Neo Chronicles
Episode 31: Mystics Pt. III
Table of Contents
Thirty-three stories off the ground, on the rooftop of a grand plaza hotel, our three champions wage war against an entire legion. The Mystics, using every skill and ability at their disposal stare death right down its draconian maw as the fires of wrath erupt from it.
The zmei litter the skies, their outstretched wings, long necks, and and tails—some with two, three, sometimes even four heads—throw all manner of fire, lightning, wind, and ice from above. The balaur race along the walls of the tall plaza, not adhering to the strict laws of gravity, but forcing it to bend to their will. They leap, they ravage, they attempt to tear into the three without any remorse. The capcauns' rage seems to fuel their colossal strength. They break up the ground with their fists, shatter windows, tear up the skies with their roars.
Yet still the Mystics remain. Still they fight on. Metal of all shapes and sizes, sharp and jagged in edge fly through the skies tearing through the dark creatures. Among the blades are Duke's zweihanders. They slice, they cut, they dice the demons to shreds. All the while, Huifang causes the earth to crack, the ground to rise, and the rocks to fall on all those scurrying around. And the blackened sky lights up with a flurry of fire, as Kevin aims his automatic weapon at all those surrounding them.
“Well, it looks like every demon in town knows we're here,” Huifang says.
“Does that mean the devil in the bar was right or did he just lead us into a trap?” Kevin asks.
“He did give us a name.”
“So we should summon him?”
“So we should call him out.”
Out of a portal of light, Kevin summons forth his short-barrel rifle and, along with his full-automatic machine gun, tosses them both towards the sky as he summons forth yet another metallic device—a handheld one—that he places on the ground. A large pulse of light shoots outward encompassing the entire rooftop area. Kevin's two weapons rise towards the sky along with Duke's two swords. From the barrel of both guns, a loud whirring can be heard as they charge up. The two guns aim their barrels down at the ground as the two swords spin around them. The guns and the swords reach their apex as soon as the pulse from Kevin's handheld device reaches the edge of the roof, and in the next moment, all the demons in the area are littered with holes from the guns blitzing assault. The swords spin downward, acting faster than the eyes can see, cutting through all dark matter and ethereal flesh in the area. And as each deadly beast falls, the earth opens up and crushes their remains.
Hundreds of demons rise, and hundreds of demons fall. Still the Mystics remain.
“Raum!” Duke cries out.
And at that moment, time stands still. The few demons remaining are frozen in their actions. Some are on the verge of a diving swoop. Some are in mid-motion, just seconds away from their collapse. Some are being torn apart by the white hot bullets raining from the sky. They all stand still. The clouds stop moving. The earth stops breaking. The world stops spinning.
Still the Mystics remain. The sudden pause takes them off guard. They look around at each other and at the demons. Cautious, on edge, and with their guard still up.
A lone bird passes by over head. Black feathers, cawing in the absence of wind. A carrion crow, one that appears much larger than normal, flies closer and closer towards the three Mystics.
“What is it that you desire?”
The words seem to echo in the minds of all. There isn't a distinct source, because the sound isn't entirely natural. It is a thought that comes across as their own. The crow lands.
The crow caws.
“I remember a time where asking that question was the only way for me to see this world.”
The crow squawks.
“I was their genie. I was their djinn. It mattered not their status or title. They came from rags. They came from riches. They all came – sought me out. They knew I had something to offer, and they would do anything for me to give it to them.”
The crow caws.
“It didn't matter the price. They would betray any moral, social, or political obligation they claimed to uphold. And for what? Material possessions? Treasure? Money? Riches? The currency changed with the times. One would ask of precious stones, another paper – I believe now the coin of the realm is credit?”
The crow squawks.
“What do you desire? That is all I had to ask. It wouldn't always be money. No, sometimes they were items of sentimental value. Books. Gadgets. Food. Shelter. They might've even had a good reason for it. It made no difference. They allowed me passage into this realm; I would gladly repay them in kind.”
The crow spreads out its wings and begins to take flight. Then it vanishes into the night, like a ghost that was never there. In its place is a man dressed as a peasant who aspires to be a king. Itari pants made of sheep's wool and cotton. Opinci sandals with felt foot wraps. A long, suman coat made of brown, black, and gray cloth decorated with gaitane around the edges. A sheepskin caciula hat, with the top larger than the base.
