Table of Contents
Chapter 17 l Chapter 18 l Chapter 19 l Chapter 20 l Chapter 21 l Chapter 22 l Chapter 23
Chapter 24 l Chapter 25 l Chapter 26 l Chapter 27 l Chapter 28 l Chapter 29 l Chapter 30 l Chapter 31
Chapter 32 l Chapter 33 l Chapter 34 l Chapter 35 l Chapter 36 l Chapter 37 l Chapter 38 l Chapter 39

Timothy

It was a bizarre thing. Sync was in my head, sure, as always.

But she felt different. Stronger, but not in a frightening way.

“I can feel your concern,” Sync’s voice echoed.

“Sorry Sync. I know I pushed you,” I apologized.

“First, your mother pushed ‘me’. Second, I’m Sync and not Sync. I’m Teryn, your father’s first wife. Hi,” She spoke so calmly, like Sync, but with a hint of amusement in her voice that I wasn’t used to.

“Uh, hi?” I responded, unsure.

Sync, or Teryn I suppose, just sighed, “It’s a good thing I’m used to working outside of time. But is Zepherina here yet? The mortal realm moves slower than I would like.”

“No? Should she be?” I asked.

“Soon enough. Oh, you’re stuck in a quantum state. This might hurt,” Teryn warned.

I felt as if I came to a sudden stop on a rollercoaster and winced as runes appeared around me. I realized I was in a fighting stance.

“I’m over humoring my ex**-wife,”** Xyphiel growled, “Let’s send her back to where she belongs and you, Timothy, can join her.”

Xyphiel’s body crackled with green flame, mixed with blue and red.

I saw the normal digital numbers that Sync would place in my vision track over Xyphiel, identifying the energy signatures. Though now, instead of just raw numbers, I saw read-outs in plain english.

Green was Wrath. Red was the power of Greed. Blue was Envy. The overwhelming force there, however, was Wrath.

“That’s bad,” I commented to Teryn.

“I’ve got your back, kid. Go do your thing and let me worry about grumpy pants,” Teryn chided.

“Grumpy pants?!” I thought, shocked to hear the bizarre term.

“On your left, kiddo!” Teryn informed.

I dodged a swing of the Puriel blade aimed at my head, jumping back as Xyphiel was launching himself at me.

I took to the air, looking down to see him fast on my tail.

I paused, flipping through the air and cracking Xyphiel with my tail.

I tried to, anyway. Xyphiel caught it, tugging hard and sending me flying down to the ground.

My eyes went wide as I saw the Puriel blade aimed for my chest.

In a flash of bright blue, however, the blade was deflected.

Xyphiel roared in anger, flying backwards a few meters.

Glowing in the air was Ragna’s Sanctified Blade of the Guardians, pulsing in front of me.

“Better take it! He just saved your skin!” Teryn informed.

I took hold of the blade and heard the voice of St. Michael echoing softly, “To arms!”

With the sword in hand, I dove towards Xyphiel, aiming for his heart.

“You’re headstrong,” Teryn chuckled, “Like your mom and me. Guess he’s always had a thing for red-heads.”

I was nearly struck down by an attack from Xyphiel’s wing as it glowed a bright green, only to see brilliant pink runes block his attack.

Despite this, Xyphiel blocked my downward thrust, pushing me to the side as I sped towards the ground.

I landed, still running and turned to see Xyphiel swooping down, drawing a glowing bow and aiming right at me.

“Hold your ground,” Teryn informed me.

Xyphiel fired several arrows, all of them glowing with bright green flame.

Many of them halted in the air, bursting into plumbs of black smoke and green fire.

Ripping through the smoke screen I saw Xyphiel emerge, his eyes burning with crimson fire surrounded by green flame.

I tried to strike him with the blade, faltering slightly as the collision caused me to slide backwards, the ground giving way.

Xyphiel landed before me, growling as the fire burned bright in his eyes. He pushed up against me at first, before his growl grew more animalistic.

“He wouldn’t,” I heard Teryn gasp as Xyphiel’s skin darkened, turning redder.

Xyphiel shifted to his Niten form, pushing me back as he roared, his maw snapping at my neck.

I reeled back, noticing that his wings remained feathered.

Xyphiel dove at me despite me trying to put some distance between us. I was no match for his longer stride and speed. Green flame surrounded the blade, but something else pulsed around it.

I could sense some kind of aura of decay emanating from the blade.

“Dodge! My runes aren’t working!” Teryn’s voice cried out in my mind.

