50 The Final Conflic

The massive army of undead all continued to rapidly collapse into dust around the remaining forces of the Cult of Ghestro and their allies. The screeches and cries of the corpses cried out, like a vibrant hissing reverberating through the cold wind of the twilight air. There was panic and desolation emerging as they all had realized their chances of survival were exponentially declining. The massive skeleton on the field let out an ear shattering sound as it's massive bones crashed into the ground, as it promptly blew up into ashes.

"Execute the remaining forces! They will not survive much longer without their Queen or undead horde!" Aoba commanded, still within the skies, with his blade in tow.

Fleetingly, the Templar realized the circumstances, charging posthaste for the remaining forces. Many fiends and monsters were quickly targeted, being torn apart without much effort to fight back. At this point all the weaker units and monsters were barely able to stand their crowd against the clashing Templar Legion. There was barely twenty-five able fighters within the combined efforts of Nye and the remainder of their allies, against a throng of six thousand soldiers in the Templar divisions, not counting the small brigade of Generals, as well as their Grand Master. Without Koron and the horde, the odds were decisively against them.

The chaos had resumed, and Jackyn was not able to remain still for long. Still with Nyghtmare in his arms, Jackyn urgently fled for safety as the Templar were nearly upon them. Glancing back to gauge his foes, Jackyn made a swift error in his footing, resulting in both him and his passenger slipping to tumble down a muddy slope. He instinctively shielded her and held Nye close as they rolled down this steep hill, crashing at the bottom, where more Templar were proceeding to engage.

"Dammit!" Jackyn swore, struggling to get his balance back, so he could stand up.

"We have no choice, Jack. We must fight." Nye said, all though scrapped and bruised, pulled herself from his grasp to place her feet upon the ground. An intense gaze was rising from her eyes, and she warily summoned her Wraith-edge.

"I'm not going to argue, so just stay close." He replied, baring his fangs, getting back to back with her as the Templar knights began to converge around them from all directions.

Foot soldiers rushed in with their melee weapons, while mounted foes kept distance as they fired rounds of arrows upon the couple. Nye formed her Wraith-edge slashing back as blades swung in to clash with her. Jackyn kicked back units that got too close, slashing open their throats, but one managed to get near point blank. He quickly caught the attack, with his knife intersecting the axe, retaliating with his other hand to gouge out the man's eyes. Reeling back, the templar gushed out blood as his back crashed into the ground among the others. Jackyn reacted quick, gesturing his hand around to take control of the blood and cast it back at the surrounding forces. Nye hurled her sword around, knocking back several of the converging Templar as she kept close to Jackyn. Taking her left hand from the hilt of her blade, Nye channeled her aura, thrusting out her power as the faces inside the energy screeched and dove into the nearing soldiers, like savage monsters digging into their prey.

However, just as the flood of warriors seemed to decrease, Trigger came into view in what seemed to be a blind rage. Her target was Jackyn, but she let her steam gun do the talking for her. It fired many rounds upon him and Nyghtmare, as she grasped to her sword in her other palm. More templar began to arrive, but just as the dense swarm thickened, a massive claw whirled around, bashing many backwards. Adam had appeared, joining them in combat.

"Adam, your timing is impeccable." Nye said, looking to the green colored fiend briefly, as she kept her weapon at ready.

"Are you both alright?" He asked, his scarf mouth speaking as his claw grasped onto the head of a Templar that was about to strike, crushing his skull in.

"Aye." Nye nodded.

Jackyn nodded as well, but he had nothing to add, before saying, "Keep close to her." Which cued Nye to look to him, fully aware what he was about to do, but not quite in approval of it.

With this opening, Jackyn left Nye with Adam, and charged for the ginger haired woman firing away at him. He blew through incoming forces, as blood circled around him. ichor magic spiraled at his feet shoving him into the air as it cut around the nearby Templar with blades forming from the tornado of it. His descent was aimed for Trigger, as he flipped in the air to speed slash downward. Dust and debris blew up into the air as Jackyn found his daggers locked with Trigger's blade.

"I'm going to make sure you don't leave this battlefield!" Trigger growled, angrily.

Jackyn scoffed, having nothing to say, as he forced her backwards violently, with a kick to her abdomen. She went flying into the ground, picking up dirt into the air as she struck into the soil. Nye and Adam could be vaguely seen fighting back other templar foot soldiers that hurried in, but they were too far off to do anything to get close to Jackyn now. Scrambling, Trigger reached for her gun as Jackyn came zig-zagging her direction. She fired off several shots, narrowly missing her mark as they connected with the ground some distance behind this shadowy blur that charged her way. She would have to predict his movement pattern if she was going to have any luck shooting him. Trigger shifting her aim, firing as the Angel of Death was thinning the gap between them. The bullet went flying his way, rapidly connecting as it blasted through his left leg, but to her shock it seemed to have no effect on his movement speed, nor was there any sign of blood. She hadn't predicted his left leg was prosthetic, and merely assumed he wasn't able to feel any sort of pain.

"What the HECK!?" She frantically gasped, shuffling backwards in panic as he came within range of her. She barely had any time to rise to her feet to urgently place more distance from him. However, a wave of blood suddenly rose from the ground around him, crashing into her as it made it's descent into the ground. "AAaaaaAAaaaahhhhhhH!!!" She cried out, being slammed back into the ground covered in the blood that struck her body.

She was slipping in the puddle of blood, on her hands and knees, but hands of ichor magic began to surface, grabbing to her and forcing her back to the ground. By this point she was looking her fear in the face, but the bravery and the ferocity was no longer there. Instead, her expression was filled with terror, while tears began escaping her eyes. Up until this point she was masking how scared she was, and being caught in this circumstance was bringing it out of her.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" She cried out, lopping the blood hands away with her sword, as she stumbled backwards to her rear, only to have more form to pin her legs down.

Any Templar that attempted to intervene, were rapidly struck back by further blood magic, that only grew with every body that fell. Spikes of blood shot up from the ground, piercing through many of the Templar, creating almost a barrier of corpses around them.

"Are you done playing hunter now!?" Jackyn hissed, grasping to his knives as he roughly stepped his organic foot onto her leg, as a dark aura floated around them, with floating droplets of blood.

There was a soft crunching sound heard in the tense atmosphere, but it was quickly covered up as Trigger cried out loudly.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!! I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANY MORE!!!" She screamed in pain, with her tears flying into the air from her cheeks. "No amount of Zircon is WORTH ANY OF THIS!" She pulled away, as her body trembled violently, as tears continued to stream from her eyes. She hurried to her feet, distancing herself with Jackyn as he stared coldly at her, anticipating her next move. Trigger didn't hesitate, as she quickly drew to her hand rifle. "I hunt down all you WRETCHED THINGS, and yet, I'm STILL living in FEAR ON A DAILY BASIS!? I've already lost EVERYONE I ever cared about to DEMONS LIKE YOU! I DON'T WANT TO BE AFRAID ANYMORE!!!" She screamed, holding her gun at him, it visibly quivering as it aimed at Jackyn.

However, it shifted position, and placed under her chin, angled upward. Still trembling, she placed her finger onto the trigger of her gun, pausing through shallow breath, and squeezed it. Trigger's body collapsed to the ground, with her brains blown out the back of her head. It was startling, even for Jackyn to see someone take their own life this way, but his attention swiftly shifted back to Nye and Adam. He made his way back, leaping over corpses, preparing to join the struggle with them against the engulfing Templar soldiers.