The man is elderly in appearance. A long, scruffy, dark beard. Hard, wrinkled features along his tan face. This man is no man. He is the devil Raum.
“And now, even as I can walk, live, and breathe this same air without their doing, I still find myself granting wishes.” The man speaks as if he was speaking all along. “'Why?' you may ask. Am I a creature of habit? Perhaps. Why else would I give a bright, promising young lad the gift of magic to bring his imagination to life? Why else would I show a young bachelorette, fully confident in who she is as a person, the pathway to an unheard realm? I could have let that abusive father turn down that last drink instead of leading him to it. And as for the group of men, so focused on keeping their newfound wealth a secret that they would execute any who happened to make that wrong turn – ”
Raum smiles as he looks towards the still-frozen sky. “I could have left them to their own devises. But they all wanted something. They all needed something. And I was there to provide it. All over this city. Even as we exist in this one moment, I am still granting their wishes.”
Raum notices that a light—weak, shimmering, and waning—slowly starts to form around his audience. He chuckles in response to it.
“Don't bother struggling. Even ones such as yourselves are bound by the ebb and flow of time. You're unable to move because nothing is moving. This world bends to my will, and as long as you are part of the world, so do you.”
The three Mystics still stand, forced as motionless spectators to Raum's dalliance with the reality surrounding them. He walks towards them and asks “What do you desire?” next to them and asks “What do you desire?” and around them.
“I always found myself asking this question until finally – the question was asked of me.” And then Raum stops in front of Huifang. He looks down on her, his stature overshadowing hers. He moves a strand of blond hair from her face. She's visibly repulsed by the action. “What do I desire? As a demon, as a devil who now has everything in the world at his disposal? Freedom? Power? Souls? What could there possibly be for me to take?”
Raum holds out his bejeweled hand. It surges with a cackling, electrical current as he forms it into a fist.
“More.”
Raum throws a punch at Huifang with lightning speed. He passes right through her. Then, looking up, he finds that only images remain. The Mystics have escaped his otherworldly clutch. And yet, in the next moment, they explosively return.
Huifang bursts out of a portal of light, and lands a hard roundhouse on the back of Raum's head. Raum, taken aback by the sudden ambush, unknowingly stumbles towards Kevin. Kevin clasps Raum by the neck with one arm and brings him into a fury of magic based plasma bullets aimed squarely at the torso. Five loud explosions. And finally, Duke appears to the side and delivers three heavy cross punches to Raum's face.
Raum spits out a tooth. The tooth fades into a black mist before touching the ground. Surely by now, he's grown another in its place. He turns to those who defy him and find nothing in their place. Only their image remains. Then the image fades.
“Fools!” Raum shouts. “I will tear this world to shreds before falling to the likes of you!” With a swipe of his hand, the air in front of him ignites in a black flame. The flame burns away at the space it occupies until not even the space remains.
Out of a portal of light, Duke appears above the Raum. Both his hands are clutched together. He swings them down on Raum's head like a double axe handle. A direct blow. Shockwaves fly out in all directions from the impact.
Raum is only momentarily phased. In the next instance, he reaches up, grabs Duke by the neck with his right hand, lifts him up, spins him around, and choke slams him into the rooftop floor. And with the Mystic warrior pinned down, Raum hammers his free fist atop Duke's temple. Just when Duke believes the assault to be over, Raum punts him with enough force to send him flying off the rooftop. Before Duke regains enough sense to cast a healing spell and save himself, he finds that he lacks the motor functions to do so. His body is paralyzed. Not only that, but his entire momentum is stunted. He floats in mid air, bound by some unseen force. Frozen. Frozen in time yet again.
Raum's hand is open, his arm outstretched. Then, gripping it together into a fist, he pulls back, and Duke flies towards him, as if pulled by a tight, invisible rope. As soon as Duke is in range, Raum clubs him with all of his might downward.
Duke hits the roof. He breaks through the roof. He falls to the next story. And the next. And the next. Every level of the thirty-three story hotel knows Duke for a brief moment as he plunges through.