I felt my blade move to block Xyphiel’s strike before something dropped from the sky, landing square on Xyphiel’s back and pummeling him to the ground.

Flying up from the ground to stand by my side was Zepherina.

Zepherina’s eyes were solid violet orbs in her sockets, a glowing white energy holding them in place somehow. White horns stuck out from her head as her blackened glass-like wings folded behind her.

A cloak was wrapped around her shoulders and I could see glints of shimmering silver armor.

The expression on Zepherina’s face was decisive, “…We finish this.”

“How’s mom?” I asked, taking a stance as I was certain Zepherina had just saved me from certain death.

“She’s with Elon,” Zepherina whispered under her breath.

My heart sank.

“She’s fine, trust me. You don’t have to worry about her,” Teryn explained.

Confused, I asked Teryn, “What do you mean?!”

“She’s fine. Trust me, okay?” Teryn confirmed once more, “You have more important things to worry about; like not joining her.”

Xyphiel growled as blue flames danced around him, his sword wreathed in green and crimson fire, “To think I might not have been as angry as I could have been…” Xyphiel growled at Zepherina, “You’ll pay for that.”

“Xyphiel,” Zepherina snapped her fingers, two long blades appearing before her, one for each hand, “I’m going to end your fucking life**!”**

Xyphiel seemed taken aback by Zepherina’s words as she charged at him.

“She’s angry, you gotta cover her! Zepherina seems like she’s put together but she’s in a blind rage right now!” Teryn warned.

Xyphiel parried her first strike only for Zepherina to swing with a vicious swing from her left.

Xyphiel’s wing rose up, sparks flying as his reinforced feather’s clashed with Zepherina’s blade.

Zepherina’s arm shook for a moment before the blade vanished, her fist rocketing towards Xyphiel’s jaw.

Xyphiel reared his neck back for a moment, just in time to bite down hard on Zepherina’s wrist.

Zepherina’s armor didn’t flinch as Xyphiel bit down, but glowed white.

All of her armor grew a brilliant white! Zepherina’s cloak burned away in brilliant beams of light as her armor began to pulse with holy energy.

Xyphiel roared in pain, flying back as the light burned him.

I rushed to Zepherina’s side, noticing that she was wearing Ragna’s armor.

Xyphiel landed meters away, his mouth burned from Zepherina’s counter attack, “That Armor failed Ragna! Do not think it will give you protection from me!”

Zepherina’s wings spread wide, making a sound similar to that of glass panels shifting over one another, “It wasn’t made for her,” she took her single blade in both of her hands, the singular blade doubling in length, “It was made for me!”

Xyphiel’s vicious lips curled up as dark violet flames joined the crimson, green, and blueish ones. “Then, she is dead,” Xyphiel’s eyes flickered with blue fire, “You failed her.”

“The only way I will fail her is if you win today!” Zepherina hissed.

“Then allow me to provide you with your final defeat!” Xyphiel roared as he lifted into the air, a number of different weapons appearing around him, all wreathed in violet flames. “I am done fearing my own power; If all burns this day at my hands, then so be it!”

I rushed to Zepherina’s side, Teryn pushing out a massive wall of glowing runes which pulsed as violet fire washed towards us.

Zepherina leapt past the barrier, rushing to strike Xyphiel.

Xyphiel landed on the ground, his leg rising up in the blink of an eye as he knocked Zepherina in her stomach.

Zepherina was sent flying and Xyphiel charged me next.

I rushed toward him, blocking his strike with the Sanctified Blade, parrying and slashing at his leg.

Xyphiel’s leg dodged my strike in an instant and I barely managed to duck his follow-up attack.

He was so much faster than I remembered, even with Teryn’s augmentation - I could barely track him!

A large mace swung towards me, wreathed in violet flames as it swung down towards my head.

I dodged it, the tip of one of its spikes striking the side of my left horn as I managed to disengage.

“We cannot keep this up,” Teryn explained, “I’m pushing the limits of the physical world just by increasing my operating functions. Even so, I cannot alter your perception of time any more than I already have: Your nervous system can’t react fast enough without long term damage!”

I narrowed my eyes, exhaling, “Forget long term damage!”

“But, Timothy if you-” I stopped Teryn before she could finish.

“If we fail, I’m dead anyway. So, what does it matter if I injure myself now, as long as there’s a chance Xyphiel is stopped?” I asserted.

I felt tingling in my fingertips, tail and wings.

“This is why people follow you,” Teryn sighed softly, “This is going to hurt… a lot*.”*

Pain wracked my body in what I could only describe as if I was dumped into ice cold water, completely.

