48 The True Enemy (1/2)

Chapter 48: The True Enemy

Some time prior, within the skyworld Templar living chambers, Kloud was laying in his bed. Beside him was Ayame, having grown severely worried over him, as his fever had not improved. It was clear that his bandages had been changed since he acquired his injuries, but with seemingly no visible improvement. Kloud had grown very pale, still sweating greatly from his ill health. Something was different about Ayame however, with the couple weeks that had gone by her figure had slightly changed. The clear deduction was that she was with child, perhaps in her second trimester. Elliot wasn't far from them, standing just outside the partially open bedroom door. Footsteps began to click from down the halls, causing his ears to quirk up as he caught notice.

His teeth flared, as he growled to the approaching figure in the darkness. ”Grrrr....”

”Shhh... Do not be alarmed.” The female voice softly spoke.

The sound of her voice seemed to ease him, but his expression seemed uneasy. ”Who's there?” He asked, taking a moment to sniff in her scent.It felt familiar and yet so foreign.

The figure of a woman drew closer, but as she began to emerge out of the shadows it was clear she was not what he expected. Retina, the horned oculus fiend that Koron had resurrected stood there, looking to the canine. He was frozen staring to this demonic looking woman, but something about her made him recall his last encounter fighting against the Angel of Death. The whaling screams of his dying master echoed through his mind, it felt traumatic reliving those memories that he literally started trembling. Her face shape, her voice, her height, all the way down to the way she looked at him and her scent. He knew her.

It was as if he'd seen a ghost. ”Astrid?...” He nervously inquired, nearly falling over as he bumped into the wall.

”Elliot, I know this form... is jarring. You have to understand, I didn't choose this.” Retina replied, trying to calm Elliot down.

Urgent footsteps hurried over to the ajar door, opening it to stare out. Ayame had grown startled, seeing this fiend here and recognizing her as a deceased friend they lost. ”It... It can't be?... B-but how!?” She gasped, covering her mouth.”I-Is that really you?... Why.... Why do you look like that!?”

The extra eyes on Retina's body closed, only leaving open her original set she had in her previous life. ”Ayame. It's good to see you and Elliot have been well... I unfortunately have business to attend to.”

”Astrid. Just tell me... what happened to you?” Ayame pleaded to her friend.

With a sigh, Retina begrudgingly turned her attention to Ayame. ”I died, and for some time I didn't know who I was or what I was doing. The Queen of Fiends... She brought me back as... this... monstrosity. It's as the old tales of old, the Amygdala heir to the throne has the power to bring back life into those who perish. She makes them into fiends, like what you see before you.”

”History all makes sense then... but... Why have you returned? Surely the others will not be pleased seeing you in this state?” Ayame held her hands to her heart.

”I risked returning, so that I may inform the Grand Master of the storm that's brewing under ground. it's imperative I deliver the news I bare to him, so that we may strike it down before it has the chance to rise.” Retina explained.

The scene transitioned like a photograph burning up, into the view of Aoba and his army making their way in Nye and Koron's direction. Retina and Horrifica was among his Templar Knights, including Dimitri, Gaigas, Lyra, Manik, Phish, Flint, Skyletra, Trigger, Merric and another Templar knight leading the lesser order from upon the back of an armored stallion. A few of his men appeared absent, such as Ayame and Kloud along with Elliot.

Koron's eyes took notice of Retina however. ”That traitor!!” She snapped, angrily. ”How dare she betray me!! I ought to snuff the life back out of her!”

”You're panicking, just relax, and we can figure this all out.” Nye looked seriously to Koron.

”How are you so calm about this?! I should be the one whose level headed!” Koron spat out, with an annoyed hand gesture, before pointing furiously to the Templar army in the distance. ”I am afraid of no Templar!”

”Koron, just take a breath.” Nye placed a hand to her sister's shoulder.

”...” Koron does so, reluctantly. She seemed to calm down a bit, but her eyes remained on Nye.

Nye retracted her hand, shifting her gaze to the nearing forces charging inbound. ”We need to think strategically if we're going to survive this. Panicking isn't going to help fend off an army that clearly out numbers us.”

