tom's eyes widen in fear. He teleported directly next to Mordiggian and tried to slash his hand off. Mordiggian backhanded Tom away. The attack sent Tom flying ten meters away and took the wind from his lungs.

"Tom!" everyone cried out.

Vivian and Reia ran over to him to help him up.

"N-No," he wheeze. "S-Stop h-him..."

The crystal in Mordiggian's hand absorbed into his body. An explosive aura erupted from his body. His body grew until he was three times his original height. Mordiggian was a towering nine meters tall.

"Jesus..." Tom muttered.

Mordiggian raised his hand and yelled out, "Eclipse. Magic Barrier."

VVVVVV

Space

On the International Space Station, Astronauts Jean and Rocky checked on the wheatgrass they had growing in the small greenhouse. Activity on the station had been increasing at a radical rate since the Portal was attached to the outside of the station. They were able to turn their work on the station into a day job and were able to go through the portal to relax, sleep, and eat on Earth. In the future, this will remove the negative physical effects of working in space by minimizing exposure to cosmic radiation and low-gravity environments.

"Uh, Jean, Rocky, I think you guys should see this," Ivan said to the two.

Jean and Rocky flew down the station corridor and entered the section that Ivan was in.

"What is it?" Jean asked.

Ivan pointed through the porthole of the module. The two astronauts looked through the window and saw North America. A large black dot appeared over the area of Manhattan and grew until this black dot covered the east cost of the United States.

"What the fuck?" Rocky muttered.

VVVVVV

The sky was covered in a black blanket that prevented all the natural light of the sun from getting through. It was like the land was lost in the void.

"With the Magic Barrier in place, you cannot teleport out of this area," Mordiggian announced. "You are trapped in here with me."

"This changes nothing," Tom yelled to his companions. "He's just a bigger target. Switch comms to private. Tala, Sylmae. Focus on his upper half. The three of us will take the bottom. Amber continue giving us buffs."

"Got it!" Sylmae yelled back. She enhanced her bow with her magic and shot arrows towards Mordiggian's face.

Tala used a vast mixture of magical missiles to keep Mordiggian on his toes. Tom, Vivian, and Reia renewed their assault on Mordiggian by attacking from several different directions. Mordiggian stabbed his hands into the ground and shadow spikes erupted from the ground to attack Reia, Vi, and Tom. The attack forced them to retreat backwards and find another angle of attack.

"Mother fucker is using the underground to get his shadows," Vivian yelled out into the communicator.

"We need to keep him busy then," Tom said.

"I might have something," Amber replied.

Amber placed both of her hands on the ground.

"How about picking on someone your own size?" She yelled at Mordiggian. "How bout Dionaea?"

The ground exploded as a plant grew in front of Amber. The plant reached the same height as Mordiggian. It resembled Earth's own Venus flytrap. The plant consisted of one large serpent-like stalk with a large, bright red mouth with sharp teeth. Two smaller stalks came out from the sides. Both of them with mouths like the large stalk. The main body was a leafy bulb with a dozens slithering vines that came out from underneath it.

The Dionaea released a loud noise that resembled a cross between a hiss and gurgle. It charged towards Mordiggian and clamped down its mouth on his face. Mordiggian growled in frustration and grabbed the creature around the mouth.

"Attack now while he's busy!" Tom yelled. "Your most powerful spells!"

The girls surrounded Mordiggian and raised their hands to put all of their remaining Mana into their most powerful spells. Earthquake. Supernova. Downburst. Ice Storm. Amber had to forgo joining the magical attack as she used up the last of her Mana just to summon Dionaea. She stayed back a safe distance to rest.

The ground under Mordiggian's feet erupted forcing Mordiggian into the air. A ball of translucent green light that swirled together as Reia's Mana fused with the wind. Reia swung her hands downwards and the Downburst spell slammed down on Mordiggian. The spell forced Mordiggian back into the ground.

A ball of bright white fire came from Tala's hand and flew towards Mordiggian. The Supernova went through the Dionaea like a hot knife through butter and impacted Mordiggian. It exploded in a brilliant bright life that forced everyone to look away. When the light died down, everyone looked back and saw Mordiggian was engulfed in flames. Tom quickly followed up with a Surge Strike that used his Lightning Strike skill. The projectile collided with the engulfed Mordiggian which caused him to suffer from burning and shock.

As if on cue, Sylmae casted her Ice Storm spell. Clouds appeared a small distance above Mordiggian. Wind, snow, and ice came down from those clouds. The flames became extinguished and the rapid cooling of Mordiggian took a drastic toll on him. As the ice spread across his body, Mordiggian's movements slowed. Soon his entire body was completely encased in ice.