Every single nerve ending screamed in pain, every muscle tightened and convulsed and I felt everything my skin could possibly feel. Burning, freezing and I think the sensation of joints and bones snapping.

The pain lasted for hours, or so it felt like, but when it stopped Xyphiel was standing still, the Puriel blade mere centimeters from my throat.

I moved, my joints reacting instantly as I flanked Xyphiel.

I wasn’t breathing, not as I moved, my feet striking the ground with such speed I could feel the moisture in the air cavitate beneath my toes.

Xyphiel’s eyes tracked me still, his head turning slowly as I brought my blade to slash at his wing.

To my dismay, the blade struck some sort of armor or magic, bouncing off with intense force.

I leapt back with Teryn’s voice screaming in my mind, “You cannot do that too long! Short bursts Timothy!”

I blinked, time resuming normally. My heart hammered in my chest as my feet burned. Even my skin seemed burned in place from the friction of the air.

Xyphiel laughed, “I’ll let you tear yourself apart then, boy!” Xyphiel seemingly vanished, but I watched a trail of dust heading right at me.

Time slowed once more, I moved as fast as I could as I saw Xyphiel rocketing towards me.

Even with everything moving as slow as it was, I watched as his strikes came swiftly.

I blocked a slash at my shoulder, moving to the left, grabbing at a knife I kept on my side, attempting to draw it and stab him.

As I stabbed at Xyphiel, I saw the air ignite around the blade, a shockwave echoing off of the tip of the blade as I tried to strike Xyphiel with it.

“Timothy, too much!” Teryn roared in my ears as I felt my fingers and wrist shatter as the blade shot out of my hand, slicing at Xyphiel’s side before it flew off into the distance.

I stumbled back, time returning to normal as I realized I had moved the knife so fast I caused a sonic boom.

I grunted as my hand painfully repaired itself.

Xyphiel was about to say something before Zepherina landed next to him.

Her swords were gone, instead each of her fists were glowing with white energy not unlike that of her glowing blade.

A gut punch knocked Xyphiel up off the ground before Zepherina followed it up with another strike to his neck, a vicious strike to his temple. She continued to pummel him, knocking him back as each punch caused a shockwave to ripple across the ground.

As Xyphiel lifted off the ground Zepherina laced her fingers together and slammed both of her hands together down onto Xyphiel’s chest, slamming his body into the ground.

I dashed to her side, trying to slice at Xyphiel with the Sanctified blade, only for the blade to slice through the ground and nothing else.

“Fuck!” I shouted.

Zepherina picked up her glowing fists, each wrapped in a glowing gauntlet of some kind. She put her back to mine, “He’s blocking your attacks with some kind of shield around him. We need to pummel him into the dirt until he has no more defenses, then we can slice him up.”

“If he can stand still long enough,” I growled.

“If this were going to be easy, we’d have defeated him long before today,” Zepherina said as she looked around.

The ground began to shake and massive lines of dark magic surrounded us. “Shit!” I shouted as I began to run as fast as I could out of the growing circle.

In the air Xyphiel floated, dark energy pulsing around him as he lifted his fingers up.

Green flames ripped up from the ground, sending columns of earth, stone and molten rock high into the air.

I took to the air, trying to dodge what debris I could.

Behind one massive rock, I saw Xyphiel leaping towards me.

I blocked his blade with mine, growling as we clashed in the air.

“What a beautiful day for Armageddon!” Xyphiel grinned wickedly, “Even the Ragnarök is dead!”

I roared, holding my hand out, Teryn taking my lead and runes igniting through the air.

Bright white light flooded the air, vaporizing the rock around my hand, holy light burning from my body.

Xyphiel was nowhere to be seen for a moment, before I felt his hand on my foot, tossing me down to the ground.

I roared in pain as my back struck several burning and tumbling rocks before I smashed into the ground.

My hand clutched the sanctified blade as tightly as I could.

“Mere children,” Xyphiel’s voice called above me, “Tinkering with power you can barely control…”

My vision was clouded as I could barely see through the dust and debris. My vision blurred from my violent descent.

I struggled to my feet, my chest heaving as my vision cleared.

Dashing between the falling rocks I saw Zepherina giving chase to Xyphiel, giving me much needed time to recover.

She smashed her way through the larger rocks as Xyphiel jumped between them, keeping his distance as he lobbed long range bursts of fire and dark magics at her.