Koron crossed her arms, looking over her shoulder to the threat approaching. ”Tsk. There are waves of foes incoming. Holding our ground isn't going to work in this open terrain.” Her eyes turned to the others on the ground ”All forces, at arms! Divide and conquer!” She commanded.

Monsters began to surface from the cracks in the ground, leaving the deeproads that were devastated near Wynorex. Even the Manticore that fought against Jackyn was amongst these lesser-fiends. The skeleton and undead soldiers prepared their weapons, and some upon undead horses, while the Gashadokuro began to pull itself out of the ground with great force. The ground began to rumble again, but the rest of Koron's forces prepared to following the charging undead and monsters. Kobra, Nobou, Titania, Tyr, and Vex as well as the others still alive under Koron proceeded into combat. Raz however held back, fleeing for shelter with the Ghestro baby she held in her arms.

Nye didn't seem to keen on the idea, watching Koron's warriors charging into battle, but something else caught her eye in the right hand corner. She noticed Heath and his forces along with some felines that must have been part of Minerva's hidden village. Among them was Rocky, Max and even Sally along with Ronan leading the felines, followed by Seiko and her sister Morrigan. Eclipse must have gotten through to them, but would this be enough to combat the Templar massive army? Nye was unsure, her gaze shifting from the enemies to her friends.

”We're not alone, but we need to proceed with caution. The Templar are known to engage in groups and will attempt to outflank us, so stick together as much as you can.” Nye spoke up with encouragement, hoping to raise their spirits. For a moment her eyes met Jackyn's which made her smile to see him alright. ”It's time we regain our freedoms!”

The opposing sides continued their battle charge, as the foot soldiers of the Templar met the undead army in the middle of the battlefield. Hacking and slashing of swords to shields and Axes whirled around. Blood was already being spilled onto this battle frontas these forces collided here, but the ballista wasn't far behind the foot soldiers. It was being prepped to fire, as more of each army clashed in the field. Arrows came blazing by, lit by fire to blow up large clusters of the zombies. It had became utter chaos as flames coated the grassy landscape around them, taking more down with it that didn't even meet in the crossfire.

Koron flew in, slashing passed Pegasus riders and lower ranked airborne templar in pursuit of Retina. The fiend turned to Koron, as she launched fire arrows to the Queen of Fiends. They struck Koron's bastard blade, as she held it like a shield in front of her face. Retina flew closer, distancing herself from the other Templar get a better sight set on Koron, preparing her cross-bow. Then she fired upon the other woman, and as the arrows came flying they were cut in half this time.

”I made you! How dare you betray ME!” Koron snapped, letting the shards of arrows fly from her blade to the ground below.

”Betray you? I never wanted to be part of your business to begin with! I was involuntarily brought back to life, and you forced me to become something of which I despise! Do not assume I owe you a thing, this wasn't my choice!” Retina retorted, flying around to fire more rounds of blazing arrows at Koron.

Koron however, continued to slice them apart and she dove closer. ”You'd be nothing without my gift to you!”

”I rather be dead and with my beloved, than fight for someone like you! There's a thing called loyalty, and mine resides with the Grand Master. I did what was right, and now you and all your people will suffer for your crimes!” Retina snapped back.

”Poor little thing. You know nothing.” Koron appeared behind Retina, whispering coldly into her ear, getting Retina to strike at her with the physical cross-bow as she drew close.

Retina dropped her cross-bow, gripping forcefully to Koron's long hair. ”No, YOU know nothing! I just want to see the beautiful face of Margo again, to hear her laugh and to kiss her lips! Can't you see JUST HOW MUCH I'M SUFFERING BY JUST BEING ALIVE!!?? I'M SUPPOSED TO BE GONE!! I WANT TO DIE!! IT HURTS ME SO MUCH, I DON'T EVEN CARE ABOUT THIS STUPID WAR! JUST END THIS! KILL ME!!!” Retina literally started to lose it, having a complete meltdown and she kept her grip tightly strung along Koron's tri-colored locks.