Two new light portals appear by Raum. One to his left by his feet. The other to his right by his head. The lights flash quickly. As soon as they are perceived, they are no more. Kevin comes out on one knee with his other leg outstretched. Huifang comes out jumping in mid-air.
In a perfect world, Kevin would sweep the devil off his feet as Huifang high kicks him on his way down. But Raum's reflexes are too quick, and his mastery over time is too great. Even though their attacks take less than half of a quarter of second to transpire, they might as well be minutes.
Raum grabs Huifang's leg out of the air and slams her on top of Kevin before they even realize what's happening. Then, raising both his hands up, Raum causes the blackened sky to open, like a beast crying out in the face of war. At his command, Raum swings his arms down, just as a tempest of black and violet flames rains down upon them. Everything is engulfed. The entire hotel. The entire street. It all burns. The hotel can't withstand the heavy assault. It crumbles under the pressure. Each floor falling under the one before.
Flashes of white light appear and disappear along each floor before the floor crumbles. The hotel is full of people. The hotel was full of people. Seconds within seconds. Moments within moments. The absence of time bears no effect on the passage of the light. The light covers them. The light takes them. And it doesn't stop with the hotel. The bystanders frozen in the surrounding streets are taken as well. The light takes them all. And when there are no more left to take, Duke emerges.
“You think you can save them?” Raum shouts. Another fire storm falls from the sky, accelerating the hotel's collapse. “They chose this! This is the world they've created! This is the world they've allowed to exist! Now we're taking it! I'm taking it!”
All that's left of the former monument is ashes, debris, and rubble.
But the people are safe. All have been evacuated. Transported miles away.
Raum stands over the rubble, overlooking the destruction he has created. Three white lights shine in front of him. The Mystics remain. The Mystics remain.
The image of the sky tears and fractures. Raum's entire being ignites in black fires. A crow caws, and all of time explosively resumes. All the demons—capcauns, balaurs, and zmei—pour out from any dimensional crack that should and should not be. They number in the hundreds. They number in the thousands. They are legion.
The sky finally gives out. Pieces of it fall towards the ground and shatter like glass. In its place, a vortex of shadows. Shadows and bright, glowing, red eyes. A crow squawks, and all of Hell falls towards Earth.
Faster than thought. As fast as light. Faster than possible. Huifang meets Raum head on, starting with a straight kick to the jaw. Then a fury of jabs, crosses, knee strikes, and elbow thrusts follow. Raum blocks and retaliates in kind. Each parried limb is met with forceful strike of his own. Electrical sparks fly as their fists connect.
Duke's swords, along with every piece of stray metal scrap in the area, engage the demons raining in from above. They continue to eviscerate each monstrosity in their path.
Kevin takes out as many demons as he can on the ground. Each blast his rifles fire cuts through at least a hundred. He fires at the zmei in the sky. He fires at the capcauns towering over land. They all fall.
Huifang breaks through Raum's guard with a forward elbow thrust to the forhead. Raum takes two steps back and stumbles for a moment as he holds his head. Huifang steps in and follows up with a sharp, straight knee to the abdomen.
The attack pushes Raum's back to the last standing remnants of a wall. Huifang doesn't let up. Using both arms, she grabs a hold of Raum's head, placing him in a clinch. Eight strikes. Eight knee strikes to the ribs. Eight loud battle cries. And it ends with one final teep kick to the face. There is a cracking sound that echoes on impact. The force behind the teep is immense. Raum's head crashes through what's left of the wall.
If Raum were a mortal man, that would be the end of it. Every strike Huifang landed was enough to mangle even the strongest of warriors. Each attack was magically energized. There shouldn't be anything left after the assault. And there isn't, save for five flying crows, Raum's body is no more.
But the crows remain.
The crows take flight. Huifang shouts out. She commands the earth to reach out and smash into the flying carrions. They squawk, mocking her attempt, as they fly blissfully free. They avoid the incoming fire of Kevin's rifle. They dodge Duke's sharp, airborne blades. They come together in the sky, and out of shadows, through the shadows, about the shadows, they merge.