Elsewhere on the battlefield, Lyra was engaging Miles and Minerva in combat. Her ice magic was wildly dancing around, freezing the majority of the vicinity around them, into a mini tundra. Miles managed to force Minerva onto Ember, getting the giant bird to fly into the sky, as he rolled out of the incoming blast range of ice shattering a nearby tree. Minerva held on as the Phoenix flew high above them, circling so she could draw to her bow and fire arrows at Lyra and the nearby Templar knights with her. Miles ducked behind a massive bolder, pulling his katana from it's sheath. He managed to grip it fine despite the missing digits of his hand. Ice suddenly towered up from below Lyra, hoisting herself high into the air to get full range of her surroundings. Ice magic blew with the air as she targeted the airborne feline, but Miles was quick to act. He rushed for the ice pillar, scaling up with with help from his claws with get behind the General, kicking her roughly into the back to throw her from the ice pillar. He slipped a bit in the process, standing on the ice, but it became more intense as the ice shattered to bring him down to her level.

A spinning wave of ice appears, slashing around Miles as he's tossed into the air. Lyra follows up with another spell, smashing around the feline as she was juggling him with her ice mana. Minerva notices this as she's in the sky, quickly drawing to her bow to fire an endless barrage of arrows to Lyra. Lyra grins, tapping into strange elemental energy of her ice magic that began to engulf around her. The arrows began to freeze midair, blasting to the ground like hail. Miles had already been knocked back to the ground, pulling himself up and grabbing his sword.

"Crap." He muttered, squinting briefly as his attention returned to his opponent, who was casting ice spells into the air, nearly hitting Ember and Minerva now. Miles went to rush Lyra, but was swiftly thrown back, as her ice shards barraged into him briskly.

As Miles tumbled, rolling momentarily in the dirt he noticed from his sideways gaze, hooves charging their way. As his attention shifted a bit, he realized that that Calvary had arrived, jousting through the dense crowd of Templar.

"HARK! I AM SALLY NIGHT! GALLANT WARRIOR OF THE FREY AND DEFENDER OF MINE ALLIES! HAVE AT THEE 'PIOUS' SWINE! THOU ART VILLAINS!" Sally exclaimed, knocking back Templar that obstructed her path with great ease of her mighty lance. "THOU SHALL NAY IMPEDE DOUTH MARE, I DARESAY!"

"You bludgers makes this too easy! Take a squizz at this, mate!" Max shouted, galloping through them, with his spade swinging the dismounting the Templar on horseback with powerful gusto.

As the wall of soldiers was cast away, the centaur duo immediately noticed Miles and Minerva's situation. "What ho?" Sally muttered.

"Well, I'll be gobsmacked. Those two cats sure stand out like dog's balls against that tall poppy." Max added as he trotted over, tapping his shovel to his shoulder. "With them bogged up, someone ought to make her come a guster." Max kicked up some dirt with his front right hoof, before charging into combat.

"A feasible notion indeed, mine love! HUZAH!" Sally rallied, following suit.

Max's shovel flies Lyra's direction, with Lyra elegantly avoiding it, letting the shovel smash into the ground. As it struck, the spade created a shock wave, kicking up dirt and debris, drawing Lyra's attention more.

"About time someone showed up." Miles mentioned, in a wincing tone.

Minerva took notice of the allied forces coming to their aid, letting off some shots of her bow, which fly, hitting Lyra in his shoulder; however, some of the others froze over like before the animosity of the tundra caused them to crystallize and shatter on impact. Lyra grunted in annoyance, as she noticed Max circling around to grab his spade, before charging in her direction once again. She then forms a whip of ice, swinging it across the ground with haste. As Max comes into range, it thrashes at him, wrapping around his hooves, and tripping him into the ground. Max quickly pushes himself up, he grips more tightly to his shovel, to swing it at Lyra, as Sally charges their direction posthaste. She rams her lance into Lyra, who then is hit into Miles's sword, as he sprung up from his hiding spot. Max hurried up, smashes Lyra in the back with his shovel. There was no opening for the ice mage to react, and is shot through by couple of spare arrows from Minerva.

The ice magic was began to whirlwind out of control, freezing over the environment, and turning the plants and nature into crystallized ice formations. Lyra didn't seem to be able to control how dense this power was becoming, with the ice fragments crystallizing expeditiously around her. The energy was becoming so unstable and intense, that the actual objects frozen in ice began to be pulled to Lyra like a magnet, impaling through her. Max urgently pulled Sally out of the line of fire as an entire tree that was frozen into ice was violently pulled from the ground and casted into Lyra. The Viceroy was screaming as the power continued to become intensely more uncontrollable, and more massive icicles came thrusting her way. Miles quickly leapt from the range, but a tree came whirling his way uncontrollably. Flames erupted in front of him as he ducked, melting the ice as Minerva swooped in on Ember to pull the other feline onto the bird's back.

"Miles, are you hurt?" Minerva asked, placing the smaller feline in front of her, as she guided the phoenix.

"I've handled worse. Let's lend some support to those two." He jested, hanging on as Ember circled around in the sky.

"Right, take control of your bird, I'll handle the long range attacks." Minerva smirked, holding to her bow.

"You got it." Miles replied, in a playful tone, as he guided Ember's flight path.

As both parties observed at a distance, Lyra began becoming so concealed in ice that she was unable to be seen. Soon the remainder of the surrounding frost and ice formations were sucked in, causing the entirety of the tundra to shatter into fragments of hail and snow. Left in it's wake, was the corpse of Lyra, with several icy impaled portions of her body, that rested in her own frozen blood, with frost coating the thin layer of skin that was barely visible now. There was no time to waste however, as more Templar knights and soldiers began to converge of their location. Ember swooped in, as Minerva blasted out more arrows to support the centaur duo and they were quickly becoming surrounded.

At another point of the conflict, Phish was evading strikes from Eclipse, in a distressed manner. She could barely pry her wary eyes away from Dimitri's smoldering remains. She realized the situation was far to traumatic for her to handle, and she was clearly outmatched as she took notice of Ashewyn proceeding to join Eclipse against Phish. Ashewyn's sword came for Phish, forcing her to tuck and roll to evade the slash of the blade. Coming from the other side, Eclipse jabbed her electrically charged waveblades for the Lupis. Phish hastily slashes them back, frantically, before knocking Eclipse backwards and proceeding to flee from the conflict. She picked up speed, as she ran like a feral animal through the clusters of Knights quickly taking her place against the duo.

However, the path she had chosen was quickly leading into more foes. Not far ahead of her was the Naga, Kobra, with the Lugooz amazon warriors not far off from him. Morrigan, her sister Seiko and for the leashed, Ronan, who were working together to fight back mounted Templar and foot soldiers engaging them. As she was coming into rage of the naga, she quickly took notice of a dirt covered child naga, that couldn't be older than three, coiled close by the adult's tail. Kobra seemed to have taken a lot of damage already from the arduous conflict, clearly protecting the child.

"Daddy..." The child whimpered, holding close to his tail as Kobra protected him. "I'm scared..." the child went on.

"I got you, Yvenne." Kobra said, "Just hang on, we'll get through this." He tried to tell the child, as he remained on the defensive, rather than fighting back.

It may have not been clear to the Lupis, but the child had to have been within the city below and managed to survive the cave in, which caused his father to take that blow earlier from the engaging Templar forces.

