“
This is Glyn Mattox….
” Glyn’s message plays over a radio across the islands surrounding the airship.
“I see.” Zeng Hai listens to the message as chaos erupts around her.
As the battle wears on, Zeng Hai and her main forces have pulled back, letting the reserve fighters run into the fray. She sits in the middle of her camp overseeing her forces as Miller and the others sit nearby, exhausted. She sits inside her tent at the center of her camp, listening to the radio and nodding along with the message.
“One of you come here.” She says, addressing the group. “I want you to confirm whether this message is legitimate.”
Tisha stands with Miller following behind her. “That’s Glyn all right.”
Miller nods. “But what’s he asking?”
“He said something about stopping the Demon.”
Xia Bai stands. “He must’ve found some way to stop it. He’s been scurrying around that airship this whole time, so he must’ve found some secret.”
“No clue. I’m worried if he’s found Mila or not.” Miller says.
Tisha holds her hand to her chest. “That rush of Mana we felt was likely something to do with Mila. So, I’m sure the two of them are together.”
“Alright, then it’ll take a second to organize my forces enough to launch a competent assault.”
“So, you’ll do it?” Tisha asks.
She nods with a smirk on her face. “Of course. If we can slay that Demon, then I’ll gladly assist with a show of firepower.”
“Milady, we’re prepared to start whenever you are!” Emily says.
“I’ll do my part!” Ashton yells.
She nods. “Of course. Everyone, let’s get to work. Someone prepare our weapons, and I’ll call my dear pet from deep below. Let’s kill this damned Demon!”
“Right!” Everyone yells out.
“So, Glyn is finally making his move.” Finian smirks.
“Oh dear. Let me guess, you have an idea.” Celine says, floating near Finian.
Finian sits on his throne inside of a gigantic dome, watching the battle unfold around him. He listens to Glyn’s message and looks over a makeshift map of the area.
“I see. So, our best position would be behind the beast.” He says.
“You're actually going to help him?”
“Why not? Killing Demons is in our blood. It’s something that must be done. Besides, I want to see what he has in store for killing that thing.”
She rolls her eyes. “Come on. You're just wasting time. You should just use the fortress and be done with this mess.”
“The fortress wastes too much energy to bring all the way out here. Besides, overwhelming firepower isn’t the most effective way to slay that type of monster. And if Glyn has a plan, I bet it’s going to be something I’ve been after for some time.”
She floats away and sighs. “Fine. I’ll tell the others, and we’ll prepare things for the cannon. Just make sure you don’t regret this.”
“I won’t. Oh, but I may need to borrow one ship for a little rescue mission after.”
“What, why!?”
“I can’t just leave my dear little brother out there to die. Not without extracting a few of his secrets.”
“So, he’s still alive,” Pallan says, having retreated to the base of the tree in the center of his ship.
Flora stands at his side, healing the damage done to the tree over the battle. “What do you plan to do?”
“I say we leave him to whatever he has. Someone else will help him.” Falenas says.
Ollie shakes his head. “We have to help him.”
“Come on, we barely survived this mess ourselves, and the next wave is on the way anytime now. We need to conserve our energy for defending ourselves.”
He scowls. “We can’t keep fighting on a defensive front. We need an offensive plan to kill that thing, or else we’re going to be worn down and die brutally.”
“Says who!?”
“Says logic!”
The two glare at each other, baring their teeth as vines erupt from the ground, wrapping around their feet. Flor walks up to the pair and shakes her head, bringing them to silence.
“This is a tough decision. But… I want to have faith in Glyn,” Pallan says. “Our cannon can only do so much damage to the thing. They’ve shored up its defensive capabilities and shielded its core well. We don’t have the means of defeating it here on our own. And we cannot let such a beast roam about as it pleases.”
“So, you're going to put your faith in this Glyn?” Falenas asks.
He nods. “Yes, I’d like to.”
“Fine if you say so.”
“How long will it take us before we can fire the cannon at full power?” Finnian asks.
Ollie pauses. “I say about five minutes if we power off everything else.”
“Good.” He walks over to Flora. “Relay this order across the ship. Secure the civilians and prepare for the next wave. We’re siphoning all power to the light cannon to fire one blast at full power.”
Flora nods. “I’ll inform everyone on the ship.”
“We only need to hold out for five minutes. Flora, you stay here and secure the Mother Tree. We can’t afford to have the tree damaged at all.”
She nods. “Will you be safe without me fighting?”
“With your blessing, we should be able to hold out to the very end.”
Falenas nods. “I’ll make sure no one else gets snatched up. No one else is dying on my watch. I swear it!”
“I’ll work with the engineers on the cannon. We’ll try to lower the downtime we’ll have after we fire.”
Finnian nods. “Okay, everyone. Let’s do this and make sure that Demon dies once and for all!”
Everyone nods and rushes off to their various tasks as Finnian stands at the base of the tree. He gives a glance towards Flora and smiles before rushing off himself. Flora stays behind, clasping her hands together in prayer as the shadows of flying Demonoids pass overhead.
“Dear Mother. Please let our mission be victorious!”
In the halls of the airship just outside the control room, Pepper fires off attacks at the reformed Sebastian. She slashes at the air, sending slashes through the air, cutting into the black matter comprising its body. As she slices off parts of its makeshift body, it absorbs the black mass from the walls to reform the lost body part as it laughs maniacally.
“You cannot win, Fae. Your kind were meant to be absorbed into the Miasma, to fall by our hands.” It says stomping forward, Miasma spilling out of its body as it moves.
