Act 4 - Chapter 2, Part 1

Chapter 37: Ajal; Shauran 45th, 344SR; 19:11

Ajal dived through the night sky, all of Andurill was crumbling hundreds of feet below. 'What the-! What the hell happened!' Multiple explosions ignited across the city, starting at the center in Anka and spreading out. The explosive roars echoed through the sky. The biggest one at the center had already long since exploded, its smoke cloud reaching its peak

'What's happening to the city?!' From the center of the city, giant cracks rippled through the concrete base of Andurill, then began collapsing inward. Large chunks of debris split and dragged more of the city with it, all falling to the depths. Smoke spread around its crash site. 'Where... Where do I land... How do I land...' Ajal thought as he only continued to speed up. 'I can't stop... My spirit is still recovering...'

Around the rubble crashing down the smoke would spread, however, one spot remained a pitch-black shadow, like a void, an abyss. Ajal's eyes went wide as he looked at the familiar black mass which seemed to engulf pieces of the rubble falling into it. Most of the remaining towers of Cabac fell into the depths of the black fog. 'Is that... An abyss!?' Ajal panicked. His heartbeat quickened.

"No, no, no- Shit!" Ajal stopped as he realized he couldn't even slow his descent. "Why is there an abyss here!"

The closer he got to the ground, he heard the rumbling crash of the city's debris, behind the noise was panic and screams. He fell towards the void, shutting his eyes and bracing for the pain he was about to feel. The world around him went dark. His body collided with a building and crashed into the ground, taking the brunt of the impact with his left side. The pellets of rubble and dust fell with him.

***

The raindrops soaked Ajal's hair, and his bangs stuck to his forehead and obscured his vision. The black bottle of wine leaned out of his right hand, his fingers weakly gripping it. The liquid in the bottle sloshed back and forth. The raindrops battered against the rocks up the hill, in the distance he could hear the the waterfall. Ajal longed for it. He stumbled on his left leg slightly, stopping himself before he fell off the narrow path.

"Ha..." Ajal huffed, his injuries from the recent battle in Radion wore him down.

The air was warm and damp, far off in the distance, the sun peaked through the clouds, shining golden rays of sunlight over the forests of Junipus. The raindrops beat against his head, offering a soothing balance to the chaos in his mind. 'Almost there...' He reached the top and looked upon the waterfall at the peak of the mountain. The water flowed into the reservoir, which followed pathways under the ground leading back up to the top of the waterfall, before flowing down the stream once more. The water crashed down and was quickly picked up by the current, starting the cycle over again. The spring never stopped moving, the stream flowed endlessly.

In the center of the spring was an island, and upon that was a single oak tree. It was thin, with very few leaves budding on its branches. Its vivid green leaves were soaked in the rain. Ajal focused his spirit, but it didn't flow. He jumped across the pond without it, the grass rustling as he landed. 'What am I doing here...' He walked towards the tree with fingers covered in dry blood, shivering as he wrapped them around the cork jutting out of the tip. It opened with a pop.

"I don't have a glass," Ajal cracked a slight smile. "One more thing for you to be upset at me for."

Tilting the bottle above a patch of dirt in front of the small tree, the red liquid splashed against the ground. Ajal stopped as the brown dirt became a deep maroon, a small puddle of wine pooled into the soil, frothing bubbles smoothed out as they were pierced with raindrops. Ajal raised the bottle to his nose, the sweet and fruity smell caused him to move the bottle away from his face, it was an overpowering scent. His wounds ached, not nearly as much as his heart. 'What a gross luxury... Well... First times for everything...' Ajal brought the tip of the bottle back to his lip. He took several gulps and felt his gag reflex, coughing immediately and choking on the alcohol.

"How did you always drink this stuff..." Ajal mused, "Always telling me it was good, it's disgusting... You always told me strange things, and I would think the complete opposite of what you said... Just like you said I could change and do good... You didn't see me the same way anyone else on Imperion did... Forgive me, Natalia..." Ajal became wearier with each sip, the pain remaining instead of subsiding.