"Quickly, everyone!" Tom yelled into his comm. "Smash him!"

Acting on his order, Vivian and Reia joined Tom and charged towards the ice status to try and inflict a fatal blow. Before they could land their attack, the icicle structure exploded outwards. Chunks of ice went in all directions and sent everyone flying back.

Tom and the Xothicans hit the ground hard and felt the air knocked out of them. The six of them struggled to raise themselves using their elbows. When they looked back at Mordiggian, the colour from their faces drained.

"You got to be shitting me," Vivian mumbled under her raspy breath.

Mordiggian had freed himself from his ice tomb. Despite all the massive attacks inflicted upon him, Mordiggian didn't show any sign of real damage. He still had the mouth of Dionaea hanging off of his face. Mordiggian reached for the mouth and pried it off of his face. He held the plant in his right hand and let it drop to the ground.

Everyone got back to their feet and were now shaking.

"He just took all of our attacks like they were nothing!" Reia said.

Mordiggian raised a hand to the sky. The darkness of the sky swirled around like oil. Objects then came down from it. A shadow spike grazed Tom's leg before it impaled into the ground.

"Move!" he yelled.

Shadow spikes rain down from the sky and Tom's team moved to dodge the attack. The spikes came down a dozen at a time. Mordiggian watched them dodge with every bit of effort they could muster.

Sylmae grabbed Amber when she saw she had trouble dodging the spikes. Vivian grabbed Tala to help her move.

"There's so many!" Vivian grunted.

"We can't keep dodging forever!" Reia said.

"We need a plan," Amber added. "Tom, do you have any?"

"I'm thinking," he answered.

Tom examined the area around him to think of a way to counterattack. The forest around them was still on fire so Mordiggian couldn't use the trees for his attacks. He also couldn't use any shadows on the ground as they were all too faded from the forest fire around them. At this point, his attacks can only come from under the ground or the sky.

Tom looked at the sky and noticed something. His Perception was high enough for him to see that the sky dripped the spikes. For a brief moment, he saw a small hole that opened to the sky behind the darkness.

"I have a plan," Tom said. "It's a stupid plan."

"If it means we can stop dodging, I'm all for it," Vivian said.

"Stay quiet and let me handle distraction. Rest and wait for my signal to attack. Meditate to improve your Mana recovery, but keep vigilant."

Tom popped open the visor of his helmet.

"Is this all you're going to do Mordiggian?" Tom yelled at him. "I felt more threatened by that giant slime in Madrid."

Mordiggian growled and made the spikes focus on Tom. Tom continued to dodge the spikes.

"Oh, is this all you have? Come on , you stupid skull face fuck."

The spikes became larger and more holes appeared in the sky.

"So tell me, Mordiggian. How does it feel? How does it feel that everything you have done has only helped Humanity?"

"How can anything I have done help Humanity?" Mordiggian roared. He made the spikes larger. "I have slaughtered thousands of you. I have instilled fear into your species!"

"And in turn, created a centralized enemy for all of Humanity to focus on. That made Humanity create the UNDF. Your efforts allowed us to wipe out Phoenix. You even led us to finding out about Umbra. Thanks for all of that."

Tom and the others could feel waves of hatred radiate from Mordiggian. Again the shadow spikes got larger. At this point, each spike was the size of a car.

"In fact... I would say that thanks to your efforts, that we killed Wendigo. I guess you could say that... you... killed Wendigo."

Mordiggian howled in frustration. More holes appeared in the sky as the spikes fell.

"I have lived longer than you can comprehend! In all that time, I have never failed a task given to me. Why you? Why your people?!"

A spike landed on the ground. It was the size of a mack truck. Tom jumped towards it and landed on the side. He jumped off of the spike towards Mordiggian. Mordiggian raised his hands to ready for a counterattack. Before Tom got within striking range, he disappeared. Mordiggian was briefly confused before he felt a slash at his back. He spun around and saw Tom for a brief moment before he disappeared.

Tom pushed his teleport ability further than he has ever pushed it. He disappeared and reappeared to attack Mordiggian multiple times. Mordiggian did not have the speed to keep up with him. In anger, Mordiggian stabbed his hands into the ground and a wall of shadow spikes came up from the sky.

"Up here, Mordi!" Tom yelled.

Mordiggian looked up and saw Tom fall towards him. Tom then vanished and, right behind where he was, was one of Mordiggian's shadow spikes from the sky. The spike collided with Mordiggian and crushed him into the ground.