Pepper fires off a blast of wind, blowing away the smog as she struggles to keep up. “I don’t have to kill you. I just have to hold you here until the deed is done.”
“Oh? What are you pathetic beings doing? Whatever you do, it's pointless. We’ve worked to make our lord invincible. Nothing you pathetic beings can do can even harm his magnificence.”
She shakes her head and slashes at the air. A wave goes out that slices through the malformed head of the monster. “I never thought that Demons were all that chatty.”
The monster’s head reforms as it laughs. “Oh, I’m a special case. You can say that’s the lingering effect Humanity’s had on me.” It says.
It rushes forward as Pepper shrinks and throws out a fireball. Miasma fills the hall as Pepper retreats into the control room. The monster bangs its body against the metal door as it shuts. As the door sits shut, it bangs against the metal, attempting to break its way through the door excitedly. Laughing madly, it slams its fist onto the door repeatedly, growing more hands to punch against the door faster.
“Come on out and accept your fate!”
As it slams its fist against the door, a part of it breaks away from the frame. The door cracks slightly, and they slither their heads up to peer through the crack. As it looks inside, a bright golden light fills the room, blinding the beast, causing it to scurry away.
“That light. That accused light.”
A fireball flies through the crack, blasting away its body as it crumbles against the ground. “That light is just like back then. Back when that Human attempted to slay the Great One. That accursed King of Humanity!”
Inside the room, Mila stands at the center of the magic circle as it glows with a golden light that quickly envelops the room. She spreads out her nine tails as they burn along the tips with small fires burning at certain points across the circle. Glyn makes the finishing touches, completing the circuit for the Magic Circle as he stares down at it. He takes a breath and bites into his finger, piercing his skin and drawing blood. Swiping his bloodied finger against the circle, its light brightens, shining like a beacon that bursts forth from the room as the mana levels around the pair rise rapidly.
“What is this?” Pepper says, staring at the circle. “It’s….”
“It’s a literal divine miracle.” Glyn forces himself to stand as he takes a deep breath. “And we’re going to call upon the divine and use that power to bring down this beast.”
Glyn walks up to Mila, who closes her eyes and focuses on the Mana running through her body. She feels the Mana being pulled from her body into the magic circle as Glyn walks up and grabs her hand.
“Glyn.”
“Just focus. Take deep breaths and concentrate. Ignore everything else, just focus on the flow of Mana around you.”
She nods. “Okay.”
He holds out his hand as more of his blood flows out of his fingertips into the circle, as the shine glows brighter. The pounding on the door grows faster, more frantic, and erratic as Sebastian pounds against it in desperation. It lets out inhuman growls and snarls as Pepper turns to the door, ready to attack as wind swirls around her.
“I won’t let you! I won’t allow you!” It yells in a distorted, snarled voice. “I’ll destroy you! I’ll devour you!”
Pepper slices through the door, cutting into Sebastian as he roars out in a rage. “Just shut it and die already.”
“My Lord, destroy this room, or else everything we desire will end here and now!” It roars out as his body is sliced apart.
The room shakes as dark tendrils pierce through the ceiling, tearing away the metal and opening up the room. The twin heads of the Demon stare down into the room, eyeing Glyn and Mila as they open their maws. Miasma leaks out, falling into the control room as the shining light of the magic circle dims.
As it reaches down into the room, a bright beam of light flies through its chest, piercing it and causing the Demon to roar out in pain. Explosives go off from above, distracting the Demon as it tries to swat them away. Underneath the waves, tentacles shoot out from below, wrapping around the ring of the airship and dragging it towards the waters.
The Demon roars out in pain and annoyance as it thrashes about as more attacks come down upon it. The sound of cannons rings out as a green mist fills the air, weakening the Demon as it screams in pain.
“Now is the time!” Glyn yells, holding his hand towards the air. “Focus, Mila. Visualize your weapon and call upon the miracle of divinity!”
Mila holds out her hands, and the Mana around her flows, taking shape and solidifying around her. She takes a deep breath and holds out her hand as a red blade takes shape in her palm. The Demon roars and fires out an attack down at the group, with Mila turning and swinging her sword as she leaps up towards the monster. A wave of flames fires out from the sword as it takes shape, as the fires burn away at the Demon’s Miasma, slicing through the creature and burning away at its mass.
Smaller Leeches fly out of the opening of its body as it roars out, focusing its gaze on Mila. It roars out in a rage and attacks Mila as she leaps into the air, swinging her red sword as it burns bright with a sacred fire. With every swing of the sword, flames fire off of the sword, burning away at more and more of the Demon until she slices off one of its heads. The head burns away, turning to ashes as Mila raises her sword high.
“Die and stay in the past, Demon of a forgotten era!” She yells, pouring her Mana into the blade.
The sword burns bright, extending to the sky as she swings it downward, slicing through the Demon, the ocean, the airship, and a far-off island’s mountain range. The Demon burns, turning to ashes as it reaches out towards Mila, attempting to get off one last attack as its body fades away with the core of its being destroyed.
“Damned Humans….” It says as it dies once and for all.
Glyn stands leaning against the control console as he watches Mila. She falls from above, landing in the room and turning to Glyn.
“Glyn!” She yells out.
He laughs. “Good. Good. Now we just have to…” His vision fades as he holds his head, a sickening sensation shooting through his body. “We have to escape before we sink.”
“Glyn, are you…” His hearing fades as Mila rushes to his side, concerned.
“Mila. I’m happy you're safe.” Glyn passes out into Mila’s arms as she cries his name. “Please, everyone. Stay safe and get back home.”