Zepherina was growing frustrated as Xyphiel had adjusted his fighting style to prevent another vicious beatdown like he had received before.

I gritted my teeth in anger, as Xyphiel’s words slowly sank in.

I had unleashed my limits, only to find new ones. I tried to attack with my increased reaction time, only to do more damage to myself than to Xyphiel.

Even with Zepherina’s training under Forcas, Xyphiel had thousands of years of combat experience. The only one who had a similar experience was now…

I blinked a tear from my eye, unable to ruminate on Ragna’s passing. Zepherina’s words resonated in my head.

“The only way I can fail her is if Xyphiel wins today,” I thought to myself.

“You’re repaired,” Teryn informed, “You’re taking a licking out there kid. But you’re still ticking.”

I gave a nod, as I spread my wings and rushed to help Zepherina press her attack on Xyphiel.

Teryn’s runes showed me where Xyphiel and Zepherina were in the floating and chaotic debris field.

Through the fire and the flames, I could see Xyphiel leaping from stone to stone, Zepherina trying to anticipate his next leap, trying to give chase through the chaos.

Teryn’s runes glowed on the stones and the next one Xyphiel stepped on, she adjusted the mass of.

It quickly gained its own gravity, throwing Xyphiel off as all the debris began to rush towards it, along with Zepherina.

Once she closed the distance, the rune stopped adjusting the stone’s mass.

Zepherina landed a right hook onto Xyphiel, before he managed to barely dodge the next, counter attacking with a slash from his claws.

Zepherina’s cheek caught his claws, bursts of violet smoke seeping from her wounds, though she scarcely reacted to the strike.

Zepherina grabbed Xyphiel’s hand when he attempted to slash her again, interlacing her fingers with his as she did so.

She then proceeded to hold Xyphiel’s hand tight on her own, while her other hand delivered strike after strike to Xyphiel’s chest and gut.

I watched some sort of shield begin to crack and shatter across Xyphiel’s body and I readied my blade as I soared towards them.

I jumped from behind a floating stone, blade held high over my head, my sights set on taking Xyphiel’s wings off.

I moved as quickly as I could, feeling my skin and eyes burn from the friction of my body moving so fast.

I didn’t care. I had to strike at that moment.

Xyphiel’s shield shattered, but his eyes tracked my movement still.

I swung, as I did he pulled back, dragging Zepherina towards him.

I put as much speed into my swing as possible, but even so Xyphiel had spread his wings, my slash taking his arm.

I rocketed through the air, slamming into the ground as my body was almost entirely broken from putting everything into my last strike.

“Just, hold up…! I’m repairing you, Timothy. Hang tight!” Teryn called out as I felt runes burning around my body.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Xyphiel rush towards me, only to see Zepherina dive to block him. Zepherina blocking his blade with her glowing fists as a shockwave from their clash rolled my listless body over.

Xyphiel’s arm regrew from a blast of crimson mana bursting from his severed shoulder and he leapt back as red circles grew under me, heat emanating from them as he grinned to Zepherina.

Zepherina let out a frustrated growl as she turned around to grab me, saving me from a pillar of flame erupting from the ground.

Pain wracked my body as I watched more glowing circles appearing.

The pillars reached high into the air before they curved and slammed back into the ground hundreds of meters away.

They made mighty arches of red flames, more and more appearing.

Zepherina did her best to dodge them, but the ones before us were not made to kill us, but to direct us.

I managed to speak, “Zeph… He’s leading us-”

Before I could say anything, Zepherina leapt away from a wall of flames.

I felt the heat searing my flesh as Zepherina jumped away from the fire.

“Legs are working!” Teryn informed me.

“I can run!” I shouted to Zepherina.

Zepherina dropped me from her shoulder.

I landed on my feet, my shoulder was still shattered, but I was able to run alongside Zepherina before we were met with another wall of fire.

Xyphiel’s voice cackled through the air, “Amusing as this was… It is time to lay the children to bed,” Xyphiel taunted.

Above us were massive interlacing columns of flame, arching over us and surrounding us in a fifty-meter circle.

They began to close in on us, no gaps seen between them.

The heat inside grew rapidly and I could see the clothes on my body ignite.

Zepherina held her hands out, a white shield surrounding us, “Any ideas?!”

Teryn’s runes joined her shield, reinforcing it, but I watched as it began to falter.

Some runes began to shake and crack along with the shield.

I felt my shoulder snap back into place, looking for some kind of exit, trying to think of something.

Zepherina grunted, some of the cracks reforming on her shield, “We aren’t dying like this.”

