ㅤㅤThe spellcasters readied themselves, raising their hands in a defensive manner towards the demons. Circe did as she was requested with the simple nod from Alexandria and lowered the bubble. Raemith and Kyrana charged forward, snarling and swiping, a flurry of bright orange marks hailing from Raemith's claws and cutting into a demon's chest from twenty feet away.
ㅤㅤAxelius shifted forms into a large black bird of shadows, flying up high and circling. As Raemith slashed onward, the demons roared and scrambled back, only to jump at him again. Neo shot a hand out, a tentacle of black ink lashing forward and stabbing through one of them, then turned around and did it again. Kyrana jumped on a demon's back, digging in her long talons and biting into the neck, tearing free their throat.
ㅤㅤAlexandria slipped a dagger from her sleeve, shooting forward and commanding a demon to stop before digging the blade into their head before repeating this with another. Meanwhile Christopher froze and petrified demons with frost as Quilliene let purple tendrils of light shoot up from the ground and cut them all down. Yet, the harder they fought, the more the demons seemed to pack themselves behind them.
ㅤㅤ"Are they reforming?!" Circe exclaimed, tearing one up with vines.
ㅤㅤ"There has to be an end somewhere!" Kyrana hissed, ripping out another's spine.
ㅤㅤNeo had been busy protecting Raemith, who was more offense than defence. However, a flying demonic feline form flew at him from the side. He was thrown to the ground, pinned down by a hissing creature. He kicked and blocked the incoming bite for his throat, but used his other hand to fire a black tendril into its face. It's skull was torn apart, and he pushed it off himself as he sat up - just in time to see a demon fly at Raemith.
ㅤㅤRaemith tumbled around with the demon, chewing into its wings before ripping them off and impaling the demon with his own spiked wing. He quickly stood, the half demon letting out a small sigh of relief as Neo got to his feet - before he saw it. Something fast and grey came rushing in, and Neo cried a warning, only for the sight of splashing blood to cake the scene.
ㅤㅤ"Helianthus!" Quilliene screamed - Raemith's true name.
ㅤㅤCirce was the first to make it up to Raemith, as Neo blasted the blade-armed monster that had just taken Raemith to the ground. Dark energy engulfed his hands, and he felt his breathing slow, but seeing Raemith on the ground... he realised the half demon wasn't dead. No, it was almost worse. Raemith, writhing and crying out, was missing his right arm up to the shoulder.
ㅤㅤCirce whispered in Latin while green magick appeared at her hands as Kyrana rushed over to protect her. That was when everything seemed to go wrong at once. A strange red glow surrounded Kyrana, and she screamed, falling to her knees and then fully to the ground. Circe sobbed out her name while a demon tackled Christopher, leaving Quilliene unattended to. Neo rushed to her, but a flying form passed her by and she cried out.
ㅤㅤA splash of blood again clouded his vision as he saw a gash on her back open up, and she fell. Neo was frozen for a moment in fear before he heard a shouted word in Latin beside him, and lightning arced across the scene from Christopher. It zapped nearly every single demon nearby into dust. Alexandria was continuing her attacks, but she seemed to be slowing down.
ㅤㅤNeo finally scrambled over to Quilliene, calming only when he saw her breathing. He looked to Christopher and called out, "We need to get out of here!"
ㅤㅤ"None of you are leaving!" A scream erupted from the large bird circling above. "You will never escape this place with your lives!"
ㅤㅤThe demons seemed to be thinning, but none were focusing their attacks now. Neo knew what that meant. His eyes went up to the ceiling, watching the bird circle lower and lower. He didn't even focus on what the bastard was saying, but he could hear him shouting in the background. He walked forward, but someone grabbed his arm - he glanced back to see Christopher, a worried expression across his face.
ㅤㅤ"You need... to slow down." He said in pants.
ㅤㅤNeo was confused before he looked down at his chest, seeing spiderwebbing black veins all across his skin. It seemed to be getting worse, and as the adrenaline faded, he finally felt the weakness. He grit his teeth, frozen in place as Christopher practically held him up. He had to do something - it wasn't going to end well if he didn't. Their world was falling apart, but he couldn't move an inch.
ㅤㅤ"Brother!" Alexandria called. "Brother, stop! Now!" Her eyes were flickering gold. "They have had enough!"
ㅤㅤ"You think you can control me?" Axelius seethed back, shadows weeping from his wings. "I will never stop, Alexandria!" His eyes glowed in hysteria. "I won't stop until all of them are dead!"
ㅤㅤHer eyes stopped glowing. "Brother, please, just come down!" She was trying to take a different approach, Neo could tell it wouldn't work - but she kept going anyway. "We can negotiate! We can still go home, just the two of us!" Her voice choked up. "I just want to talk!"
ㅤㅤ"You had your chance to talk!" He cried, swooping down to scare her. "I don't believe your golden lies anymore!"
ㅤㅤAlexandria stepped back, gritting her teeth. She glanced around, and Neo could have sworn she looked right at him. "Alright." She whispered, then raised her head to scream. "Alright, Axelius! You win... but you won't be the one walking out alive."
ㅤㅤShe turned to Neo, her eyes glowing gold as she simply said, "You know what to do."
ㅤㅤNeo thought that, maybe, he could defy this order. Pull back, deny it, do it his own way. Yet, the problem was, he didn't want to. He knew he needed the strength of the order, and he didn't have a single problem with it. Christopher looked at him, telling him not to, but his eyes were already glimmering gold as the command took hold. Neo needed this strength to obey - and he would take it.
ㅤㅤHe pushed Christopher away from him, tendrils of black encasing him - growing out of his back and digging into his arms. Whispers surrounded him as a wind picked up, spiralling about and dusting away the demons, yet somehow keeping his friends untouched. His face was devoid of emotion, and Axelius took a turn and swooped down.
ㅤㅤThen, as if protecting her meal, the devil inside Neo took hold. Wings of red protruded from his back as the woman of scarlet skin tore from his flesh, leaving him unwounded and clothes intact, as she screamed in rage and ecstasy. She grabbed Neo by the shoulders of his shirt, pulling him up into the sky with a flurry of a few wingbeats to meet with Axelius. As they flew, she whispered one word in Neo's ear.
ㅤㅤ"Kill."
ㅤㅤThen, she tossed him up like he weighed absolutely nothing to her, and he flew on with a speed unknown. Dark tendrils surrounded him like the legs of a spider, stabbing out as he reached the parting beak of the bird that meant to swallow and devour him. He flew right into its huge maw, slashing on through all the way out to the back.
ㅤㅤA bright flash of red, a cacophonous sonic boom that knocked everyone on the ground still standing off their feet, and the shape of the bird shifted into a body. A body that fell, limp, and slammed into the ground with a horrible crash. Alexandria screamed, rushing over to him, sobbing and crying her apologies. Christopher got to his feet, looking on as Neo, black tendrils gone, came to a stop in the air.
ㅤㅤAnd then he fell.