The blood oath crested the crater, his features highlighted in an eerie red glow from his channeled shield as he stared down at Alf.

Their eyes met and Alf nearly drew back in revulsion. The being that had sold his soul to Vackzilian was far beyond hideous; he was downright repulsive. Bulging blue veins ran down his neck and deformed, muscular arms. Pale gray eyes, glassy and devoid of life, gazed out from a bruised and twisted face. The man's irises looked jagged and torn, his dark pupils horribly misshapen. Alf shuddered. The blood oath's skin no longer bore any natural human coloring. It was as if someone had taken a hammer and bruised every last inch him, leaving his skin a dark purplish black.

Alf shuddered in disgust.

"I was wondering who would dare raise his hand against Lord Dy'Ixion, commander over all of Alfireá's forces," the blood oath spat. "I was expecting at least a dragon kin, but you... ," he snorted. "You are nothing but a mongrel. A mortal!"

"Alf, see if you can either break through his channeled shield or get him to dispel it," Drake's voice said in his ear through a sound warp spell. "Rex, once it drops, you attack him from behind."

Alf nodded and pointed his sword at the blood oath "You come against me with unholy oaths and power that is not your own, but I come against you in the name of the Lord God Almighty, The Lord of hosts, and The King of Kings, and today, you will fall by my hands."

Dy'Ixion burst out in laughter as he stepped down into the basin. "I see you're not only a pathetic nobody but a fruitcake as well. This fight will be rather short."

"That it will be," Alf said as a ball of fire blossomed at the tip of his shielded sword. Water raced down his arm and over the glowing blade, encasing the fire in a sheath of ice; then, with an audible whistle, the fiery ice javelin blasted away.

The blood oath guffawed and his channeled shield disappeared as he tossed his arms out.

Out of the corner of his eye, Alf watched as Rex appeared over the edge of the crater and dashed straight down towards the blood oath.

"No!" Drake screamed.

But it was too late; an invisible force erupted from Dy'Ixion's out flung arms and smashed into Rex, sending him flying head over heels into the far side of the crater. Seconds later, the ice javelin met with the same unseen power and exploded harmlessly in the air.

Alf started to turn to see if Rex was all right when Drake's voice boomed in his ear. "Never take your eyes off the enemy!"

Alf snapped his head back around to see the blood oath already had the palm of his hand pointed at him. His clothes flapped, and the flames behind Dy'Ixion roared as he sucked the air towards him; a massive, shimmering white blade coalesced as he compressed the wind into one long spear, and launched it straight at Alf.

Alf leapt forward and brought his shielded sword up just as the attack reached him. With a whistling hiss, the charged shield clipped the oncoming wind spear and sent it flying into the night sky. Another gust of air flew pass the blood oath, and Defender guided his hands as he tossed his blade to his left and thrust outwards. A second wind spear ricocheted off his weapon, flew out of the crater, and slammed into a silo.

Chunks of rock and stored grain rained from the sky as Alf recovered his stance and leveled his right hand at the blood oath.

Activating the spell imprint in his mind, electricity crackled up Alf's right leg and down into his arm, then flashed in the moonlight as it raced crackling out towards the dark creature.

Dy'Ixion snapped his right hand up in front of his body, and the lightning careened into an invisible force, hissing and spewing sparks as it flew in all directions. Soon thereafter, the sound of rolling thunder echoed off the sides of the crater.

"Interesting weapon you have there," the blood oath cackled. "But can you stop this?" He raised his left hand far above his head and brought it down as hard as he could with a sneer of pure hate.

"Above you!" Drake's voice hollered in his ear.

Alf whipped his body backwards and thrust his sword skyward. An invisible, heavy object smashed into his weapon, smacking it back against his face and driving him down on one knee. He grunted as the pressure drove his back nearly to the ground.

"Use both hands," Drake urged.

Using his right hand to grip the bottom of his hilt, Alf pushed with all his might, and the invisible construct rolled forward and smashed to the ground with a solid thud. Alf sprang to his feet, rolled over the unseen object, and swung his right arm in a powerful punch. A crescent wind scythe as sharp as any blade blasted forward and into the unseen barrier still in front of the blood oath. The wind screamed, sounding like sharp nails on a chalkboard as it scraped harmlessly against the unknown surface, and then shattered, disintegrating into the night.