"I want mommy..." The child, named Yvenne, sniffled.

Kobra hesitated his response, as he evaded an incoming sword. "Your mommy... She... You were the only one who made it out of Wynorex after the cave in... I don't know if she or your siblings are alive." Kobra struggled to say, knowing the kid was going to cry, but he was too preoccupied with the Templar to make up a proper excuse to hold the boy over.

Something about seeing this child with the Naga made Phish's blood boil, she would never be able to have that now, with the man she loved now dead. Her traumatized gaze shifted into almost a sadistic expression of contemplated revenge. She held no hesitation in this choice, the Lupis sped forward with the young snake in her sight. Her claws outstretched as to leapt into the air, pouncing for the tail of the adult Naga, where the child was held. Kobra noticed the movement from the corner of his eye, swiftly placing the child behind him, as he rose his torso up into the air, in attempt to intimidate Phish and the surrounding enemies.

Many Templar fell backwards, fearfully expecting the snake to strike. Phish however, was not even startled, as she dove at him. Slashing savagely with her claws, she managed to lacerate one of Kobra's ears from his head, before gravity brought her pawed feet back to the ground to kick back the now bleeding Naga. "You BITCH!" Kobra snapped, as he held the side of his head where his ear was removed.

The child was terrified, hanging on as his father fall collided into a row of Templar with their shields up. The impact caused the child to fly from his father's tail, crashing into the ground with no shelter or protection. Now crying, Yvenne was vulnerable to the incoming Lupis. Kobra spat out venom at her, hitting Phish's tail, as he whiled his body around to knock back the templar around him.

"ARRGH!" Phish hissed, as her tail sizzled from the burning venom. "That tears it...!" She growled angrily, as bone began to become exposed from under the burning flesh of her furry tail.

The amazonian felines had seen what just went down, with the blue haired female, Seiko, making her way over with graceful, yet urgent leaps. Kobra slithered from the fallen Templar infantry soldiers, lashing his tail into a mounted knight to unhorse the man. He rose up again, coming for Phish, who swiftly back-flipped away as his tail came hammering down where she previously stood. Quickly, he swept around to keep his eyes on the circling Lupis, however before he could make his next move, a large sword hurled into the air before vertically chopping down into his tail, severing off more than half of his coil. The sobbing child watched as his father crashed into the ground with his snake-like innards escaping the fresh opening where his tail end used to be. Both halves of Kobra's body continued to violently wriggle around, but didn't seem to cease despite the naga not seeming to have consciousness with his open eyes that trailed with blood.

"MAKE IT STOP!" A disturbed Templar shouted, finally getting another to impail the Naga's head with a sword, to put a stop to the thrusting movement entirety.

"Pfft, amateurs." Phish boredly scoffed at them as she pushed through the ones that got in her way. Creeping up to the child, she wrapped her three digited paw around his throat. Phish whisked him into the air, peering at him more face to face, with a disgruntled expression. "Life's just not fair kid... now we've both lost someone we love. Thing is, I'm not through with you yet." She clenched tighter.

Rapid footsteps approached, bounding into the air as Seiko tackled Phish backwards as she snatched the child from the Lupis. The two of them fell to the ground, but the little Naga was protected in the arms of the amazonian feline.

"Are you alright?" She mewed softly.

"Uh... Uh-huh..." The child sheepishly nodded with tear filled eyes.

"The HELL is your PROBLEM, leashed!?" Phish flipped upwards to her feet, to leer at the Lagooz.

Seiko rose to her feet, holding the child, as her expression sharpened. "I think you have the wrong idea, I have no master. How dare you attack this innocent child!" She said, in what seemed to be a protective motherly tone.

"Seiko." Ronan came running up behind her, clasping to his blade.

"Sis!" Morrigan called out as well, not far behind Ronan as she struck back an approaching Templar with her sword.

"Feral leashed, eh? You're all gonna pay!!!" Phish hissed, charging them to slash at Seiko.

Ronan quickly obstructed her path, counter-attacking with his dagger. "Get the kid out of her Seiko! Morrigan, go with her! Protect them!" She instructed.

"Tsk! Fine! Come on sis, let's retreat." Morrigan nodded.

"Be safe, Ronan." Seiko said, before she begrudgingly followed her sister, with the snake child in her arms as they fled.

Ronan focused of Phish, who came barreling his way, violently thrashing her claws his direction, to tear through his clothes. His arms and torso were quickly being covered in bleeding scars and forcefully flung back into the dirt, letting the debris pick up around as many of the nearby Templar had stepped out of Phish's way, while others pursued the fleeing lady-cats.

Ronan warily attempted to get up, but a pawed foot slammed down hard, to pin his hand that held the dagger to the ground. "Not today." She said, coldly.

"Well, what do we have ourselves here?" A cocky, yet posh toned fiend appeared, stepping over piles of dead Templar, with a massive chain changing around his shoulder, and loosely held in his gloved hands. He had freckled green hued skin, with four eyes, along with large horns and a thick reptilian like tail, that spiked at the end. His attire was mostly black, with darker hues and bandages visibly exposed from under his jacket. His blond hair was slicked back in almost a greaser type fashion, with pointed ears and shark-like fangs. His red eyes narrowed, with a grin as he lightly cracked his neck to the side, in what seemed to be a smug manner. "So. Which one of you kitties are with Ghestro?"

"What do you know, a fiend shows up too... I'm REALLY growing tired of this." Phish said in a sarcastic tone, as she growled.

"Lovely answer, pussy-cat." The fiend raised his head up as he chuckled, clasping to his chain upwards while tugging it with both hands in a threatening manner. "Here's the deal. Take your paws off the cat-boy, and maybe I'll only mess you up a little bit."

"Screw you, YOU FOUR EYED FREAK!" Phish hissed, kicking Ronan to the side as she spun up into the air, and came thrashing down at this fiend.

"I got a name, ya'know. It's Iiblis!" The fiend exposed his sharp jaws, as he thrusted the chain whip around, to bash right into Phish, causing her to be thrusted out of the air, and crash vigorously into the surrounding Templar forces. Holding the end of the chain in one hand, he raised his free hand, with a finger-gun type manner to aim at Phish. Black and glowing purple aura emanated from the tip, spiraling back around his arm, and down his wrist to his elbow with ferocity. "Can't say I didn't warn you!" He exclaimed, firing off the energy shot that blasting through phish's gut.

The surrounding Templar began to frightfully back up, as Iiblis hopped off the mound of bodies, and casually made his way through the terror stricken eyes over to where Phish laid, spinning his chain around to his side like a lasso. As he did this, Iiblis whistled a subtle, but menacing tune. Coming up to where Phish laid, he could hear her shallow breaths as she struggled to not choke on her own blood. Gingerly stepping around her, Iiblis forced her to stand, with a hand under her arm.

"Fury knows no wrath, like that of a scorned woman." Iiblis said, with her back forced against his abdomen, as the fiend reached his hand into her open wound, to pull out her large intestine. She screeched, trying to break free as he held her tighter. "Whatever trouble has befallen you to act so ferociously, let it go." He said, before tightly wrapping the intestines around her neck, and strangulating her with her own internal organs. She struggled, coughing up more blood before her wind pipe collapsed, followed by her flailing body falling motionless.