I readied my blade, looking to see Xyphiel floating high above us. With the help of Teryn’s runes, I could see his form beyond the fire. I looked down to the ground, “Teryn, can we get out from under?!”

“It’s a sphere! The fire is above and below us,” Teryn informed.

I swallowed hard, my hands shaking as I tried to think of a way out.

There had to be a solution. The shield started to crack again as Zepherina fell to one knee.

“…If we can manage to push through the flames, maybe one of us will survive,” Zepherina informed.

I nodded, “Which?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Zepherina whispered, “Just one, okay? We just promise to make it up to each other.”

I nodded, “Zeph, if it’s me… just… I’m sorry I didn’t try to get to know you more as my little sister.”

Zepherina chuckled, “I’m sorry I went crazy after I lost Theo,” Zepherina said, “Let’s promise: We make sure to apologize to mom if we see her again.”

I nodded, “Yeah. Got it.”

My body was tense, my heart in my chest as the shield began to crack.

Zepherina and I both had a spot in the flames picked out. We’d both rush through it. It was a terrible plan, but the only option we had.

The other was to get crushed as the burning sphere encased us in molten glass.

I watched as Teryn tried to make frost runes which immediately fizzled and vanished around us in the growing heat.

“Count of three,” Zepherina said, pointing to one section of the shield with the most cracks.

I nodded.

“One,” Zepherina said, her voice hitching.

“Two…” I swallowed hard, steeling myself as best I could.

Before we could say anything else, a pink aura took over the shield.

The heat vanished and the cracks began to clear immediately.

“Zeph?” I frowned.

“Uh… not me…” Zepherina said.

“Teryn?” I asked as I watched the columns of fire start to shake.

“Nope, we held on long enough for her to get her shit together… Thank the Guardians,” Teryn said.

A staff passed through the flames and as it did the fire surrounding us vanished.

Holding the staff was Xei, her eyes closed.

I looked at the staff, realizing that it was Tasha’s staff, with a notable exception.

A scythe was attached to the edge of it now, making it appear more like a polearm.

One end of the staff pulsed with holy energy, while the side with the scythe resonated with the energy of death and decay.

“…Xei?” Zepherina asked, shocked.

I was taken back as Xei opened both of her eyes. The other eye was no longer scarred, but did appear a slightly different shade of red.

Her eyes looked up to Xyphiel as they narrowed on him, “Yes… and no.” Her voice sounded like it had a slight echo, almost like it was autotuned.

Demond rushed behind her in his wolfen form, “I’ve been going between Xeisha or Teisha, not too sure which. Kind of unimportant right now.”

“I’m sorry, what?!” I shouted, looking at Xei, or Xeisha - Teisha? I wasn’t sure.

Now that I could see her fully, she had Tasha’s horns and wings. Her teeth appeared elongated like Xei’s, her body was lithe like Xei, though not entirely without curves like Xei was.

As if Tasha and Xei had somehow merged into a single body.

My eyes went wide as I realized the prophecy.

I was wrong.

It all clicked in my mind.

Why Eva sold her soul to save Xei.

Tasha’s devout faith and Xei’s completely opposite atheism.

Like yin and yang, dark and light.

A single soul that was split from itself.

“…You’re the sundered child,” I whispered.

Xyphiel laughed above us, “What fairy tale did the Guardians feed you, boy? A way to defeat me?” His eyes glanced at Xeisha, their eyes meeting. “Ah. There’s my daughter.”

“We end this, now,” Xeisha said as she took her staff in her hands.

Xyphiel rushed down in an instant, his sword falling down onto Xeisha’s shoulder.

I was about to scream in shock before the blade bounced off of her aura, the blade never contacting her body or spirit, to Xyphiel’s shock.

“What?!” Xyphiel shouted in surprise.

Xeisha swung the polearm down, blade striking Xyphiel’s arm, ripping it from his shoulder.

Xyphiel roared as he thrust his still attached arm towards Xeisha, a mighty spear ripping through the air as it soared towards her heart.

Xeisha blocked it with her polearm’s bow, to my shock the spear tip was perfectly balanced at the center of the rounded wood of the weapon.

Xyphiel’s eyes widened as Xeisha took a step forward, moving despite the spear, the tip of the spear breaking like it was made of candied sugar as Xeisha moved towards Xyphiel.

“Behold, I will make you small among the nations,” Xeisha spoke as Xyphiel jumped into the air.

Xeisha’s leathery wings spread as she took to the air after him.

