Xia Bai flies through the skies as the sun rises in the distance, slashing through the armors falling from above, as on the ship below, various fighters struggle to fight off those that come below. Anluan calls forth his magic, creating barriers from stray metal and any other available material to hold off the falling armors as they swarm the ship. Pallan watches the ongoing battle as several civilians and weakened soldiers are captured in the armors and lifted into the sky.
“Damn it, we’re being overrun.” He clenches his fist, staring up at the sky.
“I’ve stretched my bark to protect our main systems, but there’s not enough space for all the civilians,” Flora says.
Pallan clenches his fist. “Damn it. Are they planning to wipe us all out?”
“No, they're abducting people for a reason. Something is coming and we have to be ready for it.”
As the battle continues, suddenly everything goes quiet. The armors freeze in place, and everyone stops fighting. Xia Bai flies down, landing on the deck next to Pallan and Flora.
“What’s happening?” She asks.
“No idea,” Pallan says.
Anluan walks up to the group. “I’m sensing something strange. A buildup of energy in the distance.”
“Crap.” Xia Bai clenches her teeth and glares toward the airship. “I think we’re out of time.”
Finian sits on his ship, looking down at the beach below, watching as the armors standstill, with his fighters staring at them, confused. He signals towards Celine, who flies down across the battlefield and gives orders to the fighters. The warriors continue striking down the armors, cutting them done one after another, not wanting to be caught off guard.
“Seems like it’s happening.” She says, flying up towards Finian.
He nods, glaring towards the airship. “This just got a lot worse. Looks like they decided to just gorge the thing to wake it up.”
“Seems like it. So, what’s the plan now? Do we still wait?”
“No, we need to be ready. Tell Larrel to be ready for anything, and tell the others to get the fliers ready. We’re going to need to get this thing pinned down early on so it won’t be moving around too much. The longer it's active, the worse it's going to be, so we have to find some way to kill it today.”
“Things are going according to what we saw before,” Paula says, walking up with Paulus. “If it makes you feel better, there was no stopping this outcome.”
Paulus nods. “It was inevitable, sadly.”
“So, are we still on track for this fire we’re waiting for?”
They nod in unison. “The sacred flame will burn away the darkness, and the true battle will begin.”
“The true battle?” Celine asks.
Finian smirks. “So, there is something beyond this point.”
“What’re you talking about?”
“It means this isn’t the end. We’ll get through this mess and continue our battle for the throne, thus our true fight.” He smirks.
“Well, that’s one interpretation,” Celine says.
He steps forward. “Now we just need to identify this sacred flame. Once we figure that out, we’ll be able to determine the course of the future.”
On the beach of a nearby island, Ashton charges ahead towards Lois, who has changed her form into a hulking giant lump of flesh. Lois stands above the group; her human skin cast aside with dozens of enlarged hands extending from her lumpy body. She opens her large, distorted mouth as more hands emerge from her maw on tongue-like tendrils. They wrap around Ashton mid-air and try dragging him into their mouth. Miller rushes in, slicing through the tongues, freeing Ashton as the pair land on the beach before her.
“Damn it, what’s with this thing?” Ashton asks.
“First time fighting a Demon?” Miller jokes.
Ashton rolls his eyes underneath his helmet. “Since our an expert, how did you guys beat it the last time?”
“We got lucky.”
“Great.”
Lois laughs. “Don’t think you can take me like those weaklings. I’m on a far greater level of power compared to them.”
“Then how about this!” Rufus yells out from behind the pair.
He holds his staff in the air as a flaming sphere forms in the air. He directs it downwards towards Lois as she laughs, reaching out her hands towards it. As she reaches out, Faye and Tan rocket down from above, both kicking her with their full force, knocking her back. Before she can recover, Fiona comes in, slicing off a pair of her arms with her ax as Ivar leaps out of the water, firing off blasts of water, knocking her back.
“Sorry to keep you waiting, Boss,” Fiona says.
“With those armor things stopped, we can take this thing down,” Faye says.
Tan floats in the air and nods. “But are we sure they're done?”
A pair of arrows fly out, piercing Lois’s side as vines erupt from the wound, growing across her body. “More killing, less talking!” Tisha yells out.
Zanrit charges in, swinging his club and smashing Lois, knocking her towards the water. “I agree. We need her dead now.”
“Well, that’s where the problem is,” Miller says.
Lois laughs as her wounds recover and her limbs regrow. She crawls up onto the beach and laughs excitedly. “You can’t do anything to me. I’m going to stampede over all of you and throw you into the Great One myself!”
“What happened to the poison?” Miller asks.
“We don’t have a lot of it left. We need to save what we have left for that big Demon,” Tisha says, staring out into the distance. “And sadly, we’re going to need it soon.”
Lois laughs, her cries echoing across the area. “None of you can stop it now. The Great One will revive as the new Demon Lord, and we’ll stampede over the land. We’ll return this world to the rightful place you humans robbed us of!”
“We can’t keep fighting this thing, can we?” Ashton asks.
“We have to. We have to kill this thing here and now!” Miller yells, charging ahead.
Lois laughs as the group charges at her, shooting out her arms excitedly as her body grows. “None of you can stop us now. We Demons will stand atop the world once again! You cannot stop us!”
“Oh, is that so?” Zeng Hai approaches the Demon, covering her face with her fan as she walks ahead. “Sorry to say I’m the one who’ll stand at the top of the world. I’m the woman who will stand as the King of everyone!”
She snaps her fingers, and earthen spikes erupt from the ground, piercing through Lois as she screams out in pain. Emily stands in the air, walking towards Lois as she fires a barrage of guns down towards the creature below her. Before Lois can react, Voron charges in, carrying a large sword, swinging it and slashing Lois in half.
“Everyone, let’s destroy this ugly creature. It’s nothing more than an obstacle in our way. A stepping stone before a bigger challenge!” She orders.
“You don’t have to tell us twice!” Miller yells, stepping forward. “Everyone give it everything you’ve got!”
“Right!”
Lois laughs as she erupts into a swarm of arms and fingers. “Let’s see you try! I’m going to devour you all!”
Elsewhere on the airship, Glyn rushes through the halls following the sensation of the King Piece, detecting the remnants of Mila’s Pieces. Looking out of the windows, he sees a black ooze slither across the outside of the airship, coating it as Miasma fills the halls. He opens his book to drain some of the Miasma from the air.
“Damn it, the stupid thing is waking up.” He says, stomping forward.
Pepper floats around him, holding out her hand to form a barrier around the pair. “I can barely sense any Mana left in the air.”
“Hold on to whatever Mana you have left. If you lose anymore, you may dissipate.”
She nods. “Okay. But can you handle this much?”
He smirks. “No clue. I’m relying on this dastardly curse to overpower whatever effects this Miasma may have on me.”
“Are you sure, Mila, is this way?”
“I can feel her this way. She’s the only one who can put an end to this thing, and I have to save her.”
“Glyn.”
He clenches his teeth and steps forward as a wave of Miasma flows back in his face. “I can’t… no, I won’t run away from someone like that ever again!”