Tom landed to the side and collapsed onto the ground. His head was dizzy from the constant teleports. Tom looked to where Mordiggian was and saw a large spike impaled into the ground. The spike popped out of the ground and fell over. A few seconds later, it dissolved away. Mordiggian crawled out of the hole and righted himself.

"Even if I fail here, Lord Hastur will hunt you down. Though it will be nothing compared to what he'll do to those who killed his son." Mordiggian looked up and saw the sky was open above Manhattan. The sky was blue with few clouds in it. Earth's moon was visible with the Yuntha moon to the other side. The Xothican moon was about three-quarters through the energy disk. "This... This was your plan."

"You giving in to my shit talk helped things out. So you helped me again. Thanks." Tom flipped his face shield down and said into his comm, "Feeling good as new, ladies?"

"Ready when you are," Vivian said.

"Then jump in whenever."

Mordiggian roared and shadows came from the ground. A Fireball hit Mordiggian in the face and interrupted his attack. He looked in the direction the attack came from and saw the Xothicans with their weapons drawn and were physically renewed.

Tom flipped open his face shield and said, "And that was the second part of my plan."

Tom closed his shield and charged a Fireball spell into his sword. Amber planted buffing plants into the ground. She quickly followed up by creating vines that erupted from the ground and wrapped around Mordiggian to hold him in place. Vivian and Reia charged forward towards Mordiggian. Tom joined the two in their assault. Vivian took the damage she took in the last twenty-four hours and unleashed it in Erupt, Reia used Flurry to stab her weapon faster than the eye could see, and Tom unleashed a fiery Surge Strike. Sylmae stayed back with Tala to use her arrows.

Mordiggian grunted in pain. The three pulled back and Sylmae and Tala unleashed a barrage of range attacks. He struggled to keep his balance and tried to close the hole over Manhattan by grabbing darkness from the surrounding sky, but his concentration was constantly interrupted.

"Time to finish this," Tom announced. "Again with your toughest magic attacks. I'll soften him up while you charge them."

Tom alternated between charging his sword with Lightning Strike and unleashing slashes of magical attacks. Each attack froze Mordiggian in shock as the electricity surged through his body. Each moment Mordiggian was free of the shock, he moved towards Tom and his companions.

"Back away, Tom!" Sylmae yelled. "We're unleashing the attack."

Tom teleported away which freed Mordiggian to move. His freedom did not last long as he was hit by a ball of white fire. The ball of fire exploded and coated Mordiggian in glittering white fire.

"Gah! It burns! Ah!" Mordiggian rolled over the ground to put out the flames.

"Let me put it out for you," Sylmae mockingly said.

A powerful ice storm appeared over Mordiggian. Its winds extinguished the flames and gave Mordiggian brief relief. That relief vanished as ice spread across his body. As what would happen when a super heated object is quickly cooled down, cracks appeared on Mordiggian's body.

"Just fucking die!" Reia roared.

Vivian and Reia timed their attacks perfectly this time. In less than a second, the two spells fused and created a new group spell.

Seismic Crusher Type Activate Mana Required 1500 Rank SSS Level Beginner 1 (78%) By combining a high level Earth spell with a high level Wind spell, you all have created a Seismic Crusher. A cage appears around the target and the target gets crushed between a force of Earth and Wind.

The ground and wind collided with each other with Mordiggian trapped in the middle. The two forces shattered the bottom portion of Mordiggian's body and popped his upper body out onto the ground. Mordiggian's body twitched as it defrosted. Tom and the others cautiously approached him. Due to Mordiggian's unique Status Screen, it is impossible to tell how much Health he had left.

Black bile leaked out from the bottom of his torso and his mouth. He hacked up more of this vile liquid as he defrosted more. Mordiggian was quickly losing his strength as he bled out.

The Xothicans raised their weapons ready to strike one final blow to end the monster's life.

"Wait!" Tom yelled. "Don't kill him yet."

"What do you mean 'don't kill him yet'?!" Vivian screamed. "After everything he has done to our world and yours."

"I have many questions and this may be the only opportunity," he reasoned.

The Xothicans hesitated, but in the end decided to give Tom his time.

"Alright, but we're keeping close," Sylmae relented. "We don't know what he could do."

Tom approached with his sword drawn. He pointed it at Mordiggian's head. "I have questions and you're going to answer them."

Mordiggian just stared back with no vocal response.

"Why did Hastur fuse our worlds?"

Mordiggian offered no response.

"He already fighting a multi-front war on Xoth, why go through the trouble of adding Humans to that fight?"

Mordiggian only offered laboured breathing to Tom's question.

