III

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Arc III Chapter 13

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“Michael, dammit, what are you waiting for? I can't hold him any longer.” Lambert was pushed backwards, as pressure increased. Slowly, but gradually, he was losing ground.

Lambert gritted his teeth. “Kill him! Kill the FUCKER now!!!”

Michael gripped his sword and acted, capitalising on the opportunity of the moment. He slipped past the demon's claws, beneath his massive torso, to ram his sword into the demon's soft underbelly. Exposed, unprotected, vulnerable, steel met flesh, and steel prevailed.

The demon roared, overtaken by fury and fire, as pain numbed Kakos ' senses. “Grgrgrgrgrgrgrghrmgmgmgrmrm.”

“Iris! Now! This is our chance! ” Lambert shouted across the hall. The demon stumbled, neglecting his defence.

Iris channelled her magic, mobilisng her mana “Ignis, heed my call. Bright flame in the dark. May your blazing glory shine upon me.” Numerous circles surrounded her silhouette as potent magic gathered.

“Incendium!!!” The circles unleashed fury and destruction. A barrage of spells covered the demon in fire until subsiding. Explosion after explosion rained down mercilessly on the unsuspecting demon. An endless stream of fireballs. The bombardment completely exhausted Iris, robbing her of her last strength. Her breath grew heavy, and her shoulders slumped.

Lambert sighed in relief. “Iris, ... good work ... It is ... over.“

“Grmhrmrrhrrmrmmr.” An inhuman roar shattered Lambert's short-lived illusions.

Kakos' blood was boiling stronger and stronger, stronger than ever. Endless mana accelerated his metabolism. “You insignificant creatures, you are trying my patience! You will pay for your impertinence!!!”

Kakos attacked, his towering bulk crushing everything in his way, heavy feet stomped across the brittle stone floor.

“Disperse!” Lambert sensed the danger and started to run, but Iris was slow to react, still exhausted from her spell. ... she wouldn't make it.

His hands grabbed Iris by her shoulders and dragged her behind the safety of cover. An arcade, a single pillar shielded them in the nick of time, blocking the demon's crazed stampede and his sharp claws. The pillar withstood the initial assault, but the demon's raw strength proved too much, and the entire arcade collapsed under the onslaught to bury two unlucky adventurers under a mountain of rubble.

Lambert bit his lips. “Fuck!” There was no escape. There was nowhere to run. A demon before him. A collapsing wall behind him. A shaken Iris right in his arms. Falling boulders above him.

A demon, or being buried a live. Lambert started praying and chose the latter. The odds were about the same. His eyelids closed, before everything went dark beneath an avalanche of stone and rock. They were done for, weren't they?

Michael witnessed Lambert's demise. “Lamb ...”

Kakos's tail hit Michael out of nowhere, quick and merciless like a whip, hurling him across the hall for good. “Who says you are allowed to talk, measly human? Know your place ...”

A barrage of icicles cut Kakos short.

“We are not finished yet, fiend.” Nelaeryn readied his tome, calling forth more circles, more icicles, more projectiles. His tome served him well throughout the years. Now it would serve him into death.

Kakos roared in anger. “You are still standing, elf? Haven't you learned your lesson?”

Nelaeryn narrowed his eyes. “As long as I draw breath, I, a proud elf, will never submit to your vile kin, fiend.”

“That remains to be seen! I will break you!” Kakos smirked and charged his breath to deliver another cataclysm of fire and fury.

Fire and Ice. Ignis. Glacies. Their attacks clashed for a final time. Kakos triumphed. In the end, brute strength overwhelmed, obliterated skill and technique. Nelaeryn never stood a chance, nor did Arwing, nor Iris, nor Lambert, nor Michael. None of them ever stood a chance. Their fate was already sealed. Kakos's breath evaporated all of Nelaeryn's innocuous attacks with ease.

Having depleted his last remaining mana, Nelaeryn broke down. His body ultimately paid the price for his flagrant use of higher magic. So this was the end ...

Kakos celebrated his victory, a premature victory. It was hubris that spelled the downfall of even the mightiest foes. “Gwhahwhahaha, I told you, elf, you feeble mortals are nothing before my might, regardless of whether humans or elves. Be prepared to meet your maker!!!”

“Ehr ...” Nelearyn struggled in vain. His weakened body refused ... to move.

Kakos licked his fangs. The soft, tender taste of human flesh already tickled his tongue. “Stop resisting the inevitable, elf. All your souls will be mine! Mine! MINE!!! ...”

A pebble, a mere pebble, hit Kakos right in the face with uncanny precision and accuracy, barely missing his eye before ricocheting and falling down to the floor.

A pebble ... A pebble! A PEBBLE!!!

“GRWHgrhwrrhw!!!” Kakos roared, his raging, bloodshot eyes searching for the perpetrator. “Who dares to disturb my feast?! Show yourself!!!”

Nelaeryn followed the demon's gaze down the vast, empty hallway, down the cold stone floor, past all the destruction, past all the rubble, past all the debris, past collapsing pillars, past crumbling walls. Their eyes spotted a lone figure, the figure of a single girl tightly hugging her doll, armed with another mighty pebble.

The girl grinned, visibly amused. Her grin displayed a glacial iciness. “Preying on my precious companions when defenceless ... I must confess that I am dismayed. Politeness and manners aside, that is certainly not the proper way to behave, my friend.”

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