Chapter 18:

The Final Battle

The Demon Lord's Summoning Has Gone Wrong


The castle began to shake as the leaders started to release magical pressure. The Holy Queen wielded the Holy Sword of Light, and the Demon Lord wielded two dark blades formed out of his magical energy. The wings on their backs suddenly grew multiple times in size, and they each took to the sky out of the hole the Holy Queen had created to carry out their fight. Meanwhile, the four others were left on the ground to watch.

"Wow! Their wings grew, and they started flying! Can you do that, Charlotte?" Pain asked excitedly while ignoring the fact he had just been blasted with magic only seconds earlier.

"Sure, if I wanted to..." The Demon Lord answered in a shaky voice.

"This isn't good; shouldn't we try to stop them?" The Holy Princess asked.

"I don't plan to get into the middle of that!" the Hero said.

"I don't blame you; they are going at it. You can see flashes and everything," Pain said with a nod.

"Oh, there is a giant fireball; that's my father's trademark," the Demon Lord said.

"isn't he worried about burning anything else down?" the Hero asked.

"Don't worry, he wouldn't bring harm to Evuluss," the Demon Lord confirmed.

"He just cut a mountain in half, though?" The Holy Princess said in a concerned voice.

"He never did like that mountain," Charlotte thought out loud.

"More importantly, what is your father doing here?" Pain asked.

"Oh, he's been sealed away in the throne room... for a while," The Demon Lord said while looking slightly away.

"Oh, the Holy Queen slashed him with the sword," the Holy Princess said.

"Yeah, what's all that stuff coming out of him?" Pain asked.

"Dark energy being exorcised. That is what is supposed to happen when an evil being touches the sword," the Hero said.

Magical energy continued to light up the sky as the battle continued.

"Ugh," a zombie said as he shambled in.

"Oh, a battle between the Holy Queen and Former Demon Lord," Pain said to the zombie.

"Ugh," the zombie replied.

"Hmm, that's a good question. Guys, it seems like this battle is causing lots of chaos all over the castle," Pain told the group.

"You understand the zombies?" the Hero asked.

"Ugh," the zombie said.

"Hahahaha... wait, save the jokes for later! Quick, go rally everyone and get them to the storm shelter; we will do what we can here."

The zombie slowly gave Pain a salute and final 'ugh' before slowly shuffling off to the door.

"Aren't you worried he'll be a little slow?" The Holy Princess asked.

"Don't worry; I've spent countless hours with the zombies in dance practice. I've learned exactly what it takes to get them fired up." With that, Pain shouted to the zombie. "If you get this done fast, I'll put in a good word about you with that cute zombie in accounting!" In an instant, the zombie caught fire and ran out of the room.

"Should... I comment here?" The Hero wondered aloud.

"It's best just to let these matters go..." The Demon Lord said with a sigh.

The group turned back to the world-shaking battle that was unfolding before their eyes.

"So... what should we do about this..." Pain finally said after a moment of silence.

"At this rate, they might destroy the world," The Holy Princess said with a sigh.

"That... would not be good..." The Hero said.

"Maybe someone should actually go up there and try to stop them?" Pain suggested.

"You want to get in the middle of that clash?" The Demon Lord exclaimed.

"Count me out!" The Holy Princess declared, "Isn't this something a hero ought to do?"

"Wait a minute; you're supposed to be more powerful than me?" The Hero defended himself.

"Calm down, you two," The Demon Lord said.

"Wait, why was the former Demon Lord even here? Aren't you responsible for stopping him?" The Hero said. The Holy Princess nodded in agreement.

"Hold on; I didn't expect the seal to break! If anything, your holy presence here could have caused that!"

The three of them began to bicker back and forth. Pain stood awkwardly to the side, watching while they started to argue. He looked out to the fight.

"Wait, you three," Pain began to say, "a house divided... no, we were never technically a single house, to begin with. The enemy of my enemy... no, we want to stay friends after this. What I'm trying to get at is that we shouldn't be fighting amongst ourselves right now. The sky behind Pain changed to a red color in a fiery explosion as if to add emphasis to his point. The others sighed.

"Pain!" A shout came from the sky. Onyx flew in through the hole in the wall created by the Holy Queen. She stopped next to the group while hovering on her broomstick. At the same time, the Lord of Liches emerged from a shadow in the room's corner.

"Onyx! Kevin! Good to see you here!" Pain shouted.

"It is good to see you two, is everyone alright?" The Demon Lord asked.

"Yes, the other two generals are staying with the evacuees in the shelter just in case. We decided to join you out here."