"Humph," he harrumphed. "It would seem the mongrel has some teeth, but now," Dy'Ixion threw his arms wide open, "It is over!" he said as he slammed them back together in a thundering clap.

"Coming at you from both sides!"

Alf had figured as much and was already in the process of dropping to one knee. Shoving his hands into the dust, he jammed both his palms into the ground beneath him. Water shot down his arms, mixing with the soil as it shot up from below. Earth and ice spewed forth to his left and right and formed two protective walls. Just as the barriers finished emerging from the earth, Dy'Ixion's invisible attacks hammered into them, and Alf pushed hard off the ground, throwing himself backwards as the walls shattered into millions of glistening pieces.

He landed safely on his back and rolled to his feet, coming up with his sword in front of him.

"You are a squirrely one aren't you?" the blood oath spat.

"If I'm a squirrel then you're a one trick pony," Alf retorted.

Dy'Ixion's right upper lip rose in a sneer. "It seems this fight will not be decided by conventional methods." With a dramatic flair, he brought his right arm up. Crimson fire sprung to life on the tips of each of his fingers and rapidly formed into-fist sized fireballs.

Using Dy'Ixion's excessive showmanship as an opening, Alf cast his own spells. The world around him swirled, and the raging fires on either side of the crater were suddenly snuffed out as two giant tornadoes formed to his left and right. The wind roared, whipping his clothes as it grew to monstrous proportions; then Alf launched them forward at the blood oath.

The two towering tornadoes howled and shrieked as they shot forward, ripping up charred remains and spewing them off into the night sky like old sacks of potatoes. As one, they rushed up the side of the crater then curved, circled around, and came back down at the blood oath from both sides.

Dy'Ixion didn't even bat an eye, he merely jutted his chin at one then snapped his head towards the other.

A large force collided with the first tornado, and it sputtered and collapsed in on itself. Then, with a shudder, it dispersed, cutting deep grooves into the melted rock around it as its razor-sharp winds blew outward.

A breath later, the second tornado blew apart as an indistinguishable object the size of an elephant shot straight through it.

Alf clenched his fists in frustration. "Drake, I can't get past his... Whatever it is!"

"I know. Apparently he's able to block anything he has time to see coming. You'll have to use a stealth attack. Your best bet lies with earth magic," Drake answered.

"Gotcha. How's Rex?" Alf replied. He made an obvious show of charging a fireball at the tip of the sword, while secretly channeling energy into the ground with his left foot. If he could just get through his shield, then maybe...

"He's standing u-"

"Die!" Dy'Ixion howled as he launched all five fireballs.

But instead of launching them at Alf, like he was expecting, the crazy blood oath threw them at his own out-stretched left hand.

An obsidian flame erupted from the blood oath's left fingers and swallowed the five crimson spheres whole.

As the ebony flame lingered above Dy'Ixion's hand, the very air around it started to warp. The sky turned black; the moon disappeared, and an aura of evil permeated the area as the world surrounding Alf blurred.

Then, without warning, all five fireballs burned through the blurry haze surrounding Alf and reappeared only a few feet away from him.

Defender tried to guide his hands, but there was no possible solution, and his arms twitched as they were jerked from one stance to another, leaving Alf helpless. All he could do was watch in dismay as the fireballs converged on him.

Suddenly, Alf was ripped off his feet as Rex slammed into him and yanked him out of the way of the oncoming attack. Just as they hit the ground outside of the immediate blast radius, the fireballs smashed into each other and exploded, sending both Rex and him flipping head over heels.

They tumbled and bounced off the scorched earth in a tangled mess, Alf's arms and legs scuffing the ground as they rolled right out of the crater and impacted hard against the rubble of one of the destroyed warehouses.

Rex untangled himself and grabbed Alf by the arm and hauled him behind a broken, half standing wall.

"What just happened?" Alf asked as he placed his hand over a deep gauge in his upper left arm. Blood seeped through his fingers, and pain lanced down his limb as he channeled energy into a healing spell, trying to encourage the skin to heal, while at the same time twisting his head around the edge of the crumbling blocks in order to keep an eye on their foe.