Koron not only looked enraged by this betrayal, but the shock of hearing this lowered her guard. Did this woman truly feel this way? Did she want to die so badly that she refused to continue this bout? Something about that hit her, knowing that same feeling is what usually consumes an Amygdala that has lost their mate. It might have even resonated with her.

”WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!? DO IT!!” Retina cried out, provoking Koron. Instead of arguing back, she gave her what she wanted. Koron took her sword, impaling Retina with it, letting the fiend gasp as she fell after her cross-bow. Blood trailed up into the air as her body began to disintegrate. ”.....” She had nothing more to say as she smiled, before hitting the ground amongst the hoard.

Wings of blood flew through the crowd from the ground, as Titania road her equine into the air to Koron's aid to protect her against an incoming javelin. She knocked it back, getting her lover's attention. ”Titania?” Koron gasped.

”Are you alright, Koron?” She asked softly.

”I am, now that you're here.” Koron smiled, readying herself to team up along side Titania.

One of the Templar knights on mounted horseback, was riding through the sea of undead, hacking and slashing of their heads and limbs as he made his way in direction of the living portion of Koron's forces. Many of the other templar soldiers upon horseback followed his lead, with lances and cross-bows.

”Hoi, Siegfried! Save some for the rest of us!” Phish rushed in behind him, as she slashed back swarms of the walking corpses.

”I do believe there's plenty undead to go around, miss Phish.” The knight known as Siegfried remarked in a witty manner, as he impaled one of the zombies.

”Pfft, not when you're trying to look good for Dimitri, there ain't.” She gave him lazy eyes, as she pulled her claws out of a downed undead's skull.

”Touche. Best fight strong then!” Siegfried chuckled, passing her by to strike back more of the skeletons replacing the decimated bodies of the undead.

”Outta the way!' Flint shouted, seeming in a more foul mood than he was usually in. He wasn't too far behind them, pummeling through the corpse knights with great force of his massive axe without any hesitation, it was like he was pent up with rage. He passed up both Phish and Siegfried, clearing through waves of foes.

Heath and Rocky came flying through the air with their weapons ready, while their other allies were rushing in by foot; fending off more of the hordes of Templar to meet some of the air units in battle, leaving the felines on the ground to assist Koron's Naga ally, Kobra, being knocked back by a jousting cavalier. They stepped in as Max and Sally broke through the wall of Templar, knocking through them with their heavy weapons.

Titania leapt into action with her blood magic arms, clasping to her swords as she spun through, dissecting clusters of Templar airborne soldiers like a majestic ballerina spider,slaughtering her prey. Quickly being caught my her equine mount that had remained close by to her and Koron.

Tyr had mounted upon Asmodeus, riding the beast into the horde. The giant paws of the daemoniorum crushed his foes beneath each step, as Tyr combated with hypnotic powers to sway his opponents with his charm and soul sight. Close by was Nobou, charging for Manik with his tri-swords in attack formation. The two clashed on the battlefield with their blades sparking up from immediate connection.

”Can't say I'm surprised a freak like you joined sides with these abominations.” Manik scoffed, hurling his tail at the smaller Terra.

Nobou swayed his body, deflecting the blow with a smooth strike of his blade. Within an instant the other Terra's tail had been severed off. ”You only say that because you don't have anyone you actually care about!” Nobou retorted, as he shifted to strike Manik backwards fiercely.

Nye's allies also had joined the battle, facing off against grounded soldiers and knights. Leaving Miles with Minerva, Ashewyn took to the air, proceeding for the cluster of soldiers in the sky. He flew over Zyron and Solitaire clashing with more of the foot soldiers. He was met in the sky by the black dragon, thrusting him back into the ground with the great force of his tail. ”RAAWWWWWR!!!” Gaigas let out a battle cry as he wretched out his green colored flames on the downed Ashewyn.

Ashewyn quickly formed his dragon armor, managing to protect himself from the extremely hot flames that the black dragon spat out. As the flames cleared, Ashewyn had already prepared his sword, and charged back into the air at Gaigas, hacking and slashing at the Terra.