In the distance, Zyron was fighting along side Nikolai, and his pregnant girlfriend, Solitaire. The templar among them was so dense they were practically wrapped in a circle defending one another. There was another one of Koron's people working with them, but before too much combat occurred, the man was quickly impaled by a lance and hoisted into the air before being flung from them to decompose somewhere out of reach, within the swarming cluster of knights. They weren't about to give up, continuing this battle as carefully as they could.

In another part of the ever constant conflict of the waging war zone, the towering nightmare fuel combined form of the twin fiends was within hot pursuit of mounted Templar General, Siegfried. His armored stallion galloped urgently through the battalion of Templar infantry men, as the General urged them to move. "Break formation, Soldiers! Make haste!" He shouted, as his steed charged through in panic as the massive fusion beast stampeded not too far in the distance behind him. "Prepare the ballista!!" Siegfried commanded, as he reached the Templar manning the massive siege weapon, before reaching the catapult. "Load the catapult!" He ordered, as he circled around to the various medieval styled mortars stationed as protection to the larger siege weapons. "Prepare to fire!!"

Igniting the mortars, bombs were thrusted through the air to crash into the fusion fiend. It let out a blood curdling screech, as eyes on it's body began to bleed. However, it wasn't ready to go down, and took the heavy influx of bombs detonating as they struck the top of the beast. Roaring, the nightmare fuel monster increased it's speed, to narrowly avoid a boulder that came flying at it from the catapult. The ballista loaded it's arrows, firing massive amount of shots into the fiend, but despite how sixty percent hit target, the thing was still rapidly crawling their way, through gargling roars and screeches escaping it's tentacle covered mouth. The hybrid fiend was savagely ramming it's way through the Templar forces, grabbing and ripping many apart, while several heads were eaten in the process by the beast. Siegfried was rallying the Templar forces, but quickly realized the siege weapons were not working as he had planned they would.

"The ballista is not even slowing it down?" Siegfried muttered, before flicking the reigns of his mount with a swift "Yah!" As he decided to take the beast head on, as his duty to the crown.

Charging in bound, he pulls to his broad sword, swinging it as he drew close. The sharp blade sliced off one of the extra arms with ease, just as Siegfried nearly got taken out by the spiked tail hammering down in his path. Siegfried continued to have his stallion gallop around the massive fiend, preparing to close in on it once again. However, in the process his mount was rammed into by the beast, and took heavy damage. As the horse is knocked back violently, it's rider, Siegfried, is flung off and thrown to the ground. This drew in the hybrid monster, but before the allied Templar could reach him, Siegfried was swallowed whole by the beast. Moments passed as the infantry are in panic and but a Lupis Templar appeared from the war zone to lead the others, who were now preparing to engage.

Suddenly, the top of the beast is torn through by the blade of a sword, followed by a slime covered Siegfried tearing his way out. The hybrid fiend released a blood curdling screech, as it flailed from the sudden exposure to it's internal organs. Siegfried seemed disgruntled by this, panting as he took in air. Seconds passed, as the surrounding Templar prepared to mount another assault, when the General took his sword, and thrusted it into the skull of the beast, to turn it to dust. In the faint shifting of the ashes peeling from it's corpse, their was a moment when the twins could be seen in their separate forms, before they too vanished into the air with the remaining debris, and cheering of Templar.

Across the battlefield, the Terra brothers, Heath and Rocky were teaming up in the air to take out Pegasus knights, and dragon riders. Heath dove in, with his massive bastard sword, dismounting the riders by force. Rocky wasn't far behind him, using his steam pistols to fire shots from the distance. A red haired elf, that appeared to be Jayson, emerged from the Templar riders, leaping from seemingly no where, to catch Heath off-guard upon undercutting him with his blades.

"Jayson? How in Desdemuna?!" Heath gawked, being plunged from the sky into the dirt, radically.

Rocky turned his attention to where Heath fell, not expecting to see the Armored Assassin take such a fall. "The hell was that? Heath!" He called, shooting some bullets through some Templar in pursuit of his brother.

Before he knew it, Jayson instantaneously swooped through the hordes of Templar to get behind Rocky, with blades drawn to the dragon's neck. "Well, look what we have here, Rocky right?"

Rocky's ear twitched, as his eyes panned behind him with a stern gaze. He could barely make out the elf behind him, but more curiously what caught his interest was the wings from Jayson's back. "You're supposed to be dead!" Rocky scoffed, thrashing his tail into the elf, to fling him into the ground not far from Heath.

Heath had already rose to his feet, repositioning his massive sword as his eyes focused over to Jayson who was just in process of stand to his feet. Rocky flew in closer, guns aimed to the elf. This caused Jayson to smirk, "Do you really want to shoot me?" He asked, before transforming into Talis. "Why can't you just love me?"

Both of the Terra seemed taken back by this, they didn't expect to encounter a shapeshifter on the battlefield. They however were not fooled by this imposter.

"That was quite an entrance, but it's obvious you're not Jayson." Heath grunted.

"Nor Talis for that matter! So, who the hell are you?" Rocky growled, adding to Heath's comment.

"Oh, how rude. A man should never expect a lady to reveal herself when she is not yet ready to do so. I haven't even used my powers on you yet." She scoffed, getting disgruntled looks from both of the brothers who were preparing to attack. "Don't look at me like that, it's so unbecoming of you both." Imposter Talis snorted, as she flew up into the air to use her tail to ram Rocky into his brother, knocking both back into the dirt. She hovered there, laughing. "Kee hee hee!" She cackled, diving down at the male dragons, to spiral through the air and shoot herself right through them, before gracefully landing at a distance. "The impious will fall to Grand Master Aoba, for he is the chosen one." She said, revealing her true form to them, the succubus, Horrifica. "Treasonous traitors, such as yourselves, have no business interfering with my master's plans. No. Rather, I shall force you to bend the knee to him ONCE AGAIN!" Horrifica exclaimed, lifting her eye-path, to use her hidden eye's hypnotic powers, in attempt to brainwash them.

Before either could make another move, their bodies froze with their irises glazed over as if they were in a trance.

This pleased the succubus, "Now you're mine! Kee hee hee!!" She gleefully cackled.

Her content in this was soon broken, as a samurai sword swung from seemingly no where, to hack her body in half. Mid air, the succubus horizontally split in twain, with her enraged eyes reeling to focus on her attacker. Behind her stood Nobou, with Talis not far behind.

"You fool." Were the words that left Horrifica's succulent lips, as her body suddenly shifted back together, before she could even hit the ground. She hovered in the air with her wings, leering to the two new Terra before her. "Did you really think that would work on ME?" She scoffed, holding to her bosom. "Have you not once ever encountered a succubus before, 'love'?" She asked in a mocking manner. "You can't kill me, without striking my heart, but there is NO WAY you will EVER make such an accomplishment! Unlike other succubus, I can move it to ANYWHERE in my body!" Horrifica scoffed, making the mind controlled Rocky and Heath turn to face Nobou and Talis with her charm.

"Are you done talking yet?" Nobou asked, gripping to his swords.

This motion and tone seemed to intrigue Horrifica. "I can tell my powers won't phase you, but that does not mean I am out of alternative methods... There is something you want, in which you can no longer have. Rather. Someone?" Her lips curled as her form shifted, taking the physical appearance of Tyr. "Am I right?" She asked, in a menacing tone, through the face of Nobou's recently departed lover.

This had Nobou shaken, he could not believe his eyes at this sight. "T-Tyr?..." He barely mouthed.

Horrifica kept the form, raising her hands up, as if to call Nobou closer, with a subtly deceitful smile forming. "Nobou, she's trying to manipulate you! Don't fall for her trick!" Talis pleaded, seeming to know Horrifica all too well.

