Alexus knew that at the rate that they were fighting, they would not be able to stay afloat. They were down to three people, the drones were cut down to half, and his own energy level was getting low.

Even the amount of power he had received from Gluttony was quickly draining away, and at most, he would only be able to last for the next thirty minutes off of Gluttony’s energy and the rest he was left with on his own.

“I got thirty minutes.” Alexus quickly said through the comms.

“Thirty minutes of?” Simon asked. He was powering up his sword, buzzing it with life.

“Before I run out of energy.”

“Oh, same,” Simon replied back. “If we don’t handle this soon, we’ll need to retreat and try again when we are back in full health.”

“I agree; let’s do what we can.” Simon burst forward, stabbing and jabbing at Wrath.

Wrath slithered and curled, hissing as he bared his fangs. His wings flashed open, batting them back and forth in a flurry. The wind swirled, pushing back both Simon and Alexus.

Alexus raised his hand, trying not to get blown away, stabbing his sword into the ground. His dragon suit whirled as claws on his toes gripped into the ground.

“To make me change into this form.” Wrath slithered in rage. “I’ll show you the end!”

Red and black bubbling energy lights formed inside Wrath’s mouth, becoming brighter and brighter.

Alexus' instincts screamed. If he got hit by what was forming in Wrath’s mouth, he was bound to die.

“Dodge!” Alexus pulled out his sword and bolted away straight from Wrath’s aim.

A blast of back and red energy shot forward, deeply cutting into the ground.

Steam of energy bloomed out, giving it a terrible burning smell. Trees and plants caught on fire, becoming a forest fire.

Wrath continued to spit out another fire that continued to grow and grow.

Alexus faltered, dancing through the flames that were becoming hot and dangerous. Every time Wrath set fire, he changed directions to avoid getting caught up in Wrath’s flames.

Suddenly, a small drone the size of a ball floated straight towards Wrath. However, it wasn't fast like the drones that Alexus normally saw. Instead, it was a simple cube.

Beep. Beep.

The drone blinked a few times red.

Wrath didn’t see the small drone inching closer. A few times, the drone got pushed around by the wind, but it quickly braced itself, trying not to get blown away.

Eventually, the drone was able to come close, tapping into Wrath’s chest. Small legs shot out of the cube, becoming insect-like as it gripped onto Wrath. Small circular orbs were spitting out from its main body, becoming small versions of itself. Hundreds to thousands of orbs clacked and scaled Wrath’s body.

A few blinked, and a loud beeeeep sounded right after.

A bomb blast went off, followed by multiple more, becoming chain reactions of sparks of lights that ran up and down Wrath’s chest.

The sudden shock caused Wrath to shudder, throwing him off as the trajectory of his beam of fire was thrown off course. He stumbled back.

“Who?” Wrath growled, trying to find the source, but he still didn’t feel or see it.

Another blast of firecrackers like an explosion shocked them, this time on his side, throwing him onto the ground, and picking up a large amount of dust.

“Nice one!” Alexus shouted. He ran over, golden energy trailing from his blade. His dragon scale clinked and shifted. His armor thickened, giving him more weight in his hand, waist, and feet, allowing him to be more locked into the ground.

Alexus reached toward Wrath. The glowing gold sword brightly glowed.

Anyone looking at it would have been blinded if they stared for too long.

“Eat this!” Alexus swung his sword in a horizontal motion.

The golden energy swept through the air, cutting down any trees in its path and straight at Wrath. It smashed into the side, creating a deep open wound.

Wrath thrashed in pain.

Black blood oozed out of its body.

Flames spewed out of Wrath’s mouth, continuing his painful rampage. His tail whipped, smashing into Alexus.

Alexus didn’t see the oncoming tail whip that slammed into his sword that he barely managed to put up in time. But, it wasn’t strong enough; instead, he was thrown across the ground and into the raging fire.

“Alexus!” Crystal screamed. She fired rapidly into Wrath’s head.

Each bullet sliced through Wrath’s skin, one after another, as the bullets followed right behind the other. When the first bullet went in, it cracked Wrath’s skin. The second broke it wide open, and the third embedded itself deeply.

