Fladnag stared, eyes wide at the shard in his hand. His brow furrowed as he looked up to Razznik. "More than any of us, you awaited this day. Yet, this is your decision?"

Jatakem (Also known as Imperial City)

"Lady Sayen !" an old priest yelled and then reported , "There are reports of goblins and demons attacking the villages!"

"Dispatch all the Paladins," the shaman ordered, eyes on the shard she grasped. "Hunt down every last one."

"All, Your Holiness? What about the capital?"

"Do not worry about the capital. As long as I am here, no demon shall set foot in this city," she promised. The priest bowed, then hurried out of the shrine to carry out her orders as she examined the shard once more. "Seven become one, one becomes Seven. Godless souls bound by blood, by your rage, shall the world be saved." She wiped a tear that escaped her veiled eyes and took a deep breath to calm herself. "If this is your decision, elder, then I suppose we must abide by it."

Rider chanted something under his breath, and a glow emanated from the shard he held. The light encompassed the shard, then grew in length. The glow died down, and Rider held a blade with irregular curved edges.

"My apologies," he said to no one in particular. "We must extend our sentence a little longer. The world is not yet ready to receive Chaos." The blade rose off his hand till it suspended vertically above him.

"What is that?" Kashi asked, unable to curb his growing curiosity.

"A key," Rider answered, eyes downcast as he got to his feet. He looked up at Razznik. "We shall meet again," he promised and raised his right arm.

Kashi was forced to retreat as a column of light burst from the earth and shot to the heavens . The irregular blade shot up through the column of light, growing as it did. It reached the light's apex where it completed its transfiguration to a divine sword, white as an angel's wings.

Six similar beams appeared in the horizon around them, each reaching, and then piercing through the clouds.

Rider solemnly nodded, and then closed his palms...

???

The garden lay silent, its trespassers gone. The lake's surface trembled, for though they had gone, they were still very close. Another explosion shook the garden, and a piece of the great mountain fell off, then tumbled carelessly down the mountain's side. Its descent was halted as a fox-man crashed onto the mountainside, destroying it.

Cathek slammed both fists against the mountain, and two ice demons larger than a caravan burst out of the fissure created. The winged monsters rushed the king of dragons, claws poised to rip him apart.

They clashed against two lesser drakes who had been summoned by portals beside the king.

Cathek could not help but be impressed by the impossible beast. Somehow, he was keeping Razznik from entering by destabilizing the portal, summoning dragons around the world to combat the demons, and reducing the number of portals the soul stone was creating using him as a power source.

All of this was done while fighting off corruption from the soul stone . Despite the fact that each action decreased his defense.

Cathek glared through the throng of battling beasts. "Well, Great One, I must apologize for this rudeness of mine. But you will succumb to that stone eventually. Why do you still struggle so?"

"Your apology is accepted, mortal." Skyrm stood in the air, on the other side of the beasts. "I suppose there's order even in chaos. Your conduct has continually spared your life today."

"You give me too much praise," Cathek said as he hovered off the mountainside.

"Look," Skyrm said. "Seems Fate has chosen her side."

Cathek let out a wry smile as he looked at the light hovering above . "Well, Great One, I suppose there is no longer any point to our battle."

"Ah," Skyrm agreed. "I have done enough. They will protect the primes until my return. Till then, my body is yours to do as you wish." With those words, he closed his eyes, and would have fallen, had Cathek not caught him mid-air.

"Your sacrifice is a noble one, unnecessary though it is," Cathek said as he flew to the mountain top. He dropped Skyrm on the ground, and then ordered, "H eal your wounds. We have work to do, Gunder."

Skyrm's eyes snapped open, its fiery-red replaced by a consuming blackness. "Yes, my lord," Skyrm (?) answered.

Cathek looked to the rising blades of light. "You have only stalled the inevitable. You cannot stop what is to come... brother."

The blackened skies exploded as seven blades of light simultaneously sped upwards through the night sky, converging on the fluctuating portal above.

Razznik must have considered them a considerable threat because black streaks burst out of the portal. The spinning missiles exploded, and dozens of hell ghasts tore out of the chaos, rotten beaks aimed at the encroaching key-blades.

The seven blades engaged in a dogfight with the beasts, ripping through the early vanguard, then twisting, turning and banking as they struggled to dodge the plumes of darkness released by the creatures. Concentrated beams of light shot out of the key-blades as they skirted through the throng of avian monsters, ripping through any that got too close.