The imposter Tyr began to engage with Nobou, ignoring Talis as 'he' drew closer to the smaller man. "Don't listen to that woman, she's trying to force us apart." Tyr said, as he ran his fingers along Nobou's cheek.

Nobou stared, unable to fathom how this could be possible. He KNEW what she was, so how was he falling for this?! An undertone of frustration began to cross his face. He found himself being drawn in, and not by some hypnotic trance. It was as if part of him was truly believing what he was seeing in front of him, despite knowing deep down that this was not truly Tyr before him.

"Nobou!" Talis called, trying to reach for her brother, however Horrifica was not about to allow her to interfere.

A grimore appeared, hovering beside the imposter Tyr as powers of his suddenly began to be replicated. Spirit-fire began to float around them before barraging over to Talis, smashing her back into the dirt as the hypnotized Heath and Rocky began to close in on her. Tyr's attention was now fully on Nobou, as the small dragon continued to be pulled in by this succubus. Step by step, Nobou came closer, unable to break from his path to this illusion before him. Nobou came into the imposter's embrace, not seeing the deceptive grin forming. Talis was struggling from her position, being held back by her friends that were under the succubus' spell. Tyr flexed his claws, preparing to impail the dragon in his grasp, when suddenly the cold steel of Nobou's blade had been struck upwards into the imposter's chest cavity.

Rather than being stunned, the imposter began to laugh, uncontrollably. "KEE HEE HEE HEE HEE HEE HEE!!!!!" Horrifica laughed, taking back her true form as she swung Nobou away with her bat-like wings. "Need I remind you what I had already proclaimed, dragon? You CAN NOT kill me!" She cackled, flapping her wings to pull herself into the air with her grimoire following her.

Nobou was getting back to his feet, clutching tightly to his katanas, as his focus peered to Talis' position and then to Horrifica. "Release my sister and the others." He demanded.

"Let me think." Horrifica mockingly pondered, before quickly saying, "Not likely." She scoffed, channeling magic with her spell book. "Since manipulation will not suffice, then a duel you shall have."

"Why must you fight against your own kind this way, Horrifica?! The Rhyme. Aoba. They are only using you!" Talis suddenly shouted, drawing the eyes of both combatants.

"My kind? You mean the fiends that fight with the Amygdala?" Horrifica made a face of disgust. "You misunderstand, Talis. They side with the race I DESPISE the most, and Aoba, why, he's not as you think him to be. He is a GOD amongst men! He IS the will of the Maker! I will not part from my Master, for Aoba and I are bound as ONE!!"

The succubus flew at them, casting dark magic the spiraled from her finger tips. Nobou intervened, cutting the spells in half to thrust the magic to either side of him as he blocked her path to Talis. "Your fight is with me." He said sternly.

"Nobou, be careful." Talis softly said, concerned for her brother and the child he was carrying.

"Very well, your funeral." Horrifica's lips curled as she softly chortled under her breath.

Twirling her finger around, Horrifica created a dark vortex that spun around like a twister in the path of the dragon samurai. Water pockets formed in the air as Nobou lifted his free hand up, luring the magic around him as he cast it the succubus. The spells clashed, causing both to disperse, with Nobou taking this opening to rush through to Horrifica. He came in close, clashing back and forth with her briefly before hacking off both her arms that came right back to her like her body had done before. This only made her laugh again, as she through Nobou back down with another spell from her book.

Talis was still restrained by her friends that were under Horrifica's thrall, but they did not seem to harm her, as if Horrfica wanted her to see Nobou's suffering. She could do nothing but watch, as Nobou and the succubus continued to fight back and forth, but her worry only increased. Nobou was struggling terribly against this fiend, no matter what he did she just kept snapping back. His hair parted briefly as his unusual eyes focused for her, seeing the succubus take the form of Gaigas this time. As the black dragon dove from the sky with green flames blasting from his mouth to ignite the surrounding nature into a brush fire, Nobou prepared to charge. However, as he shifted his footing, he felt an odd presence beside him, a ghostly aura that was there with the faint shape of Tyr. Along side this spirit, Nobou shifted to engage the incoming fire breather. With water forming around him to dissolve the flames, Nobou raised his katana over his head to bring it down upon the shapeshifter. He felt his sword being guided, like something was telling him where to aim. As it met it's mark, the blade collided with the horns of Horrifca's form of Gaigas.

The blade connected, swiftly taking the horn right from her head, as her form began to fluctuate violently. Horrfica screeched, with her body becoming unable to control the genetic code of her body and resulted in becoming halfway stuck in her transformed state as Gaigas and half her own. As she screamed, her body began to violently shake, taking the surprise of the surrounding Templars as she violently combusted into flames. Her body practically detonated from within, with her limbs flying from her half formed body. She was quickly forming to dust as the remains collapsed to the ground. Her disembodied head rolled to Nobou's feet, weakly looking to him.

"You... and the others will never succeed... Even... Even if Aoba and the Templar fail here... Our Son... He will rise... and complete.... the Maker's plan..." She said, as her head completely evaporated before him.

As she perished, Heath and Rocky found themselves released from Horrifica's thrall, quickly releasing Talis who ran to Nobou to hug him. "You idiot..." She said, practically sobbing from worry.

"We're fine... I promise." He said hugging her back, as he noticed the other two quickly getting to the defensive as the surrounding Templar seemed prepared to close in. "I felt a presence... I think it was Tyr... keeping us safe." He softly said, with on hand holding to his stomach.

"Alright you two, ain't the time for that yet." Rocky spoke up, as he loaded his gun.

"He's right. It's not safe here." Heath added, his focus on the incoming Templar.

Talis released Nobou, to do the same."We can't give up, the children must have a world to go to after this war is done."

"I agree." Nobou nodded, holding to the hilt of his sword, as his jarring eyes looked upon the nearing battalion of Calvary and infantry men.

Meanwhile, across the war-zoned plains, the Templar fighting against Nye's group had managed to force her, Jackyn and Adam further inland of the plains. The infantry men had surrounded their location, placing them at a higher elevation. Ashewyn and Nye's other allies, along with the remaining Ghestro followers, took notice of their situation. Six wings flew through the air not far above their position, as the mighty sword Excalibur was drawn forth. The morning sun rising to glisten along it's bejeweled brand, illuminating the skirts of land in topaz lights, that sparkled keen like frost upon it's hilt.

The Templar ceased attacks, as they withdrew from them, but only to a brief distance as feet landed behind Nye's group. "Your Queen is dead, darlin', and yet here you remain a thorn in my side." The voice of Aoba spoke, drawing the attention of Nye and her companions. Their eyes had turned to face the forced whimsical expression forming on Aoba's obviously dark toned face as he gazed upon them. He was no longer playing some game with them, and despite his perfect composure, it was clear by the way his sword was held , that he was not going to consider ending this on good terms. "Not only does the 'Angel of Death' still live, but it appears many of the traitors yet side with a woman of no social standing." Aoba scoffed, gripping to Excalibur as he eyed his prey.

With Adam at his side, Jackyn placed himself in front of Nye, leering to Aoba as he gripped tightly to his daggers. "You have a death wish after what happened last encounter." Jackyn growled.