Ajal raised the black-tinted bottle and chugged the fruity, yet bitter drink. Tilting his head back and letting the rain drop down the front of his face, the drops ran down over his forehead. He continued to gulp the repulsive liquid down. The scent of the wine was still strong, almost stronger than when it was next to his nose.

"Ugh..." Ajal covered his mouth as he felt the wine rise up his throat. He gulped the rest down and took a deep breath. "You- You wouldn't believe what the new order is being called by the archbishops... The Imperials, haha!" Ajal chuckled. "You really predicted that one... I give you that point..." Ajal was about to raise the glass again before noticing the light hitting his head. He looked up to see a patch in the clouds the rain didn't fall through. "Heh..."

He stopped and grimaced at his own reflection in the bottle of wine. 'I'm a mess...' The white shirt underneath his black sweater was stained with circular stains of blood.

"Who am I kidding... you would've hated it..."

Ajal swung the bottle upside down and continued to chug. He pulled it away as he breathed in and out, the sticky wine ran down the side of his mouth.

"What did you see in me, why did you help me... If you hadn't, you'd still be alive... How could you have patience for a monster like me... You always refused to kill or watch someone be killed... I thought you were unrealistic, can a world without endless death really exist?" Ajal continued to ramble to himself.

Ajal's shoulder slumped down as tears collected under his eyes. Despite the bottle being a foot away from his face, the scent of wine was still very overpowering.

"The abyss... Of all the people it could choose... It had to be you... Why you... You were good, you only ever did the best you could... You only ever tried to help people so why... Why did you have to die like that... It should've been me... I'm the person who deserves to suffer for this... I swear, for as long as I live... I'll make sure another abyss doesn't spread ever-"

"Who are you talking to?" someone suddenly asked.

Ajal turned his head around quickly and saw a young woman wearing a clean white sweater and black leggings. The woman had bandages around her left and right wrists, as well as around her neck. 'Ava... Shit...' Her purple eyes matched her hair, a worried curiosity in her eyes as she looked down at Ajal who had a tear rolling down his cheek. She dropped the flowers in her hand, it rattled as they landed on the grass.

"You... You're... Why are you here!" Ava asked with a hateful glare.

"Visiting," Ajal replied stupidly.

A long purple tail flowed from her back as her expression turned ferocious. Ajal set the bottle of wine right next to himself and turned towards her. He rubbed his eyes with his wet sleeve while he raised his right palm towards her.

"I know you hate me... But please, fight me somewhere else, not here," Ajal asked.

"The doctor is dead because of you!" she roared.

Ajal looked down. The girl jumped as she pushed off the ground with her tail, spinning through the air toward him. Her left leg flew towards his left side. His arm flinched, but he had no will to block. Ava slammed her foot into his shoulder and spun, launching Ajal across the field of grass and tumbling through wet flowers.

"Agh!" Ajal grunted as he tumbled into the grass, staining his clothes with a wet dew.

The wine bottle went flying, crashing on the ground a short distance away. Ava ran forward as Ajal quickly stood back up, she lunged forward with her knee raised, but Ajal saw it coming. His reflexes kicked in, and he jumped back and caused her to miss. Ava tried to lunge forward once more but her foot slid against the wet dirt and she fell to her knee.

"Ah!" Ava quickly raised her tail to guard, but Ajal didn't attack.

'Wrath...' Ajal thought as he looked down at her. Ava looked confused for a moment before she planted her feet. The woman's tail wrapped around Ajal's leg, she turned her hip and with all her strength, flung Ajal towards the waterfall. 'Huh- Ah!'

Ajal didn't focus his spirit to mitigate the impact, instead, he took the hit again. He felt like he deserved it. The divine being crashed through the wall of vertically flowing water, into a hidden cave behind the fall. He hit the wall and fell to the ground. 'Ow...' Ajal pushed himself up, his head woozy from hitting the rock, a bit of sense had been knocked back into him.