Raum, the man, floats overhead. All former battle scars are healed. There is no blood. There are no bruises. Not even his clothes are torn. Overlooking his kingdom of wreckage, he sees every man, woman, and child in the city run for their lives. He relishes in the thought of owning all this. Tearing all this down. And reforming it in his image. He delightfully looks forward to the moment when he can expand his influence beyond Daci, beyond Rumaucia, and beyond the world. It would take him seconds—mere moments—to do so. All he needs to do is rid himself of these Mystics, and he'll have everything he desires.
And more.
“Kev!” Duke calls out. He manipulates all the steel in the area to form a ball, a large ball, the size of a car. Dense enough to sink air carriers. “How're we doin'?” The ball lunges towards Raum like it was fired from a cannon. Raum floats motionless, awaiting the incoming attack with a smile.
“You can't rush this, man!” Kevin looks down at his handheld device. Still there are demons charging towards him. He does all he can to evade, avoid, and blast them before they make their way towards him. There are seven distinct dots of lights flashing on the holographic projection screen. Four of the lights are green. The other three are red. “Gimme a sec! Dang.” He shoots away another wave of demons.
Raum doesn't move an inch, yet on impact, the metal cannon ball is split in two. It bursts into a blaze of black flames.
“Oh please!” Huifang shouts out. The earth opens up and swallows a horde of demons. “Take all day!” Beneath her, she causes the earth to rise, carrying her towards the sky.
“Please don't take all day!” Duke shouts out as he leaps upwards.
The fifth and sixth dot on Kevin's screen turns green. He runs along the street shooting more capcauns down.
Huifang leaps from her earthmade platform towards Raum. Like lightning, she strikes him with a mighty punch, and like thunder, the shockwave bursts out on impact. The wave tears through all of the surrounding demons. Raum punches back, moving just as swiftly. His strike is just as deadly. As it connects with Huifang's cheek, another boisterous, thundering sound echoes throughout the area.
Duke appears behind the devil and punches at him as well. Raum turns to block. Yet another shockwave. Just as Raum attempts to counterattack, Huifang lands a solid kick to his ribs. And so the battle continues. The two Mystics against the lone devil. In mid-air. In mid-flight. Their attacks are supersonic. Every punch, every kick, and every block breaks the sound barrier. Still the Mystics remain. Still the devil remains.
The final dot on the screen turns green.
Duke throws another punch. Raum grabs the incoming arm and strikes him in the armpit and on the hip. “When will you nuisances die?” Raum questions in frustration. He swings Duke into Huifang, sending them both towards the ground.
“It's ready!” Kevin calls out.
Miles overhead, just a few feet shy of the lower most layer of the atmosphere, seven bright beacons of light shine out. From the light emerges seven very large satellites, and on the tips of those satellites are cannon barrels. You see, Kevin is a genius by birth. In his spare time, he has always taken a liking towards machines. When he was first introduced to the world of magic, his first thought was to find a way to infuse it with the technological advances of man. And what better way to defend the planet from denizens of the beyond than with a series of satellite cannons?
Kevin's handheld device now works as a targeting system. The holographic screen functions as a scope. “Locked on.” Raum lies right within the crosshairs. “And fire.”
Seven powerful lasers shoot down from the sky. Each one pierces straight through the flying devil in the sky. Pieces of his body dissipate. There is no physical impact, for the beams aren't entirely physical. These seven lasers are of the spirit. They strike the spirit. They dismantle the spirit. Raum tries to escape, but finds himself unable to. It takes all of his mental facilities to focus on holding himself together. He tries to stop time, but can't concentrate long enough to do so. He tries to split off as the crows he was before, but save for a few stray, black feathers, his body won't change.
Raum is trapped and dying. It's only a matter of time. The few remaining demons in his legion pause as they watch their Hell Lord rendered helpless under the assault. In a desperate attempt to overpower the attack, Raum draws on their life energy. All of his remaining legion dissipate into a black smoke. Finally, there are no legion to draw on. Still Raum is trapped and dying.
The devil cries out. There are no words uttered or spoken. It is a loud, aching, rage-induced holler. The devil explodes. His essence bursts out in every direction. The whole town feels it. The whole country feels it. The whole world. His dismantled spirit strikes every corner of this reality and beyond. The devil is dead. The devil is dead.