Following quickly after, a blast of energy exploded out from the third, leaving gaping holes in Wrath’s body.

Wrath hissed. He pumped his wings into the air, trying to stay afloat. But that wasn’t easy. The amount of damage that he had accumulated was growing.

After the first hit from Alex, his healing wasn’t closing up the wound fast enough and instead was draining his power.

Simon lunged in, challenging Wrath with his own flashes of attacks. Each stab was fast and almost impossible to differentiate as each strike was on point, making it impossible to follow. He continued his attacks on open wounds, making them bigger and bigger.

WRath pulled back, trying to dodge Simon’s attack.

Another piercing sound of the gunshot cut through the air. This time, it hit true, taking out one of Wrath’s wings. A large piercing gaping hole was present, making Wrath falter in the air.

Not even a few seconds after, this time, the bullet hit true. It smashed into WRath’s right-wing bone, tearing it completely off. With a screech, Wrath tumbled down from above onto the ground with a heavy thud.

“Nice one!” Crystal shouted; she raced to Alexus, hoping that he was alright.

But before she could make it, Wrath spat angrily, uncurling itself with its broken wing and striking with gaping jaws.

At that moment, Crystal was gobbled up in one bite.

“Crystal!” Simon cried out in horror. “No! No! NO!” He struck, slashing into the monster's side

repeatedly over and over again.

Wrath hissed, baring his fangs.

With a wicked turn, Wrath smashed into the ground like a ragdoll.

Suddenly, Wrath squirmed in pain, roaring and snarling as if trying to get something off or out of him.

A blast of energy shot out of Wrath’s head like a light pole.

With a thud, Wrath laid dead on the ground.

“What?” Simon spoke confusedly. He rushed over, checking around to find Crystal.

Alexus, blown back in the fire, wobbled out with cuts and bruises. His sword was gone, and blood trailed down his head and eyes as his helmet was off.

“Where’s Crystal?!” Alexus hobbled over, holding one arm.

“Eaten.”

“What?!” Alexus shouted in alarm; he breathed heavily, pulling out his sword with his injured arm. “How?!”

“Wrath got her, but she might still be alive.”

Just on cue, the stomach of Wrath was torn open. Out stepped, Crystal covered completely in black blood.

“Crystal?” Alexus hobbled over.

Crystal held up her hand, stopping him. She cleaned her face with her other hand, allowing her to see more.

“Are you alright?” Alexus asked.

“Yea, that was not fun.” Crystal spat out Wrath’s blood that got in her blood. “I couldn’t find Lara, except a part of Dragon Suit. I think she’s really dead.”

The air was heavy. To hear that Lara was really gone made everyone upset.

Alexus checked Crystal, making sure that there was no visible injury. When he saw nothing, a breath of relief escaped his lips.

“Ah, this is for you.” Crystal grabbed Alexus's hand.

Alexus felt something small and heavy land in his hand. Looking down, he noticed the same crystal-like rock from the other Deadly Sins. Its heavyweight softly hummed in his hand, turning into black liquid. It melted into his suit and body.

Energy exploded. All the pain disappeared, and even his arm and legs that were injured were quickly healed.

“Every time I see that I find it strange. I don’t know why but it's only you.”

“I don’t know either.” Alexus shrugged; he was glad for this small blessing.

“Either way, let's go back. We need to hurry back to Seventh Sanctum.”

Alexus agreed. A wash of heaviness blew through him. It had been a while since he felt such a rush of power, but it disappeared just as quickly as it came.

“Yea, that would be a great idea,” Simon replied with a jolly smile. “I’m glad that you are alive. It would have been bad. Alexus would have lost his mind.” He patted Alexus on the back.

“I would,” Alexus said with a definite answer. “You’re my love.”

Crystal cracked a smile. She gave him a big smile. “I know. I love you too.”

“Oh god. Where did I start.” Simon groaned, turning his back to them. “You guys go get a damn hotel.”

“There isn’t any.”

“Well, just whatever.” Simon gave up.

Crystal and Alexus laughed.

Even in the face of death and the loss of a comrade, he felt relieved that Crystal was still alive and thanked Simon for relieving the tension. Another death would have shaken him deeply, especially if it was Crystal.