'You may be a monster if that's what you want to believe. But have you ever stopped to just... Take it all in... The perfect shades of blue under the gentle sun... The green forests with trees towering over... The innocence of it all trying its best to see another tomorrow... Imperion may be ugly, and wounded, but there's something about that sight... It can heal wounds I'd never dream of being able to heal...'

Ajal recalled Natalia's words as he stood up. Ava jumped through the wall of water, her hair soaking as she landed. She squatted down and jumped forward again, aiming both her feet at Ajal. Ajal raised his arms and blocked the strike, her boot pressed into his wrists and launched back once more into the wall. The cave rumbled around them.

"The abyss... The abyss!" Ava seethed, and tears fell from her eyes.

Ava grabbed Ajal's collar and pulled him forward with both hands. He was face to face with the young ethereal, her head low as tears fell from her eyes. Ajal just looked at her.

"I'm sorry..." Ajal repeated, "I tried to-"

Ava slammed her clenched fist into Ajal's shoulder as she sobbed.

Ava's eyes were piercingly wide, glazed with tears. Her damp hair was a vibrant shade of purple. Water fell from her hair as she bared her teeth at Ajal. Her gritted teeth jittered as she tried to form words, but she was too angry to say anything.

"The doctor only ever helped people! She didn't deserve to die! Not at the hand of someone she tried to help!" Ava slammed her fist into Ajal's shoulder.

"She tried to save that monster..." Ajal said with grit teeth, he was losing his composure. "She didn't know how many would die if the abyssal being continued to be let loose!"

"It was your fault! You and those damn archbishops!" Ava cried.

Ajal clenched his teeth. His eyes quivered as he struggled to hold back his tears.

***

"I-" Ajal shouted and opened his eyes quickly.

Ajal's entire body ached, he could feel parts of his bones and muscles shifting as he healed from the fall. A liquid on the ground had the strong scent of wine, he glanced to the left to see broken wooden kegs labeled 'Ketova Winery'. Chunks of rubble painted blue were scattered around him. He could smell nothing but wine as he stared off at the darkness in front of him. Despite it being pitch black, Ajal could still see the label on the wooden barrel. 'What the... I was...' Ajal remembered what he saw. He looked up and around.

"Agh-" Ajal tried to push himself onto his front, however he couldn't. "Huh?"

Ajal couldn't feel his left arm, he looked down to see his arm bent backward. 'Ah! Shit...' Ajal focused his spirit as he took a deep breath. He reached for his arm with his other hand, grasping the wrist and holding it as he readied himself. 'Three... Two...' Ajal breathed in and out. With one twist a shock of pain rippled through his body.

"Aah!" Ajal screamed from the shock of pain.

He curled up as his arm started to repair properly, he huffed in and out, his chest rising and falling as he clenched his teeth and tried to bear the pain. As his breathing calmed, Ajal remembered the events that led up to this. 'I stopped that attack from the angels... But the city still fell... I must have fallen from over ten thousand feet...' Ajal rolled over, and pushed himself up on all fours. He huffed in and out as he looked down at the bright red wine. It didn't shimmer at all, 'No... No...' He stood up and looked around at the chunks of rubble surrounding him, all of them lit by the light of his spirit rather than natural light.

"No no no!" Ajal's heartbeat quickened. "There really is an abyss! How long has this been spreading!"

Ajal flicked the wine off his hand as he took a step, but suddenly he stumbled on his feet and fell against a wall. 'Huh...' His vision blurred as aches of pain coursed through his whole body, it was most severe around his back. 'Ah...' He took a moment to just breathe. All around him was darkness, but he looked back down at the wine and observed as it spread across green stone covered in roots.