"On the contrary, Jacky-boy, your reign of terror meets it's end this day, as does the remainder of this traitorous group of ragtag fools. Mark me, with the Maker as my witness, and Excalibur guiding my pious hand, I will deliver the Maker's will in this dire plight! For I am the one who will not falter in the darkness!" Aoba exclaimed, proudly.

"Pious? Says the man, whose moral compass is broken. You are no virtuous lord who has any divine right. Do you truly believe you to be some 'chosen one', bringing the will of Maker? You and your Templar are nothing more than fanatics, playing the hand of some God!" Nye proclaimed, sternly, her fear absent as she looked upon this eccentric madman.

This caused Aoba's lips to curl as he circled around them, his eyes ever so watchful. "Be this your attempt for witty repartee? I daresay, the advisor to your deceased Queen, was far more commendable. Your words ring hollow, sweet pea. The time for subterfuge is over." Aoba replied, rather calmly to their surprise. "Woman like you truly need to learn their place. You may have withstood my charm when we danced, but I've already defeated your Queen, and now I'll smite down the remainder of you insubordinate, disreputable outcasts in the name of the divine!" He shouted, flying for them with Excalibur shining brightly in the morning light.

Jackyn quickly pulled Nye out of the way of Excalibur's trajectory, as Aoba swooped passed them. Adam engaged pursuit, his arm swinging for Aoba as he crossed his path, before reeling his mouth scarf to lunge at the Rhyme. Aoba parried his attacks to knock Adam back, before he took off into the sky. Everyone on the battlefield who opposed the Templar had already witnessed this, and began their arduous push against the knights to make their way to aid them against Aoba's assault. The Templar infantry and cavaliers began to obstruct their path, engaging them in combat to force them back. With everyone of Nye's allies, the Ghestro followers and the Resistance teaming up in one focused area they began to make a strong strike back against the Templar. There was power in their united force against these knights, with the unified goal of defeating Aoba once and for all.

Aoba dove back around, with Excalibur ready to strike. They split up as Aoba came into range, diving in opposite directions to dodge the strike. Sitting up, they noticed him circling back around. Swooping down at them as they rose up, Aoba swung his sword again. His target was Nye, making his flight proceed in her direction. Nye quickly deflected it with her Wraith-edge as he came at her. Their swords clashed, causing sparks to fly from the collision. Nye struggled to hold back the glimmering blade with dark aura flowing one, the visible restraint was apparent as was her intense gaze. Rapid steps rushed for them, as Jackyn broken between the sword to force Aoba backwards with blood magic violently pulsating around them.

Aoba flew back but caught himself midair, disgusted by the blood speckling his beautiful white feathered wings. His demeanor shifted, as his gaze met Jackyn's. "Perhaps I should be directing my assault upon the Angel of Death. If he dies, as do you, eh darlin'?" Aoba grinned menacingly, with an undertone of anger as his eyes briefly had shifted to Nye, before returning to Jackyn's fierce gaze as he prepared to charge.

Without hesitation, Jackyn raised his palms into the air causing many pools of blood not far from them to elevate into a small army of his bloodbone archers. Arrows blasted through the air, nearly clipping Aoba's wings. Blood magic was hurling around, trying to force the Grand Master out of the sky; Aoba however, dove back around to evade the ichor spells cast at him to engage his crystal upon his waist. Channeling his power, he used the crystal to perform his phylactery magic to blast a beam of light from the sky in Jackyn and Nye's direction. The charge of light crashed into the ground, flinging both of them back roughly in opposite directions. As the light energy cleared, Adam emerged from behind the debris to cast a dark corrupted energy disk attack at Aoba. The disk spun through the air before erupting into a hazardous cloud of dark power biting vigorously into Aoba's holy sword, before being deflected back into the caster. Adam's corrupted arm was hacked off by the magic, before he was flung back into the crowd of Templar facing off with Nye's allies. This left Aoba to Nye and Jackyn alone. The two staggered to their feet, split onto opposites sides of the soaring Rhyme king.

"What are you waiting for you undisciplined fool!? FIGHT ME!" Aoba mockingly called as he flew in, while wildly swinging Excalibur for Jackyn's neck.

The Dream weaver reeled back, narrowly dodging the blade as it tore through the collar of his turtleneck top. Any wrong move there, and his head would have been cleaved right off. Urgently, Jackyn drew to his daggers, slashing at just the right moment to parry Aoba's attack, before quickly back flipping to dodge the next. As his feet slid along the ground, his blue eyes sharply focused to Aoba with a cold sneer, while he quickly drew blood from the ground, and shot it right at the opposing enemy. Aoba took the blast, but within a matter of seconds, he immediately countered with a blast of light that thrusted Jackyn off his feet.

"Jack!" Nye gasped, flying in to slash her massive sword for Aoba. Aoba whirled around, countering her attack, while blocking it with his own blade.

"You have poor taste in men, darlin'." Aoba scoffed at her, as he swiftly disarmed her weapon. Before she could distance herself, Aoba clutched his hand to her throat, forcing her closer in a violent manner. "It's your duty as a woman to obey your lord and master, which should have been me."

"Let. Go. Of. ME!" Nye gritted her teeth, as she tried to pull away.

"I think not. Regardless, you have a terrible habit or ordering me around, while you should rather bite you tongue! Whatever do they even call you, woman?" Aoba grimly scolded.

Nye grabbed to his wrist, leering to him behind emerald eyes. "Nyghtmare." She growled.

This response made Aoba scoff with disapproval. "How drull. Did you come up with that name yourself? Here I thought you would have something cuter." He mocked, tightening his grip on her neck, as he shoved the blade of his sword through the thin skin of one of her wings; tearing it downward to force her to cry out in pain.

"...Cute? I don't do 'CUTE'!" Nye hissed, in a clearly painful tone; kicking the bottom of her boot directly into his face to thrust herself from his grasp so she could get to Jackyn. She roughly landed on the ground, forming away her wounded wings, before running in the direction Jackyn was located.

"YOU'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!!!" Aoba practically roared, as he dove after her in pursuit.

Adam was unable to break through the swarming Templar foot soldiers, but as a mounted rider charged him, his arm suddenly regenerated; blasting through the severed place into a near exact replica of his original arm. The others fighting against the Templar were unable to crush this wall of Templar obstructing their various paths to alleviate Nye and Jackyn's situation. The playing field was in complete pandemonium as Aoba's underlings fought back the opposing forces. Nye had managed to reach Jackyn, who had already gotten back to his feet, clearly in concern for him. However, Jackyn noticed Aoba flying in from behind her. With quick thinking, Jackyn pushed Nye away forcefully as Aoba charged through, slashing in a crescent maneuver. Jackyn having forced Nye out of the way saved her from getting sliced open, however, he had placed himself closer taking a direct blow to his artificial leg. The prosthetic was shattered into fragments as Excalibur tore right through it, with the impact slamming Jackyn back into the ground violently.

Nye had the look of fear in her eyes, as she saw Jackyn force her back, and then seeing him take the heavy blow to his leg. Aoba was circling around, but her Angel of Death was still on the ground, struggling to get up. Nye attempted to reach him again, but her path was soon blockaded by Templar leaking into the battle zone. Unable to fly, she was stranded from her lover with the dense cluster of knights surrounding her. Her view of Jackyn was cut off, before she could even see him take inspiration from his battle with Jehxal earlier, and use his ichor magic to form over the shredded cloth and broken metal, that still clung to his stump of a leg, into a temporary replacement made of blood to stand up with. As Aoba dove again to face off further with Jackyn, Ashewyn and Eclipse broke through the infantry Templar to reach Nye's position. The others were slowing making their way through to push back the holy knights. Flames threw back many of the Templar, giving Ashewyn opening to get beside Nye, with Eclipse not far behind.