Rex fixed his mask and peered out from behind their hiding place and down into the crater. "His fireballs teleported."

"How? That doesn't make sense."

"Beats me."

"I'm surprised you survived that," the blood oath stated mockingly. He strolled up the side of the crater and stepped out. Holding the black, shifting flame high in his left hand, he chuckled and said, "Dark magic is a wonderful thing, is it not. You really should try it sometime."

The sound of his laughter sent goose bumps up and down Alf's skin. The man was seriously deranged.

"What is that thing!?" Rex shouted angrily over the crater at Dy'Ixion.

"Oh, I'll tell you... but first!" the blood oath raised his right arm.

Alf dropped his hand, forgetting about the wound, and sprung to his feet, readying himself for the oncoming attack.

As the wind howled through the basin, and the moon hid behind the clouds, Dy'Ixion brought his hand down in four, lightning-fast karate chops.

It was as if Alf had been dropped into the vacuum of space as air, dirt, and even heat was sucked away. A fine layer of ice rapidly accumulated on his clothing, and Alf stumbled, almost falling at the sudden loss of oxygen. Then the ground shook as four massive walls, swirling with dark magic, slammed down in a perfect square around them. The world took on a monochromatic look, as if all color had been leached away, and all sound faded till Alf could hear the heavy thumping of his own heart.

"He's trying to trap you! Get out of there!" Drake's voice screamed in his ear.

Alf rolled over top of the rubble and dashed forward, bringing his sword down on the magic barrier in front of him with all his might.

It didn't budge.

"Throw me!" Rex shouted.

Alf reached out, grabbed Rex by the hand, and hurled him skywards, but as Rex flew out of the cage, a fifth, slightly visible wall smashed him back to the ground, closing them in. The vice champion crashed to the earth, and Alf kicked the partition they'd been hiding behind over then stepped protectively in front of Rex as the warrior slowly clambered back to his feet.

"Now," Dy'Ixion drew a deep, wheezing breath. "I'll tell you." He tossed the black flame in his hand onto the melted gravel at his feet and shot three wind scythes into its bottomless depths.

"Alf, upper left! Rex, move!"

Defender jerked Alf's sword up and to the left just-in-time. The first wind scythe skidded harmlessly over the shielded blade and crashed into the walls caging them in. The second attack dug a deep groove into the earth as Rex danced out of its way; however, the third wind scythe appeared right in front of Alf, and before he could react, it cut through his pant leg and bore a deep, bloody gash into his calf.

He cried out in pain as his left leg gave way and he went sprawling to the ground.

"Alf!" Drake screamed.

A smug, satisfied grin spread across the blood oath's face. "Dark magic frequencies are specifically designed to pierce through all others. My Lord taught me how to use it to warp the world around me as I see fit." The charred ground directly beneath the black flame cracked and the area blurred and flickered. Dy'Ixion's eyebrow rose in amusement and he added, "Oh yes, it's also extremely damaging to the environment, but who cares."

Rex grabbed Alf by his arm and hauled him to his feet. "You okay?"

"Not really, but I'm used to pain. I can push through," Alf gasped as he gripped his sword with both hands. "Drake, wh-"

"Lower center!" Drake warned frantically as the blood oath cast an ice spike into the black flame.

Thanks to his frantic warning, Rex swung his sword down and batted the ice spike out of the air as it appeared through a jagged crack in space.

"Interesting, it seems you have a keen sixth sense, but how about this?" Dy'Ixion formed a full-length ice javelin and jabbed it down into the black pit.

"Behind you!"

Rex slammed his back against Alf's and used his sword to swat the javelin away.

The blood oath scowled, pulled the javelin back, then thrust again.

"Lower right!"

This time, Alf brought his sword down with all his might, cleaving the ice javelin in half and ripping it from Dy'Ixion's hands.

The blood oath raised his palm and glared at the cut he had received when the javelin was yanked from his possession. "Fine, if that's how you want to play it," he snapped and brought both of his hands up. In an explosion of light, fire sprung to life between his fingers.

"Alf, use earth magic to escape. Now!" Drake demanded.

Dropping to one knee, Alf pushed his hand against the pavement.

"Oh no you don't!" Dy'Ixion screeched as he realized Alf's intent. With an angry shove, he threw the partially formed fireball into the obsidian flame.