"Very good, now we need to figure out what to do about this battle," The Demon Lord said while looking up to the sky. At that moment, a meteor the size of an elephant was flying into the Holy Queen. With a flash of the Holy Sword of Light, the meteor was diced like an onion, and the pieces harmlessly flew around her. They bombarded the land below, destroying everything underneath.

"I think... that was the location of my pub..." Onyx said solemnly.

"The pub! Now they have gone too far!" Pain yelled.

The Hero silently nodded in agreement.

"Anyway, Demon Lord and Dark Commander, there might be a way to stop this fight." The Lord of Liches said.

"What!" the four yelled in unison.

"Onyx was saying she found something," the Lich said.

"Oh right! I was reading that forbidden spellbook after The Demon Lord summoned Pain!"

"Why were you reading that? I thought we decided the spell was flawed and just to throw the book out," The Demon Lord asked with a groan. She didn't want to be reminded of that summoning spellbook.

"Well, I was still curious of how the spell to summon a ferocious warrior of darkness ended up with summoning someone like Pain! Oh, no offense, Pain, I wouldn't have wanted anyone else to get summoned!"

"None taken," Pain said with a smile.

"Anyway, when you look in the back of that book, there is a handwritten note on how to send someone to another world instead!" Onyx said.

"Why was there a note for that?" The Hero asked.

"The spell started with a message saying something like 'I made a mistake, never use the summon spell, there is no way out' or something to that end."

"That spell seems convenient," the Demon Lord said.

"Well, it turns out the person that casts the spell has to also be from another world and they can only cast it on others," Onyx said.

They all turned to Pain.

"We're counting on you, Pain!" the Hero said.

"I believe in you!" The Holy Princess affirmed.

"As the Dark Commander, I know you will perform valiantly," the Demon Lord added.

Pain thought to himself for a moment.

"I don't mind. You'll all back me up, though, right?" They all turned away from him.

"We believe that you will be able to take them out in one blow!" Onyx shouted.

"Well, I guess it doesn't matter either way, but hold on, where will they get sent?" Pain asked. He suddenly began to wonder about what world they would be sent to. The last thing he wanted was to send the two doing battle to his old world.

"Oh, how about the world in my story!" The Holy Princess exclaimed as she pulled out her well-worn book.

"You brought that with you?" the Hero asked in shock.

"Here you go; it is a story about a dashing hero and a lovely princess who-"

"Please give me the abridged version," Pain interrupted.

"Um, well... in the story, the hero tries to save the world from The Flipping, but he fails and has to escape to our world with the princess."

"Is that world real?" The Demon Lord asked.

"Sure, it is; they ended up coming here hundreds of years ago; here, take a look at the book! Oh, but it got a little ruined when the Hero pushed me in the water."

"We had to get away!"

"You better buy me a new copy after this!"

Meanwhile, outside, the wind had kicked up, and several tornados were destroying the land below. In the sky, the Demon Lord had taken the form of a giant dragon-like body with three heads. One head was a bull, one head was a serpent, and one head was a platypus. Each of the heads had three horns, three eyes, and three teeth. At the same time, the Holy Queen had taken the form of a giant eagle with two heads. One was the head of an owl wearing glasses, and the other was the head of a human squinting. The two large forms collided in the sky above and engaged in a furious clash that brought them into the destroyed mountainside.

"We should probably hurry. This battle is getting... well they started shapeshifting," The Lord of Liches, who had been ignoring the group and watching the battle the whole time, spoke up.

Pain flipped through a couple of pages in the storybook before handing it back to the holy princess. Onyx quickly walked him through the instructions on the spell:

"Okay, so you'll go up to them and start with a boom. Then do a woosh and a zap. Then you just end it with a flop as you think of the location you want to send them!" she explained how to cast the spell.

"Okay, I got it." Pain said.

"What part of that did you get?" the Hero questioned.

Onyx jumped off her broom and handed it Pain. He hesitated a moment before slowly grabbing it in both hands and holding it tightly. The witch still held the broom with one of her hands as well.

"Is there another way to get over there?" he asked.

"My broom will be the fastest!" Onyx said.

"Good luck, Pain!" The Demon Lord shouted to him.

"We will be waiting for you here!" the Holy princess added while the Hero nodded.

"If you die, I'll make good use of your body," The Lord of Liches told him.

"Thanks, Kevin; it seems like you're the only one worried about my life right now," Pain said.

It was at this moment that Onyx let go of the broom. In a sudden jerk, Pain was pulled by the broom into the sky.