'Shit... An abyss forms from the remains of a fallen Celestial...' Ajal looked down at the green stone, then looked up to see a piece of a blue building that had crashed. 'This is... Underneath Andurill? How big is this abyss... How long has it been spreading?' Ajal started through the darkness, and as he adjusted to the pain he ran. The circle of light from his spirit followed. 'My spirit is replenished? How long was I out...' Ajal stumbled slightly on a root, he stopped and looked down, squinting at the green stone. He knelt down and placed his hand on the ground, then looked towards the debris from above. Chunks of rubble were scattered around this green stone surface, however, none of it resembled the stone covered in roots.

"What is this place?" Ajal asked himself.

As he continued into the darkness, the further he got, the more he started to hear things around him. Clashes of steel. Horrific cries. A rapid set of footsteps approached from in front of him. Several hybrids from Baltin ran out of the darkness, they ran in the opposite direction he was going. To Ajal's surprise, there was a hybrid from Argol as well, wearing a white and red torn coat.

"Run! Just fucking run!" The hybrids shouted in fear but then saw Ajal. "That's- the off-worlder! Shit!"

They stopped and took a stance to fight, however, they continued to turn and look behind them.

"Hey! What-" Ajal asked, but then noticed these hybrids were enemies, enemies running from the same thing.

"Get out of our way!" The soldier from Baltin screamed with a panicked expression.

A slim black tentacle stretched out of the darkness and wrapped around the one from Argol, it coiled around his leg and pulled him up into the air. 'What is that?!'

"No! Aaah! I'm not becoming one of those things! One of th-argh!" the rebel screamed.

"Ah, shit!", "Go, just run!" The other soldiers from Baltin panicked, they didn't even care about Ajal as they ran by.

The tentacles suspended the swordsman in mid-air before more came out of the darkness and pierced into his skin. The helpless rebel screamed in terror as it slithered underneath his clothes and invaded his body in any way it could. As the tentacles reached his ear the screaming turned from panic to agony. Ajal dashed forward as he conjured two scythes and jumped up, severing the tendrils with a single swing. The tentacles violently whipped around before receding back into the darkness. The soldier from Argol flopped lifelessly onto the ground.

"Ggrhr-" the rebel stuttered uncontrollably.

Ajal knelt down to pull the tentacles out of his body, however, it dragged the flesh and skin with it, as if it had become part of the rebel. 'Huh?' Ajal tugged the needle once more, he tugged hard and the needle ripped out, taking skin and flesh with it. 'What the... Fuck!' Ajal cringed as he saw the ends of the blood-drenched tendrils. A three-pronged needle with hundreds of tiny spines sticking out of it to hook into its target. Even more terrifying, the rebel didn't even react to it being ripped out.

"Hey! Are you okay?" Ajal asked.

The rebel from Argol had short brown hair, his eyes had rolled to the back of his head. He shook in Ajal's arms, and foam bubbled out of his mouth. The rebel tried to speak as he faded in and out of consciousness. Ajal opened his third eye, 'Dark Abyss!' The black and white wave covered the rebel, and his eyes rolled back to the front. He suddenly reached forward, grasping Ajal's collar with a surprisingly strong grip.

"Secrets? My secrets? Stop it! I won't- give them to you! Stop it, stop it, stop it!" the soldier twitched in agony as he grasped his head and shook violently.

Ajal stood up and stepped back. The rebel continued to writhe, before stopping with his eyes wide open. 'He's dead... The abyssal being... What did it do to him? This creature is nothing like the abyssal beings from Imperion... They weren't nearly as aggressive as that one just was...' Ajal looked to the direction the tentacles receded to, then continued forward in that direction. The further Ajal ran, he started to hear the sounds grow louder. He passed multiple hybrid corpses on the ground, his foot splashed in a pool of blood as he hurried. 'It's that way!'

"Get the fuck off of me!" Someone familiar shouted. "Dammit, wake up!"

As Ajal approached he saw Blaize Eluk. 'That guy... He's one of the resistance commanders...' Blaize swung two flaming swords at other hybrids from Argol. The rebels who attacked their own leader each had saliva hanging from the mouth, and their bodies were ensnared by tentacles invading their eye sockets. A soldier bellowed a guttural roar, and more of the possessed rebels ran from the shadows as tentacles flew for Blaize.