”You're the bastard that hurt Eclipse and the other girls, aren't you!?” Ashewyn snapped, angrily continuing his slashing at the black dragon.

”I've hurt A LOT of people, punk! Who cares if I burned the hell out of some dumb elven bitch!? WHY DOES THAT EVEN MATTER TO A SHIT LIKE YOU!? The CUNT DESERVED IT, SHE WAS ASKING FOR IT, JUST LIKE THAT SKANK I FUCKED!” Gaigas growled, clasping to the sword that came for him.

”SHUT YOUR MOUTH!” Ashewyn snapped, trying to force his blade closer. ”You low life, waste of flesh! WHAT KIND OF PERSON DOES THAT!?....” Ashewyn was trying to calm his anger. ”No. You know what. In this moment. I am your KARMA! You're just a sick, disgusting bastard who needs to suffer ENDLESS AMOUNTS OF PAIN!” Ashewyn shouted, breaking free his sword to thrust it Gaigas' way.

Gaigas reacted swiftly, slashing his claws at Ashewyn. In the process, the red haired Amygdala received a massive scratch to his face. He was bleeding vigorously from how deep the fresh scar that had been been placed on his cheek.

”Urgh....” Ashewyn groaned, holding his face, as he shoved himself away to fly to a safer distance.

”YOU TALK TOO MUCH!! RAAAAAAWWWWWWW!!!” Gaigas roared, as he came rushing through the air in a wild rampage.

Gaigas soared at Ashewyn, forcing him to fight back, but miscalculated last second. He ended up striking at the stone portion of Gaigas' shoulder, which caused the tip of the sword to snap off on contact. Gaigas continued to react hostilely, slashing his claws in an X-motion to tear up fragments of the metal shielding Ashewyn's chest. He was growing even more ferocious, knocking the Amygdala back again with his tail, before letting loose more fire. Ashewyn quickly used his wings to shield back the charring flames, with his back striking into the soil of the ground. However, due to his choice of maneuver, his wings were severely burned and damaged.

Foot soldiers and undead continued to perish around them. Forcing himself to get up, Ashewyn gripped to his damaged sword to swing it again at Gaigas. The two of them resumed their battle on foot immediately as Ashewyn came into range while swinging at full force. Ashewyn was clearly struggling to take down this savage beast of a man, slashing at him with his partially broken blade. The edge of it connected with Gaigas again, only have it shatter on contact with the scales of this man's body. Ashewyn wasn't stunned, his face full of shock and uncertainty.

The Terra grinned, rushing at him once again with great force, as Ashewyn came into his range, Gaigas could see that look of shock intensify. Then something got in Gaigas' way, something dark and distorted, like a mirror that sucked him in and spat him out at a distance from where he was originally. Rising to his feet, he whipped around to locate his target, only to find that a dark vortex was behind him. The perplexing portal vanished, revealing where Ashewyn was, only to see one in front of the Amygdala fading away simultaneously.

Boots hit the ground, as a familiar purple haired fiend dropped into view from the void that blocked Gaigas' original attack path to Ashewyn. His cold black and red eyes loomed over to Ashewyn harshly.

”Vex?! What are you doing!?” Ashewyn gasped in astonishment.

”Yeah, I know we hate each other's guts since our last meeting. Just shut up and move!” Vex grunted in annoyance as phased to swap places with Ashewyn to further obstruct the path of the raging dragon that had came flying their way.

Vex formed his gun, pointing it at Gaigas, but before he could fire there was an abrupt impact. Gaigas gripped tightly to Vex's wrist to the point cuts were forming from the shifting of his claws, twisting the gun away from him violently.

”ARGH!!” The fiend groaned loudly in pain as he felt his wrist beginning to crunch and then... SNAP!

The bone of his arm was beginning to become exposed is it was breaking open. Despite the agonizing pain, Vex opened smaller vortexaround his breaking arm's hand. Another formedbelow Gaigas, with the gun shakily staggering to aim up at him.