Zepherina and I were in tow, somehow reinvigorated as we chased Xyphiel into the air.

Xyphiel’s arm reformed from his mana, but I could see we had him on the run.

“You shall be greatly despised,” Xeisha hissed as she flew higher than Xyphiel, cutting him off with a burst of speed so intense a shockwave followed her.

Xyphiel turned his attention to Xeisha as she brought the blade of her Scythe down on him. Xyphiel just managed to parry with the Puriel blade.

“The Pride in your heart has deceived you!” Xeisha shouted, spinning through the air and landing a falling kick onto Xyphiel’s shoulder.

Zepherina pulled one of her hands back, her gauntlets changing into a blade as she tried to strike at Xyphiel as he flew past her.

Xyphiel hardly blocked the strike, his fall uncontrolled and chaotic.

Xeisha’s voice echoed through the air as Xyphiel’s dark magic, which was holding up stone and debris, began to dispel. Stones fell back to the ground. “You, who dwell in the clefts of the rock, who’s habitation is high, you who say in your heart: Who will bring me down to the ground?” Xeisha’s body began to glow with many colors, an iridescent energy.

As she spoke, I heard her voice echoing, but there was another.

A deeper voice which seemed to shake the foundations of the earth as her mouth moved, rippling through the air.

“Though you ascend as high as the eagle, though you set your nest among the stars,” Xeisha spun her polearm through the air, holy light surrounding her “From there I will bring you down!”

A blast of light crackled through the air, lightning cracked from the sky and encapsulated Xeisha, the lightning not causing her any harm as it wrapped around the holy light cascading towards Xyphiel.

As the light hit the ground, a massive blast of energy washed over the ruined battlefield below us.

I was shocked as what was left in the wake of such a powerful blast was not more destruction, but a wave of creation!

Lush grasses grew behind the shockwave, followed by trees which rose from small saplings to mighty oaks in moments. Olive and pine trees along with all manner of life sprung up from the previously destroyed earth below us.

“So sayeth the Lord!” Xeisha shouted at the center of the shockwave of creation.

Xyphiel’s body was at the center of it all. An oasis of sorts surrounding him as crimson smoke rose from his body. He knelt, attempting to recover from Xeisha’s assault.

“Do not… Think I am… vanquished,” Xyphiel gasped as he glared up at us.

Zepherina dashed down, slashing at Xyphiel, his blade rising to meet hers as the pair rocketed through the landscape. Xyphiel’s feet were not moving, but the earth beneath him was tearing apart as Zepherina forced him back.

I grinned down, “We can do this…!” I thought.

Xyphiel’s face changed to a wicked grin as he held out his hand, he abruptly came to a halt, “I must say, I did not think I’d be pressed this hard by the lot of you.” He rose to his feet, “It would be my children who would give me the greatest challenge,” His eyes moved to lock on Zepherina’s, “…And grandchild, of course.”

Zepherina moved to deliver a gut-punch to Xyphiel before he jumped back several meters.

A glint of yellow caught the corner of my eye.

A yellow gem slammed into Xyphiel’s right hand and shattered.

A foul stench filled the air and I had to brace myself as a dire energy filled the battlefield.

Plants that were once lush and vibrant began to wilt and drop their leaves. The scent of decay filling the air as I looked at Xyphiel’s form.

Crimson lightning crackled around Xyphiel as he opened his eyes, a flood of different colored flames swirling within.

A whip wreathed in yellow appeared in his hand as his horns grew more menacing. The Puriel blade became wreathed in violet fire.

I staggered back as Xeisha jumped to my side, along with Zepherina.

Xeisha frowned, “We couldn’t find the Essence of Lust after Vael sacrificed herself,” she turned to me, “Sorry, Brother.”

I steeled myself, “This is it then…”

“Now, children… Quake in fear as the essence of all the sin of mortal men crashes upon you and drowns you in a sea of pain and suffering…” Xyphiel’s voice echoed across the battlefield, “Abandon all Hope and embrace the Despair.”

Xeisha’s red hair rose into the air, a sight I wasn’t used to seeing, as both of her eyes were fixed on Xyphiel, “Behold, all souls are Mine, the soul of the Father,” Xeisha’s eyes turned to me, “As well as the soul of the son, is Mine,” Xeisha took hold of her weapon as I did the same, feeling a rise in my resolve as we turned to face off against my father one last time.

I had to admit, Xeisha’s next words gave me more hope than any before it.

Xeisha’s glittering energy floated around Zepherina and I as she finished her prayer, “The soul who sins, shall die.”