"Dammit!" Blaize jumped back and put both swords to the fur on his shoulder, imbuing them with flame.

"Aar!", "Aan!", "Err!" the monsters yelled.

The resistance commander was about to swing the sword imbued with red flame. However, he hesitated as he looked at the monstrous, feral, face of a soldier who once looked up to him. The possessed rebel's right arm was completely wrapped in tendrils, their arms crushed while holding a sword. He swung the sword at Blaize with enough force to knock him back but continued to charge while swinging wildly. Blaize parried the random strikes before he jumped back to dodge another possessed rebel.

"Dammit! Dammit! Dammit! Guys! Snap out of it-"

"Carm!!", "Man-der!" The monsters managed to form words.

Blaize and Ajal both grimaced in disgust, the faces of the soldiers weren't screaming in rage. They were crying in terror, unable to form words, all they could do was groan and scream.

"Dark Abyss!" Ajal shouted.

The black and white wave passed over the soldiers, they stopped for a moment and all fell to the ground immediately.

"Hey, guys!" Blaize barked and whipped his head toward Ajal. "Hey, what happened!"

As the black and white wave receded, Ajal and Blaize both watched the lifeless soldiers get back up. They started to grumble.

"Dark Assault," Ajal chanted.

Six scythes formed around Ajal and span forward, they flew forward and cut the tendrils connected to the soldiers. Blaize watched the bodies fall onto the ground lifelessly, he turned to Ajal with wide eyes, a stain of blood across the right side of his face. The tentacles shriveled and dried up, and a quiet squeal could be heard from the creature, as if the parasites themselves began dying.

"You- you! How dare you!" Blaize snapped.

Ajal looked down at the bodies on the ground, he cringed in disgust as he looked down at them. Blaize grasped his blades and took a stance.

"I thought you said you don't kill! I could have saved them, I was-"

"Just stop," Ajal cut him off.

"What?!"

"They were already dead... Their minds were consumed by an abyssal being..."

"Abyssal being?"

"Were inside of an abyss... A black void born from a fallen Celestial... There were two outbreaks on my homeworld, each time, an abyssal being would wreak havoc on the world itself. It seeks out people and turns them into abyssal beings, spreading the abyss and consuming everything in its path... Your comrades died the moment they were infected, I'm sorry."

Blaize's shoulders slumped. He looked down at the corpses. His swords shook in his trembling hands.

"Those tentacles... They're connected to this... Abyssal thing?" Blaize quavered.

"Yeah," Ajal answered.

"Good."

Blaize walked past Ajal.

"Huh?" Ajal turned to him with a confused expression.

"I'm gonna kill it," Blaize declared.

"You can't," Ajal said nonchalantly.

Blaize stopped and turned. "Huh?! What the fuck do you mean I can't?!"

"The abyssal being born from the Celestial can only be killed by an ethereal, not even me... The most we can do is hold it back," Ajal pointed at Blaize.

"What the- What's an ethereal?!" Blaize huffed and sheathed both his swords, he walked back towards Ajal while shaking his head.

A tentacle reached forward out of the darkness behind Blaize the moment he sheathed his swords. 'Spirit Ignition!' Ajal dashed past Blaize quickly and sliced the tentacle down the middle.

"I don't have time to explain, get out of here, you aren't safe. And in all honesty, I'd rather not have to fight you if you get possessed too..." said Ajal.

Ajal focused his spirit on his heart, it started to ignite but he held it. 'Spirit Manipulation!' His spirit flowed through his veins, he started to sprint faster than before in the direction the tentacle came from. He heard footsteps behind him 'Ugh...' Blaize was following close behind.

"Don't fucking give me orders! If none of us can kill it, why are you going!" Blaize cursed.