"Hey, sorry for the delay. You okay, Nye?" Ashewyn asked, using the sword he held to slice up a foot soldier that drew near.

"I'm fine, I'm more worried about Jack right now, Ashe." She begrudgingly stated, her eyes more focused to the area Jackyn was residing. "Aoba's too strong to face alone, we need to work together to take him down." She added, forming her sword to slash back incoming Templar.

"I don't doubt it." Ashewyn replied, striking back more incoming Templar, and keeping close with Eclipse.

"Can we count on support from the others?" Eclipse asked, slashing lighting against a wall of Templar.

"Aye." Nye said swinging her Wraith-edge to create a pathway.

Jackyn was not far from their position now, stumbling as he continued to fend Aoba away with his duel daggers, accompanied by the spiral pools of blood floating around him. The blood magic spread, shooting at Aoba as Jackyn fought his way mercilessly through the gathering Templar forces. Unlike their previous battle with Aoba, they had increased their forces, and this time everyone was in place and ready to fight like this was the end of days. Shane on horseback mounted an assault against cavaliers with Max and Sally, while Zyron and Solitaire kept close to combine magic and bladed strikes against knights in the back of the Battalion. Miles and Minerva had taken to the skies accompanied by Heath and Rocky, keeping the Pegasus and dragon riders from making any push forward. Ronan along with Nobou joined the front lines to break down the wall, with Talis supporting their rear. Adam, now joined by Iiblis were dealing with the heavily armored generals, leaving Nikolai to deal with any stragglers.

Nye with Ashewyn and Eclipse managed to fight their way through, meeting Jackyn from the other side of the field. He and Nye ran up to each other, but Aoba was still in hot purist of Jackyn. His attention was suddenly grabbed by Ashewyn who had Eclipse beside him. Rage began bubbling to the surface, recalling her betrayal and his previous battle with Ashewyn in the castle. "Eclipse! Why am I NOT surprised by this!? You're still working with that AMYGDALA!?" Aoba exclaimed in rage, changing his target for Eclipse and Ashewyn.

As he came into rage with Excalibur in tow, flames fabricated from Ashewyn's palm, igniting his wings ablaze, but this only made Aoba more livid. Violently the King of the Rhyme hammered his sword through the air as he shifted focus to the red haired Amygdala. Ashewyn could tell the flames weren't slowing him down in the slightest, but maneuvered to counter the incoming blow that nearly took his head off. Gripping tightly to his sword, Ashewyn held back Excalibur, with his own blade narrowly grazing against his neck as he struggled to hold Aoba's sword back with all his might. This war had grown far more arduous than any of them had anticipated, but neither side was ready to back down. They all knew they had to make this final stand against Aoba, even if it meant putting their entire offensive against Aoba alone.

Aoba was fiercely managing to force Excalibur closer to Ashewyn, with his sword beginning to shatter from the intense power that was the legendary Holy sword. Unexpectedly, a chain came flying in from behind the Grand Master, lassoing around his throat as the chain from Nye's Wraith-Edge dragged him backwards enough for Ashewyn to distance himself. Jackyn used his ichor magic to create a wave of airborne blood to smash back surrounding Templar. As this happened while Nye held Aoba back, more of their allies were able to break through, to join in against the King of the Rhymes. Eclipse rushed towards Aoba, using her Lighting Waveblades to savagely cut off his six angelic wings.

"AHHH!!! YOU BITCH!!!" He cried out in pain.

With a powerful pressure of energy, Aoba unleashed the full extent of his Phylactery magic; blowing everyone backwards with extreme force. It was clear how tough this tyrant was to take down, and everyone knew they needed to pitch in so this battle could be won. Nye was quick to get back to her feet, thrusting the chain around Aoba's neck once more. Iiblis swiftly got to the opposite side, using his chain weapon to aid Nye's maneuver. With the combined chains, the two of them managed to bind Aoba, bringing the mighty foe to his knees. With this constraint, Aoba's sword, Excalibur, was forced from his grasp. Without Aoba's sovereignty over it, the blade that binded his enemies was open to be claimed. Miles leapt from Ember, in attempt to grab Excalibur, to only have his hand burned by the mighty sword. Reeling back, others, like Max and Heath, attempted to grab it to receive the same response from the sword.

This made Aoba suddenly laugh in delirium. "HahahahahAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA!!! FOOLS! Excalibur has no wish to belong to anyone else! It belongs SOLELY TO ME!" His force of power was beginning to sever the chains hold on him. "My sovereignty knows no bounds!! I AM THE GRAND MASTER, AOBA ZEPHOS, HAND OF THE MAKER HIMSELF!!! ! I AM THE ALMIGHTY CHOSEN ONE! WITH THE MAKER AS MY WITNESS, EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU SHALL FALL BEFORE ME!!!!" His power was causing the very ground to tremble below their heels.

If they didn't act fast, Aoba would surly escape. Jackyn was keeping the templar at bay with his ichor powers, while Adam joined Iiblis and Nye in binding Aoba with his dark energy formed into more chains. Talis was gusting up with wind, blowing back any Templar that managed to breach Jackyn's field spell. As Aoba struggled to get free, many on their side realized now was the time to strike. First it was Miles, thrusting his sword through Aoba's gut, followed by Ronan mirroring where Miles impailed him. Aoba however continued to laugh, while his power continued growing stronger. This drew in Rocky to shoot Aoba through the chest, but yet he did not falter. Sally through her lance into the air, using a spell to duplicate it into many, letting them violently thrust through Aoba in various points, only to have the same result as the others. Aoba was not going down, in fact he was beginning to break out, standing up from his pinned position. Nobou took his duel katanas drawing close to X-slash at Aoba, to only be thrusted back by a growing force. Zyron channeled magic, along with Heath's ice breath, freezing ice shards to impail through Aoba's arms to help keep him from breaking loose.

The surrounding Templars were manning the trebuchet against the wall of blood, smashing their way through, despite Talis and Jackyn's effort to hold them back, aided as well from Minerva's arrows in the sky. Solitaire, Shane and Max were forced to fight back the Templar who made their way in, joined by others who weren't able to make effort against Aoba. Nikolai joined them as well, leaving Aoba to be dealt with by Ashewyn and Eclipse. Eclipse decided to take her Waveblades to slash up Aoba's torso, lighting him up with electric power, as she forcefully tried to kill him. Nothing was working, Jackyn could even see this, causing him to thrust a dagger in Aoba's direction, stabbing him right in the windpipe. Aoba just wouldn't die, pulling the chains from the holders to thrust them away like a whirlwind. His eyes gleamed as they focused to Excalibur.

"Your attempts against me are FUTILE! AHAHAHAHA!" Aoba reeled his head back to laugh, in almost an insane manner. He was starting to loose his mind, to this power he was bestowed with.

As he forced his way through the allies that made effort to strike him down, he did not falter, his sole attention on reaching his sword that laid before him. Ashewyn wasn't about to let him through however, reaching for Excalibur with the utmost determination. Light vividly glowed, blinding everyone as his hand touched it's bejeweled hilt. Moments passed as the light died down, to revealed Ashewyn rising up before Aoba with Excalibur in his grasp.

"...But HOW!?" Aoba demanded in complete shock, in the very moment Exclaiber's brand struck through his skull.