Tom kicked him in the face and yelled, "Answer me, fucker! Is Hastur the prophesied Darkness?"

To the surprise of everyone, Mordiggian started laughing.

"To fumble so much with your own ignorance..." Mordiggian coughed. "I m-may be dying, but I will not g-give you the satisfaction. Here's what you need to know. After our worlds merge, Hastur will have you hunted down. Your remains will be displayed for all to see what happens to those who try to fight him. That will be nothing compared to what Hastur will do to those who killed his son. To their families. Th-They will- will... beg for the Agony."

Mordiggian's last breath left him and his remains slowly disintegrated into black dust.

You gained 22000 EXP Notice You managed to kill a being of unknown origin. You are now given the title "Old One Slayer". This title grants the buff of an additional 5% damage towards other Old Ones and spawn.

"It's over," Sylmae muttered. "It's finally over..."

Everyone crowded together in a group hug, jumping and cheering.

"We defeated Mordiggian!" Vivian screamed at the top of her lungs. "Woo!"

VVVVVV

Sahara Desert, Africa

In the desert of the Sahara, the last team was finishing their bombardment of the obelisk. Reports were coming in from all over of obelisks being destroyed. This team was the last team with an obelisk.

"Ready! Fire!" the CO order.

The artillery cannons roared as they fired their shells. The sound of the shells echoed around the land as they flew towards their target. Their journey is concluded with a massive explosion that destroyed the obelisk. Chunks of the structure flew in all directions as the soldiers cheered.

"HQ, the Saharan obelisk has been destroyed," the CO reported over the comm. "I repeat. The Saharan obelisk has been destroyed."

"This is HQ," they replied back. "That's the last of the obelisks. They have all been destroyed. Operation Overtime has been a success."

The soldiers who were close enough to hear the response all screamed out in cheer. The news quickly spread throughout the area and everyone joined in. Many jumped around in celebration. While their world's fate was sealed, they still have a couple months to prepare.

The CO sighed in relief. A loud, deep, whirling hum came from the sky. All the soldiers looked up and saw the ring of magical energy, that hugged the Xothican moon, started to vibrate. The hum increased in frequency and the ring seemingly vibrated faster along with it.

Soon the noise was so loud that the soldiers held their hands to their ears. The sound then petered out. The ring of energy then contracted into the moon. When the ring disappeared, dust shifted off of the fully transferred moon.

While most of the soldiers had little knowledge of astronomy, they knew that something was wrong with the moon. Larger particles came off of the moon. Soon visible cracks appeared on the moon's surface. Purple energy came from the cracks and expanded to create more cracks. The energy exploded outwards and the moon completely shattered into pieces.

All that remained of the moon was a massive cluster of rocks.

VVVVVV

Tom and his companions stared up at the sky dumbfounded by the lunar event.

"There goes Yuntha..." Vivian muttered.

"I really hope that doesn't bite us in the ass," Tom said.

"Did we do that?" Tala asked.

"Maybe..." Tom hesitantly said with an unsure shrug. "Us destroying the obelisks may have caused an interruption of the transfer magic. Yuntha happened to be a victim."

"Look we can't concentrate on the fact that we might have destroyed a moon," Amber joked. "We won against Mordiggian and delay the fusion event by a few months and we eliminated every last major threat on Earth."

"Amber's right," Reia said. "We should celebrate. We all have been training ragged for over half a year."

"We need a vacation," Sylmae sighed. "Just a week. Maybe go to a theme park or something without worrying about some secret organization or ancient evil."

"We need a beach side barbeque," Vivian added.

"With Tom as the cook, of course," Tala cheerfully said.

Amber noticed Tom staring into space.

"Something up, Tom?" Amber asked.

"Got a couple items from Mordiggian," he replied. "A proof of death for Mordiggian and a communication orb."

Proof of Death - Mordiggian Rank SSS This item can be used to prove the death of Mordiggian. Communication Orb (Hastur) Rank A This orb is capable of communicating with another orb that is tethered to it by using a mental realm. Communication happens within a split-second regardless of how long the two communicators have spent within the mental realm.

"Who does the orb contact?" Reia asked.

"Who else?" Tom answered. "Maybe I can get some answers."

Tom pulled out the orb from his Inventory.

"So how do I activate this?"

"Tom, don't!" Reia yelled.

The last thing Tom saw was the girls rushing to stop him from using the orb. Everything around him vanished and replaced with a dark cloudy landscape. Tom scanned the area until his eyes rested upon a figure who sat on a rock throne ten meters away from him.