Episode 31: Mystics Pt. III
Table of Contents
Thirty-three stories off the ground, on the rooftop of a grand plaza hotel, our three champions wage war against an entire legion. The Mystics, using every skill and ability at their disposal stare death right down its draconian maw as the fires of wrath erupt from it.
The zmei litter the skies, their outstretched wings, long necks, and and tails—some with two, three, sometimes even four heads—throw all manner of fire, lightning, wind, and ice from above. The balaur race along the walls of the tall plaza, not adhering to the strict laws of gravity, but forcing it to bend to their will. They leap, they ravage, they attempt to tear into the three without any remorse. The capcauns' rage seems to fuel their colossal strength. They break up the ground with their fists, shatter windows, tear up the skies with their roars.
Yet still the Mystics remain. Still they fight on. Metal of all shapes and sizes, sharp and jagged in edge fly through the skies tearing through the dark creatures. Among the blades are Duke's zweihanders. They slice, they cut, they dice the demons to shreds. All the while, Huifang causes the earth to crack, the ground to rise, and the rocks to fall on all those scurrying around. And the blackened sky lights up with a flurry of fire, as Kevin aims his automatic weapon at all those surrounding them.
“Well, it looks like every demon in town knows we're here,” Huifang says.
“Does that mean the devil in the bar was right or did he just lead us into a trap?” Kevin asks.
“He did give us a name.”
“So we should summon him?”
“So we should call him out.”
Out of a portal of light, Kevin summons forth his short-barrel rifle and, along with his full-automatic machine gun, tosses them both towards the sky as he summons forth yet another metallic device—a handheld one—that he places on the ground. A large pulse of light shoots outward encompassing the entire rooftop area. Kevin's two weapons rise towards the sky along with Duke's two swords. From the barrel of both guns, a loud whirring can be heard as they charge up. The two guns aim their barrels down at the ground as the two swords spin around them. The guns and the swords reach their apex as soon as the pulse from Kevin's handheld device reaches the edge of the roof, and in the next moment, all the demons in the area are littered with holes from the guns blitzing assault. The swords spin downward, acting faster than the eyes can see, cutting through all dark matter and ethereal flesh in the area. And as each deadly beast falls, the earth opens up and crushes their remains.
Hundreds of demons rise, and hundreds of demons fall. Still the Mystics remain.
“Raum!” Duke cries out.
And at that moment, time stands still. The few demons remaining are frozen in their actions. Some are on the verge of a diving swoop. Some are in mid-motion, just seconds away from their collapse. Some are being torn apart by the white hot bullets raining from the sky. They all stand still. The clouds stop moving. The earth stops breaking. The world stops spinning.
Still the Mystics remain. The sudden pause takes them off guard. They look around at each other and at the demons. Cautious, on edge, and with their guard still up.
A lone bird passes by over head. Black feathers, cawing in the absence of wind. A carrion crow, one that appears much larger than normal, flies closer and closer towards the three Mystics.
“What is it that you desire?”
The words seem to echo in the minds of all. There isn't a distinct source, because the sound isn't entirely natural. It is a thought that comes across as their own. The crow lands.
The crow caws.
“I remember a time where asking that question was the only way for me to see this world.”
The crow squawks.
“I was their genie. I was their djinn. It mattered not their status or title. They came from rags. They came from riches. They all came – sought me out. They knew I had something to offer, and they would do anything for me to give it to them.”
The crow caws.
“It didn't matter the price. They would betray any moral, social, or political obligation they claimed to uphold. And for what? Material possessions? Treasure? Money? Riches? The currency changed with the times. One would ask of precious stones, another paper – I believe now the coin of the realm is credit?”
The crow squawks.
“What do you desire? That is all I had to ask. It wouldn't always be money. No, sometimes they were items of sentimental value. Books. Gadgets. Food. Shelter. They might've even had a good reason for it. It made no difference. They allowed me passage into this realm; I would gladly repay them in kind.”
The crow spreads out its wings and begins to take flight. Then it vanishes into the night, like a ghost that was never there. In its place is a man dressed as a peasant who aspires to be a king. Itari pants made of sheep's wool and cotton. Opinci sandals with felt foot wraps. A long, suman coat made of brown, black, and gray cloth decorated with gaitane around the edges. A sheepskin caciula hat, with the top larger than the base.