"Rex, above Alf!"

Rex ripped his chest plate off in one fluid motion, and using it as a shield, interposed it between Alf and the churning blaze. The fireball billowed around the impromptu shield, licking at Alf and forcing him to pull back.

As he yanked away, his own unfinished charge went off. The ground where Alf's hand had been roughly formed into the shape of a giant fist and bashed into the blood oath's summoned construct. For a brief moment, it looked like it would break through, but the giant wall held firm and only a hairline crack appeared along its length.

"Good try, but don't think I'll let you do that again," Dy'Ixion yammered as he used both hands to cast a continuous array of wind scythes down into the ever-expanding black flame.

"Doesn't he ever shut up?" Rex moaned.

"Rex, to your left. Alf, lower right and..."

Time and Drake's voice blurred together as Defender guided Alf hands, batting away attack after attack. Blood dripped down his arm and leg as he and Rex danced back to back ,blocking the never ending stream of magic attacks, Alf with his shielded sword and Rex with his makeshift shield.

"Keep it up. He's getting tired," the prince told them what seemed like hours later.

Alf stole a glance to his left as another wind blade bounced off his sword. Sweat poured off the blood oath's face, and his arms moved sluggishly as he tossed his attacks into the dark warp that now stood as tall as him.

"Now Alf!" Drake said as Dy'Ixion once again tried to charge a fireball.

Rex grabbed Alf's sword from him. Using both it and his chest plate to knock aside the attacks, he protected Alf's back as Alf punched his fist into the ground and furiously pushed his energy into the blackened land.

"Gotcha," the blood oath purred as he launched his fireball.

A crack in space opened up a hair's width in front of Alf's face, and he pulled back as Drake shouted something. Crimson flames hurled through the crack, singing Alf's eyebrows and roaring in his ears as it charged straight for his chest, but seconds before Dy'Ixion's attack blew him apart, Rex brought down the shielded blade, and the fire rocketed downwards. It crashed into his half-formed, earthen spell, and rock and flames exploded outwards as the two magic forces collided.

The explosion picked Alf up and slammed him into the back wall. As his head bounced off the invisible construct, he saw Dy'Ixion's face light up with glee. Then all the sweat on the blood oath's arms and face rose into the air and formed into thousands of tiny ice spikes.

Rex rolled in front of him, dropped Alf's sword, and held his breast plate up with both of his hands as the air ripped open and thousands of razor sharp needles blasted through. They slammed into the chest plate with a sickening crunch, and Alf heard Rex hiss in pain as some of the spikes pierced the battered armor and bore into his arms.

"Alf! to Rex's right," Drake's voice twanged, sounding hollow and distant in his ear. Alf tossed his head to the left, looking for the attack. A new rift split the air and he dived, grabbing his sword and yanking it up just as another barrage of ice appeared. The attacks shattered over his sword, and fragments of the ice nipped his chin, cutting small slashes into his skin.

Rex recovered his stance and pulled back while blood dripped down his arms, and hundreds of small holes became visible through his chest plate as the ice melted away. "I don't know how much longer I can keep this up," he gasped.

"Watch the air. It cracks right before an attack," Alf said as the blood oath shouted in anger, "Would you just die already!" and pelted the ever-increasing flame in front of him with dozens of magic attacks.

"Rex, to your left, then c..nter, left and high right. Alf, b...ind, high left, and I think I figured ..t his wall spell," Drake called, his voice fading in and out.

The air behind him opened, and Alf panted as he swatted away the oncoming wind attack. "What do you mean?"

"It ..ir. I...s sol..d ai... If you u...e w...d m... you shoul..."

"What?" Alf wheezed. He jerked back and ducked as an attack he didn't know was coming almost caught him in the chest. Then a rift, an arm's-length long, opened to his lower left and two more scythes flew towards him.

Rex spun and grabbed his arm, pulling Alf out of the way just as another hand-sized crack in space appeared, but nothing came out. "He's losing control," the vice champion said, his voice heavy with worry.

"... h.. .. .. ....."

What should have been Drake's voice was nothing but empty static.

As an attack sliced centimeters away from his left leg, Rex sluggishly danced to his right, and his limbs shook with weariness. "And we lost your kid's eyes."