The slender figure who sat on the throne was dressed in a lavish yellow robe. The robe had a shimmer to it whenever it shifted. The figure wore a golden mask with a couple eye holes and one mouth hole. Five points came out from the top of the mask to give it the look of a crown.

An amulet hung from his neck. It was made of a metal that Tom couldn't recognize. On the round amulet was a golden symbol of a flower-shaped blotch with three squiggly lines that spread out from it. The only visible part of the figure was his hands. They were gray and the fingers were long, slender, and claw tipped. Slime dripped from the hands onto throne.

"Hastur?" Tom said.

The being silently stared at Tom like it was curious about the new presence. It slowly got up from its throne. Each movement caused wet squishy noises.

"Nephilim..." Hastur said.

Hastur's voice seemingly vibrated the non-existent air in the area and was like ice to Tom's veins. Tom was momentarily in shock from being in Hastur's presence before he gathered himself.

"I'm here because I have questions. Why did-"

"Mordiggian."

For some reason, Hastur's voice completely overrode Tom's own.

"He is dead?"

"Yeah," Tom answered. His thoughts immediately strayed to wondering why he's so willing to answer Hastur's questions. It felt like Hastur's mere presence compelled him to answer him.

"And Ithaqua? My son."

Remembering Mordiggian's words about what would Hastur do to the people who killed his son, Tom realized he needed to protect the families of the UNDF soldiers who killed Wendigo.

"Your freak son is dead," Tom mockingly replied. "I killed him."

Tom blinked and when his eyes reopened, Hastur stood just a couple meters across from him. Tom jumped back and wondered how Hastur moved so fast and quietly in a blink of his eyes. At the current distance, Tom saw Hastur's true height. He was easily twice Tom's height. Despite fighting the larger Mordiggian earlier, Tom felt like Hastur absolutely towered over him.

Hastur looked down at Tom. Tom could only see darkness through the eye and mouth holes of the mask. Hastur's stare seem to penetrate through Tom's being and filled him with fear.

Hastur raised a hand towards Tom and made a casting gesture. Tom felt his ability to breathe decreased with each breath. His heart slowed with each beat.

"My every assassin will pursue you. Everyone you love will be killed. Their souls will power me. And you... You will beg for the Agony before my rage is through."

Tom lost the ability to breathe and his heart stopped in his chest. His vision faded to black with Hastur looking over him. In the next instance, Tom sat up with a start, gasping for air. He was back in Central Park with the girls around him.

"Tom!" Reia gasped as she hugged him. "You're okay!"

"Wah...?" Tom mumbled. "What happened?"

"You idiot!" Sylmae yelled. "As soon as you activated the orb, you fell to the ground. Your breathing and heart briefly stopped."

"What the hell were you thinking when you used that orb?" Tala was uncharacteristically emotional to the point of yelling at Tom. Her voice made Tom jump more than the others by far.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't think... I just wanted a goddamn answer."

"An answer?" Amber repeated.

"I... was in a recent meeting with some US analysts. Disaster assessment. Even with all the preparations my people have done, we are still looking at massive loss of life. Hundreds of millions. I wanted... Needed to know why. Why the hell is Hastur fusing our worlds? I come at that question from every reasoning direction, but I can't make any logical sense of it."

Tom lifted the orb up. The orb cracked all over and shattered. It turned into glass sand that ran through Tom's fingers. "Shit. I thought I could finally get my answer, but instead I get tortured by Hastur across time and space. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you all worry about me. Again."

Tom got up to his feet and brushed his legs.

"Please don't make a habit of it," Amber cautioned him.

"I thought that you all should know that I told Hastur that we were responsible for Wendigo's death."

"Tom..." Vivian said through her teeth. "Why did you think that was a good idea?"

"It's what Mordiggian said. Hastur would have the friends and family, of those who killed his son, slaughtered. I didn't want Garza's and Azikiwe's teams to have to worry about their family's safety."

Reia hugged him from behind. "That was very selfless of you." She then did a chop to his head.

"Ah!" he yelped.

"And that's for making us worry. Again. Also, maybe make sure we're involved in those types of decisions."

"I'll try to keep my dumb actions to a minimum," he joked. "I'll need to let Steele know about this decision so everyone will believe the story. But in all seriousness, we need to get stronger. Hastur's strong. Really strong. If we try to fight him now, we'd be killed instantly."

Amber lightly grabbed his hand and allowed it to rest on top of hers.

"Then we get stronger," Amber said. She leaned forward and kissed him. "Together."

"Hey, no fair!" Reia said. "I want a victory kiss too."

"Come here, I got plenty to go around," he laughed. "We need to celebrate!"