The man is elderly in appearance. A long, scruffy, dark beard. Hard, wrinkled features along his tan face. This man is no man. He is the devil Raum.
“And now, even as I can walk, live, and breathe this same air without their doing, I still find myself granting wishes.” The man speaks as if he was speaking all along. “'Why?' you may ask. Am I a creature of habit? Perhaps. Why else would I give a bright, promising young lad the gift of magic to bring his imagination to life? Why else would I show a young bachelorette, fully confident in who she is as a person, the pathway to an unheard realm? I could have let that abusive father turn down that last drink instead of leading him to it. And as for the group of men, so focused on keeping their newfound wealth a secret that they would execute any who happened to make that wrong turn – ”
Raum smiles as he looks towards the still-frozen sky. “I could have left them to their own devises. But they all wanted something. They all needed something. And I was there to provide it. All over this city. Even as we exist in this one moment, I am still granting their wishes.”
Raum notices that a light—weak, shimmering, and waning—slowly starts to form around his audience. He chuckles in response to it.
“Don't bother struggling. Even ones such as yourselves are bound by the ebb and flow of time. You're unable to move because nothing is moving. This world bends to my will, and as long as you are part of the world, so do you.”
The three Mystics still stand, forced as motionless spectators to Raum's dalliance with the reality surrounding them. He walks towards them and asks “What do you desire?” next to them and asks “What do you desire?” and around them.
“I always found myself asking this question until finally – the question was asked of me.” And then Raum stops in front of Huifang. He looks down on her, his stature overshadowing hers. He moves a strand of blond hair from her face. She's visibly repulsed by the action. “What do I desire? As a demon, as a devil who now has everything in the world at his disposal? Freedom? Power? Souls? What could there possibly be for me to take?”
Raum holds out his bejeweled hand. It surges with a cackling, electrical current as he forms it into a fist.
“More.”
Raum throws a punch at Huifang with lightning speed. He passes right through her. Then, looking up, he finds that only images remain. The Mystics have escaped his otherworldly clutch. And yet, in the next moment, they explosively return.
Huifang bursts out of a portal of light, and lands a hard roundhouse on the back of Raum's head. Raum, taken aback by the sudden ambush, unknowingly stumbles towards Kevin. Kevin clasps Raum by the neck with one arm and brings him into a fury of magic based plasma bullets aimed squarely at the torso. Five loud explosions. And finally, Duke appears to the side and delivers three heavy cross punches to Raum's face.
Raum spits out a tooth. The tooth fades into a black mist before touching the ground. Surely by now, he's grown another in its place. He turns to those who defy him and find nothing in their place. Only their image remains. Then the image fades.
“Fools!” Raum shouts. “I will tear this world to shreds before falling to the likes of you!” With a swipe of his hand, the air in front of him ignites in a black flame. The flame burns away at the space it occupies until not even the space remains.
Out of a portal of light, Duke appears above the Raum. Both his hands are clutched together. He swings them down on Raum's head like a double axe handle. A direct blow. Shockwaves fly out in all directions from the impact.
Raum is only momentarily phased. In the next instance, he reaches up, grabs Duke by the neck with his right hand, lifts him up, spins him around, and choke slams him into the rooftop floor. And with the Mystic warrior pinned down, Raum hammers his free fist atop Duke's temple. Just when Duke believes the assault to be over, Raum punts him with enough force to send him flying off the rooftop. Before Duke regains enough sense to cast a healing spell and save himself, he finds that he lacks the motor functions to do so. His body is paralyzed. Not only that, but his entire momentum is stunted. He floats in mid air, bound by some unseen force. Frozen. Frozen in time yet again.
Raum's hand is open, his arm outstretched. Then, gripping it together into a fist, he pulls back, and Duke flies towards him, as if pulled by a tight, invisible rope. As soon as Duke is in range, Raum clubs him with all of his might downward.
Duke hits the roof. He breaks through the roof. He falls to the next story. And the next. And the next. Every level of the thirty-three story hotel knows Duke for a brief moment as he plunges through.