Eventually, the keys successfully broke through the world's atmosphere and continued their race through the darkness of space, their target the giant portal that had blocked the moon from sight.

As they raced onwards, six adopted a circular formation with the last a little ways ahead of them in the middle. Like the planets, the six began to rotate in place, and also revolve around the seventh.

Turbulent holy energy amassed in the space between the six, sparks shooting out as their respective pilots struggled to keep their powers in check.

The seventh also began to rotate in place, and the mass of energy concentrated into six beams that were continually absorbed by the seventh, even as they got even closer to Razznik's portal.

Razznik knew what was coming and raised his hand as a shield to block the incoming blow.

When the key-blades were close enough, the seventh discharged all of the energy it was absorbing and enhancing. The condensed beam crashed against Razznik's outstretched palm, illuminated the entire continent with concurrent explosion s of light.

Razznik's literally fought single-handedly against the combined efforts of the seven key-blades, yet was able to fight their charge to a standstill, arm trembling against the unrelenting force. But he was not worried as he knew that the casters would eventually run out of mana.

Kashi could scarcely hold his surprise as Rider channeled everything he had into the key-blades, teeth gritted and grinding as he fought to surpass Razznik's superior strength. Nor was he alone in his struggles.

Around the world, the remaining casters were in a similar predicament, each sacrificing their even their life-force to combat the stubborn god.

"No choice," Rider ground out, nearly falling to the earth from the pressure. "There is no merit in dragging this out any longer." He chanted something in a language Kashi could not understand...

Uaak!

Kashi cried out as he was launched off his feet by an unseen force. He righted himself but struggled to stay upright, impossible pressure weighing down on his entire being. He managed to raise his head as the dust surrounding the werewolf (?) was expelled by a second gust of wind.

Kashi raised his arms, shielding his eyes from the onrushing dust. When the onslaught settled, he dropped his arms... and his jaw along with them.

Long dark hair nestled between dark bat-like wings furled behind Rider's back. The being turned to the delf, regarding him with yellow pupils swimming in corneas of blood. "Daeben , do you fear me?" he asked, canines now clearly more pronounced than the rest of his sharpened teeth.

"Frankly? Yes," Kashi replied. "But not because of your physical appearance." He pointed to the battle raging above. "You're holding your own against that monster. That's what's really scary." That was only half-true. Upon seeing this visage, Kashi instantly confirmed what specie this man belonged to, but also his real name and what he wanted from Razznik. Kashi guessed his identity the moment they met, but not until now was he 100% certain.

A ghost of a smile played on Rider's lips. "I suppose I should have expected such a reaction. You are somewhat different from other primes." He focused his gaze on the battle above, "Now, let us postpone this unfortunate ending for just a while longer."

Amplified by the increased energy, the key-blades overpowered Razznik pushing him all the way into the portal.

Once Razznik’s hand disappeared behind the portals, the streams of light spread out from the point of contact. They formed six cardinal points on a mandala and joined together to form a Star of David.

The six key-blades stopped their rotations and inserted themselves into their respective cardinal points. The seventh key slowly hovered into place at the dead center and began advancing to the portal.

When it was but a few meters away, Razznik's arm shot out and grabbed it, clenching tightly in an attempt to smash it.

"You come!" Rider shouted.

Kashi did as he asked and approached the pillar of light, half-expecting to be launched into the sky by its force. However, it seemed the force he could clearly see was more spiritual than it was physical because though he could feel it, there was no physical evidence of the experience.

"I will be borrowing some of your power!" Rider informed him, then grabbed his hand before he could protest. The hybrid's claws sunk into his bloodstream, drawing energy from Ferulic's Spirit.

Kashi passed out instantaneously, unable to withstand the massive drain of his spirit.

The last key blasted Razznik's grip wide open, while concentric circles formed from the six shrunk towards the center, each cutting deeper into his arm.

Razznik reluctantly retreated, and the circles formed a final lock which the seventh key slid into.

The keys simultaneously turned in their locks, shutting down the portal . To the continent’s relief, Razznik was once again sealed to his Realm.

Though the portals around the world closed in unison, this hour changed Dreiza forever, as the links between worlds weakened considerably. Many demons that entered Dreiza survived the swift rout that followed after the portals closed.

Those that survived found places to hide and breed - create more of their kind. There were also areas where the boundaries weakened to the extent that periodically portals would open, releasing the demons back into the world.

To some adventurers, however, it just meant more monsters to kill...