All eyes turned as silence engulfed the battlefield, witnessing Aoba's body hit the ground, with Excalibur pierced between his eyes. The ongoing struggle and all it's violence completely ceased in this moment, as the Grand Master fell in battle. Nye and Ashewyn stood together with their allies and friends amongst them, all facing the surrounding Templar.

"Your King is dead!" Ashewyn exclaimed, taking this leadership role, as he noticed Nye not stepping forth. "Surrender, or join him!" He commanded, taking hold of the Holy Sword, Excalibur.

The remaining generals and the rest of the Templar soldiers seemed lost, as if they were unsure what to do in this moment. Siegfried and the Lupis general stared along with the other Templar units, as they all began to slowly laying down their arms. Unable to continue this war without their King, the Templar were forced to surrender, in defeat to this ragtag group of fighters. Even the allies like Raz, and the felines that had fled the battlefield observed this at distance.

"The wind of change is blowing now... I think it's time the Templar dissolve their forces, and forfeit the right to control other races' freedoms. The disagreements of dead men should not weigh on our judgements as they have been." Nye stood higher, struggling to speak in front of all these people. It was clear she was anxious, but she had to speak her mind.

"No matter the shape or form, controlling the freedoms and lives of others shouldn't be any given race's privilege." Solitaire spoke up, before glancing to Zyron. "These bloody rules restricting who you're allowed to love? Why do things have be that way? It just doesn't make sense."

"Yeah. We're all different, but that does not mean that we shouldn't have the same freedoms as anyone else?" Miles spoke up, taking Minerva's hand as she dismounted Ember, beside him.

"Rhyme, Amygdala, Lupis, fiends, the various races that have been called 'Leashed', or even the Terra, Elves and Centaur. None should dominate any others just because some of us look different." Eclipse added, looking upon the gawking Templar.

"We're all people, and many of us have our own cultures. So, shouldn't our differences be celebrated?" Talis threw in her input as well.

"Pray tell. Wherefore must we square in thine manner? I beseech thee, is peace nay an option?" Sally pleaded, in her usual manner.

"These meaningless laws of imprisonment and slavery do nothing to help people." Shane spoke up, getting a nod of agreement from Jackyn.

The words of the united group allied with Nyghtmare and her friends weighed heavy with the Templar, forcing the war to end, and the new world order to be taken to heart. Peace treaties were discussed here on the very battle the Templar lost, that would help unify Desdemuna's people in ways that had not been considered for many a century....

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Epilogue: Brave New World

The Crusaders of Freedom managed to defeat the Templar Order; in spit of this the many cities and towns began to be flung into panic and disorder, after the Templar were forced to disband. This began the rise of potential new leaders and rulers, as Kingdoms were beginning to slowly rebuild from the ashes of the former sovereign power of the world. Many older technologies and beliefs were being discarded, and left abandoned as things were forced to evolve in unexpected ways. New places were being built, and changes in the laws were made, like inner-species relationships; but it would take time for people to accept these adjustments. This would undoubtedly cause new conflicts and possible wars, which lead to the Resistance being fully established to keep the peace. At last there was finally time to mourn the dead, but there was much yet to be done. Heath and Rocky brought together many from the War of Freedom, to stand together to become part of this. Ashewyn being able to wield the Holy Sword Excalibur was quickly sought out to join them, as were many of the others.

Nyghtmare had refused to join future wars, as well as declined becoming the Ghestro family ruler. When Raz reappeared with Koron's son, Anderz, it was decided that the fiend would raise the child to eventually take up the role. Along with the willing aid of Adam, who eagerly wanted to get closer with Raz after their past encounters in the war, they would become Anderz retainers, and raise the boy together to become the successor to the Ghestro family. Nye had refused this offer due to having only wished to regain freedoms of her race and the others, and so that she and Jackyn would be able to finally live without fear surrounding their union. She however did explain to Ashewyn every detail of what Pneuma had told her, including that they were siblings, before disappearing off out of contact from the others, with Jackyn and Nikolai. Miles chose to go his own way, to be with Minerva and live with the other feral Lugooz in their hidden feline village. The two eventually got together when Miles convinced Minerva to go with him to the festival town, and share their first kiss upon a tall tower over looking the mass excitement and celebration.

Solitaire and Zyron were able to finally be together without worry, deciding to get married before Solitaire would give birth to their son. Zyron decided to continue aiding the Resistance after this, eventually taking priority of becoming a priest. With Ashewyn joining the resistance, he and Eclipse began to spend a lot more time working together and he eventually opened up to her feelings for him, and they decided to start a family together. He always did have a fondness for her ears. The other amazon felines, like Morrigan decided to remain with the resistance, while Seiko and Ronan returned to the Amazon village with the young Naga child, Yvenne. Ronan, like Zyron, would also soon become a father. Shane did not plan to stick around either, he now had to care for Hitomi, in respect for his deceased friend, Hige. Talis and Nobou were able to become a family again, helping each other raise their hatchlings together, along with Talis' new lover, Djinn. Iiblus also joined the resistance, having been left without a purpose after the Cult of Ghestro was left leaderless.

With Knothole now empty, Nye and Jackyn decided to remain there and make it their own. The two arrived some time after the war and discussions had concluded, and Jackyn's prosthetic repaired. With the few who had remained here now gone, it was left barren, and complelty abandoned. Nikolai had followed them in as they looked around. It was somewhat melancholy how void this place was now, the small reaper looked around while watching Nye and Jackyn having brief moments of touching hands, before eventually sitting down to lean against each other. Nye rested her head to Jackyn's shoulder as they sat there talking, almost in a cuddling manner. Nikolai floated over to the bar, to hear a sound in the kitchen. Curiously he proceeded towards it to be met with the other fiend, Yandere, leaping into his arms to be spun around happily. Nye and Jackyn noticed this deciding to give the two fiends some time together, with Nye leading Jackyn upstairs by the hand. They reached the upper level, before proceeding into Nye's former room. She set down her Amygdala journal to the bed, before stepping closer to Jackyn.

She let her hands softly extend to his face, before briefly sharing a kiss, that was followed by a brief dialog between them."We'll always be together." Nye assured him, at the end of their exchange. They both seemed a bit hesitant, but decided to hold hands as they sifted closer. Their feet began to move in harmony along the floor as the two seemed to dance much like a combination of the Waltz and Argentine Tango. Their auras were visibly forming around them as they danced together, before their foreheads eventually met as the dance ended. There was a faint glow as their aura around began to elegantly spiral around them, merging together in the air as it found a corner of the room. As it spiraled together, the strands of their auras began to entwine together, forming into a slime-like webbing that spun into cocoon.

However, from the opposite forces; there were many, now former Templar, who survived the war. Kloud had died of illness before the war began, leaving Ayame without a father to her soon to be child she carried. Elliot remained by her side, to protect her and the child, and promised to do such even after his freedom was given. The other generals from the war were left without work, choosing to pursue new paths, that would later come into effect. Merric however, was still spurned from the death of his brother, as he had darker plans in mind with other mysterious individuals that opposed the new order.The sense of danger was clear, with these new sources of trouble appearing from seemingly no where to combat the Resistance fighters...

Fading to black there was a soft rumbling sound, buzzing like festering bees in complete darkness. The reverberating echos of a deep, yet distorted chuckle followed, as demonic red eyes of an unknown entity flashed open...

The End... or is it?