Two new light portals appear by Raum. One to his left by his feet. The other to his right by his head. The lights flash quickly. As soon as they are perceived, they are no more. Kevin comes out on one knee with his other leg outstretched. Huifang comes out jumping in mid-air.
In a perfect world, Kevin would sweep the devil off his feet as Huifang high kicks him on his way down. But Raum's reflexes are too quick, and his mastery over time is too great. Even though their attacks take less than half of a quarter of second to transpire, they might as well be minutes.
Raum grabs Huifang's leg out of the air and slams her on top of Kevin before they even realize what's happening. Then, raising both his hands up, Raum causes the blackened sky to open, like a beast crying out in the face of war. At his command, Raum swings his arms down, just as a tempest of black and violet flames rains down upon them. Everything is engulfed. The entire hotel. The entire street. It all burns. The hotel can't withstand the heavy assault. It crumbles under the pressure. Each floor falling under the one before.
Flashes of white light appear and disappear along each floor before the floor crumbles. The hotel is full of people. The hotel was full of people. Seconds within seconds. Moments within moments. The absence of time bears no effect on the passage of the light. The light covers them. The light takes them. And it doesn't stop with the hotel. The bystanders frozen in the surrounding streets are taken as well. The light takes them all. And when there are no more left to take, Duke emerges.
“You think you can save them?” Raum shouts. Another fire storm falls from the sky, accelerating the hotel's collapse. “They chose this! This is the world they've created! This is the world they've allowed to exist! Now we're taking it! I'm taking it!”
All that's left of the former monument is ashes, debris, and rubble.
But the people are safe. All have been evacuated. Transported miles away.
Raum stands over the rubble, overlooking the destruction he has created. Three white lights shine in front of him. The Mystics remain. The Mystics remain.
The image of the sky tears and fractures. Raum's entire being ignites in black fires. A crow caws, and all of time explosively resumes. All the demons—capcauns, balaurs, and zmei—pour out from any dimensional crack that should and should not be. They number in the hundreds. They number in the thousands. They are legion.
The sky finally gives out. Pieces of it fall towards the ground and shatter like glass. In its place, a vortex of shadows. Shadows and bright, glowing, red eyes. A crow squawks, and all of Hell falls towards Earth.
Faster than thought. As fast as light. Faster than possible. Huifang meets Raum head on, starting with a straight kick to the jaw. Then a fury of jabs, crosses, knee strikes, and elbow thrusts follow. Raum blocks and retaliates in kind. Each parried limb is met with forceful strike of his own. Electrical sparks fly as their fists connect.
Duke's swords, along with every piece of stray metal scrap in the area, engage the demons raining in from above. They continue to eviscerate each monstrosity in their path.
Kevin takes out as many demons as he can on the ground. Each blast his rifles fire cuts through at least a hundred. He fires at the zmei in the sky. He fires at the capcauns towering over land. They all fall.
Huifang breaks through Raum's guard with a forward elbow thrust to the forhead. Raum takes two steps back and stumbles for a moment as he holds his head. Huifang steps in and follows up with a sharp, straight knee to the abdomen.
The attack pushes Raum's back to the last standing remnants of a wall. Huifang doesn't let up. Using both arms, she grabs a hold of Raum's head, placing him in a clinch. Eight strikes. Eight knee strikes to the ribs. Eight loud battle cries. And it ends with one final teep kick to the face. There is a cracking sound that echoes on impact. The force behind the teep is immense. Raum's head crashes through what's left of the wall.
If Raum were a mortal man, that would be the end of it. Every strike Huifang landed was enough to mangle even the strongest of warriors. Each attack was magically energized. There shouldn't be anything left after the assault. And there isn't, save for five flying crows, Raum's body is no more.
But the crows remain.
The crows take flight. Huifang shouts out. She commands the earth to reach out and smash into the flying carrions. They squawk, mocking her attempt, as they fly blissfully free. They avoid the incoming fire of Kevin's rifle. They dodge Duke's sharp, airborne blades. They come together in the sky, and out of shadows, through the shadows, about the shadows, they merge.
