Flames engulfed the top of the Cathedral, casting an cold glow over the chaotic scene outside.
Todd lay sprawled across the broken doors, his back bleeding profusely, forming a dark pool around him.
Every breath he took was a groan of pain, his body too injured to rise.
Nearby, the situation was equally dire.
Erebos held Nana by the throat, her body riddled with cuts, some still embedded with playing cards.
Despite her evident pain and weakened state, anger flickered in her eyes. She struggled feebly, her arms trembling as she tried to muster the strength to fight back.
Nearby, a small yet tragic scene unfolded. Nana’s blue fairy, usually a vibrant presence, was now pinned against a concrete wall.
An array of cards, thrown with deadly precision, held her small, delicate body in place. The fairy lay motionless, evidently knocked unconscious by the impact.
The fairy’s usual lively fluttering was absent, replaced by an cold stillness.
The subdued fairy made the already grim scene feel worse. Her usual energy was gone, buried under the same devastation that had hit everyone around her.
Lady Amaris, injured and defeated, leaned against a rock, a trail of blood staining its surface. Her blade lay shattered beside her, a symbol of the battle’s toll.
Not far from her, General Mattison lay motionless on the ground, a sword impaled in his side, his stillness suggesting the worst.
In the midst of the devastation, a contrasting scene unfolded inside the burning Cathedral. A small group, consisting of three young boys and a young girl, sat huddled at the center.
They were engaged in a hushed conversation, trying to ignore the chaos around them.
Amid the almost barren and empty Cathedral, with many children having fled or still hidden, these four stood out in their quiet resolve, planning and talking amongst themselves.
Outside, the grim reality of the battle’s aftermath continued.
Erebos, holding Nana by the throat, voiced his disdain with a cold sneer.
"Yet, one remains: how do you live knowing you’re all so weak?!" His words were laced with contempt as he tightened his grip on her neck. Nana, despite her visible pain and the numerous wounds marring her body, struggled to respond.
With every ounce of strength she had left, she attempted to raise her arms in defiance. Her voice, though strained, carried a firm conviction, "He will beat you, I know it."
Her words were more than a mere retort; they were a declaration of unwavering belief in her Ty.
Erebos chuckled, dripping with derision. "Beat me? How pathetic, relying on someone else when you fall short." His words taunted her, meant to belittle and provoke.
Leaning closer, he whispered sinisterly into Nana’s ear, "He will never love a weak woman."
At that moment, something within Nana snapped. With a surge of defiant rage, she screamed back, "Fuck off!" and raised her red-red hand towards him
In one hard motion, she snapped her fingers, unleashing a massive explosion of fire that erupted between them.
The force of the blast was so intense it destroyed her red hand, leaving her tumbling to the ground amidst coughs of smoke and debris.
Struggling, Nana gazed into the dissipating cloud of dust, trying to get back on her knees. Through the settling haze, Erebos casually strolled out of the fire, unaffected.
He nonchalantly patted the dust off his clothes, the small cut on his chin healing slowly as he walked.
"Now that," he mused, "is something worth working on, but you’re really holding yourself back at--" A loud thud nearby cut off his sentence.
Both turned towards the source of the noise.
The man, Ty’s adversary, had landed casually just 10 feet from them. His feet created a slow crunch on the hard soil, showing the controlled power of his descent.
His arrival added a new dynamic to the already tense situation, changing the balance of power in an instant.
Erebos shifted his gaze to the man, a hint of curiosity in his tone. "That took you a little longer than expected... Did you have any problems with that ’guy’?"
The man, brushing ash off his shoulder with a stern expression, replied, "Who the fuck are you anyway? I don’t recognize you." His voice carried a note of indifference.
"But yeah, it took some effort sealing him at the bottom of the ocean. He drowned eventually."
"I am simply one of the Clovers," he continued, "with a forgettable face. I was just carrying out your request to destroy everything here."
On the ground, Nana’s emotions spilled over.
Tears streamed down her face as she struggled to comprehend the man’s words. "N-no... he can still win," she whispered, denial and despair shaking her voice.
Determined to stand, she dug her fingers into the ground, trying to push herself up.
But her body resisted, worn down by the battle’s toll and the burning pain of the curse seal on her neck. Her efforts were met with increasing agony, a cruel reminder of her vulnerability and the grim reality of their situation.
Erebos, with a mocking tone, taunted Nana. "Oh, what now you want to get serious? In your current state, you’d be useless against a parsac demon.
Stop trying to act like you’re anything but a disappointment. Like someone else, I have a visit to pay. Perhaps it was a waste of my time after all."
As he lifted his foot to finish Nana, his eyes widened in shock.
Blood started to spill from his back, the suddenness of the attack catching him completely off guard.
He barely had time to register what was happening before a blade pierced through him and sliced him in two. His body fell apart against the dirt.
The man who had been fighting with Ty rushed over to Nana, concern etched on his face.
"My goodness, Nana, I’m so sorry I got here too late," he said as he reached out to help her. But as he touched her, he recoiled slightly, feeling the heat emanating from her skin, enough to slightly melt his own.
Confused and weak, Nana managed to ask, "I-I... Who?"
"Oh yeah," the man said, bringing his hand over his face to remove a metal fragment.
As he did, the skin on his face faded away, revealing a blackened skeleton form with small bits of dust trickling from it.
"I thought something else might have been going on, but when I escaped my prison, I heard him talking about an orange-haired person and instantly assumed the worst."
Nana’s weak chuckle was a brief respite in the midst of chaos.
"You smart dumbass,"
she whispered, her voice faint, her eyes still holding a flicker of humor despite the overwhelming pain.
The curse seal on her neck, glowing a fierce red, signaled the severity of her condition as her life seemed to hang by a thread.
Before Ty could respond to her, a violent kick came out of nowhere and took his attention. The force of the blow sent him crashing towards the ground. Erebos wore a crazed smirk, his sanity fraying at the edges.
"Now that’s what I’ve come to expect and see from you," he stated, diving towards Ty with a menacing look.
In desperation, Erebos threw out all of his cards in a last-ditch attack. Ty reacted instinctively, throwing his hands up.
His barrier ability activated, momentarily catching the cards and holding them in place.
The barrier strained under the onslaught, cracks forming before it finally shattered, allowing the cards to break through. But the brief delay provided Ty with just enough time to brace himself.
As Erebos closed in with a follow-up punch, Ty caught it, pain and fury burning in his eyes. "I WILL KILL YOU FOR TAKING JADE AWAY FROM ME!" he roared, his voice carrying grief and rage.
The confrontation had become personal for Ty, and every action now drove toward one purpose.
Erebos, undeterred by Ty’s fury, chuckled in response to the punch that sent him flying back. He skidded to a halt near Nana, quickly regaining his footing and leering back towards Ty with a taunting expression. "Now that is progress!" he exclaimed.
His words were laced with malice as he added, "When I beat up Jade, she was growing stronger as well. I wonder if she will survive long enough for you to get back to her."
His remarks were meant to provoke Ty further, using the uncertainty of Jade’s fate as a psychological weapon. Erebos’s joy in causing emotional torment was clear in his demeanor.
Fueled by rage and concern for Jade, Ty dived back towards Erebos, his every move driven by a desperate need to protect those he cared about and to put an end to Erebos’s reign of terror.
The intensity of the battle escalated as Ty launched into another attack, his actions reflecting the high stakes of this personal and brutal confrontation.