Raum, the man, floats overhead. All former battle scars are healed. There is no blood. There are no bruises. Not even his clothes are torn. Overlooking his kingdom of wreckage, he sees every man, woman, and child in the city run for their lives. He relishes in the thought of owning all this. Tearing all this down. And reforming it in his image. He delightfully looks forward to the moment when he can expand his influence beyond Daci, beyond Rumaucia, and beyond the world. It would take him seconds—mere moments—to do so. All he needs to do is rid himself of these Mystics, and he'll have everything he desires.
And more.
“Kev!” Duke calls out. He manipulates all the steel in the area to form a ball, a large ball, the size of a car. Dense enough to sink air carriers. “How're we doin'?” The ball lunges towards Raum like it was fired from a cannon. Raum floats motionless, awaiting the incoming attack with a smile.
“You can't rush this, man!” Kevin looks down at his handheld device. Still there are demons charging towards him. He does all he can to evade, avoid, and blast them before they make their way towards him. There are seven distinct dots of lights flashing on the holographic projection screen. Four of the lights are green. The other three are red. “Gimme a sec! Dang.” He shoots away another wave of demons.
Raum doesn't move an inch, yet on impact, the metal cannon ball is split in two. It bursts into a blaze of black flames.
“Oh please!” Huifang shouts out. The earth opens up and swallows a horde of demons. “Take all day!” Beneath her, she causes the earth to rise, carrying her towards the sky.
“Please don't take all day!” Duke shouts out as he leaps upwards.
The fifth and sixth dot on Kevin's screen turns green. He runs along the street shooting more capcauns down.
Huifang leaps from her earthmade platform towards Raum. Like lightning, she strikes him with a mighty punch, and like thunder, the shockwave bursts out on impact. The wave tears through all of the surrounding demons. Raum punches back, moving just as swiftly. His strike is just as deadly. As it connects with Huifang's cheek, another boisterous, thundering sound echoes throughout the area.
Duke appears behind the devil and punches at him as well. Raum turns to block. Yet another shockwave. Just as Raum attempts to counterattack, Huifang lands a solid kick to his ribs. And so the battle continues. The two Mystics against the lone devil. In mid-air. In mid-flight. Their attacks are supersonic. Every punch, every kick, and every block breaks the sound barrier. Still the Mystics remain. Still the devil remains.
The final dot on the screen turns green.
Duke throws another punch. Raum grabs the incoming arm and strikes him in the armpit and on the hip. “When will you nuisances die?” Raum questions in frustration. He swings Duke into Huifang, sending them both towards the ground.
“It's ready!” Kevin calls out.
Miles overhead, just a few feet shy of the lower most layer of the atmosphere, seven bright beacons of light shine out. From the light emerges seven very large satellites, and on the tips of those satellites are cannon barrels. You see, Kevin is a genius by birth. In his spare time, he has always taken a liking towards machines. When he was first introduced to the world of magic, his first thought was to find a way to infuse it with the technological advances of man. And what better way to defend the planet from denizens of the beyond than with a series of satellite cannons?
Kevin's handheld device now works as a targeting system. The holographic screen functions as a scope. “Locked on.” Raum lies right within the crosshairs. “And fire.”
Seven powerful lasers shoot down from the sky. Each one pierces straight through the flying devil in the sky. Pieces of his body dissipate. There is no physical impact, for the beams aren't entirely physical. These seven lasers are of the spirit. They strike the spirit. They dismantle the spirit. Raum tries to escape, but finds himself unable to. It takes all of his mental facilities to focus on holding himself together. He tries to stop time, but can't concentrate long enough to do so. He tries to split off as the crows he was before, but save for a few stray, black feathers, his body won't change.
Raum is trapped and dying. It's only a matter of time. The few remaining demons in his legion pause as they watch their Hell Lord rendered helpless under the assault. In a desperate attempt to overpower the attack, Raum draws on their life energy. All of his remaining legion dissipate into a black smoke. Finally, there are no legion to draw on. Still Raum is trapped and dying.
The devil cries out. There are no words uttered or spoken. It is a loud, aching, rage-induced holler. The devil explodes. His essence bursts out in every direction. The whole town feels it. The whole country feels it. The whole world. His dismantled spirit strikes every corner of this reality and beyond. The devil is dead. The devil is dead.