"I may not be able to kill it, but I can stop it from getting anyone else... Until everyone's out of the abyss, or until the abyss is gone, I will fight," Ajal replied.

"Won't you get possessed too!"

"Divine beings regenerate... It can't control me if it can't destroy my mind completely... On my homeworld... The abyss was used against other races... Every second the abyss exists it'll seek out more and more to infect until all of the Celestials fall... And if that happens... This place is what this entire world would look like."

"The... The world?" Blaize stuttered as he looked around. "You're bluffing... Why didn't you try to stop it before..."

"I didn't know... I assumed a Celestial hadn't fallen... After all... You can usually see an abyss from far away... But if it was underground..."

"Underground...? You mean-" Blaize paused. "It... Spreads until... It covers the whole planet... Right?"

"That's... What I said, yeah..." Ajal replied.

"Oh... How big did it ever get on your planet?"

"Like... The size of a small town..." Ajal answered.

"Oh... Oh shit..." said Blaize. "It's... I don't- know for sure... But we battled House Rael a week ago... Several miles to the west, we saw a black fog there as well..."

Ajal stopped. "What did you just say?"

"We, saw a black fog coming from underground outside the borders of Lemen... If we're still around Andurill... It's bigger than a country..."

"What..." Ajal skipped a breath.

"The distance to Saltrock Swamps... From Andurill is very far..." said Blaize.

Ajal's heart sank. He turned and charged faster into the abyss.

"Hey! Hold up!" Blaize called before he followed as well.

"If the abyss is that big the abyssal being has been alive for a long time... Extremely long..." said Ajal.

Blaize turned, dragging his feet across the ground, and slashed an incoming tentacle. 'The tentacle came from the opposite direction this time?' Ajal's attention was drawn to the sudden sound of something stomping. Blaize turned as he heard it as well. A frightened whinny echoed from the darkness ahead, and the light of a large spirit approached. Until a white-coated leg trotted through the darkness, the head of a horse sprinted into view. 'Gotoh!'

"Holy shit! It possessed that thing!" Blaize shouted.

The horse's neck had a tentacle coiled around it, invading the side of its mouth, but it seemed to be struggling to take control. 'That tentacle... it's coming from a different direction... How massive is this creature...!' Ajal shivered as he focused his spirit, he conjured another scythe, 'Dark Passage!' He imbued the scythe with the black aura while jumping to the side to dodge the horse, Blaize quickly dashed out of the way as well.

"You think it got the hybrid commanders? Or even Vala? I kind of hope it got her..." Blaize asked.

Ajal threw the scythe imbued with a black and white flame towards the tentacle above the horse, severing the tendril. A shadow was left behind on the piece that retracted back. The horse disappeared immediately and the tentacle around its neck fell, shriveled up, and died. 'That was weird... It stopped the spirit from returning to its owner... Must've been why it was so afraid...'

"If the queen of the hybrids is possessed, that'd be bad... Really bad..." Ajal warned.

"Really? I'm kind of half and half, I'd rather her gone," said Blaize.

"If you're still trying to kill them you should get the hell out of here because I have to beat the crap out of you too!"

Blaize reared his head back, he looked dumbfounded for a moment. Ajal raised his hand up before he could reply.

"Get out of here," Ajal ordered one last time.

'Dark Passage!' He teleported to the tentacle and grasped it, suddenly being pulled along at a high speed. There was nothing but darkness around him. He started to notice the rooves made of green stone and run-down buildings barely even holding together, they were nothing like Andurill's architecture. He was pulled upwards and suddenly entered a large area lit up vividly by the number of people all within one location. Ajal's added spirit extended it further.

"Huh..." Ajal let go of the tentacle and focused on what was in front of him.

A large grey cylindrical structure took up most of the battlefield, it lay on the ground on top of several buildings. It looked like hadn't been touched for years, long enough for foliage and roots to spread over it. 'A Celestial...' The field was filled with crumbled ruins and piles of green rubble mixed in with the stone surface of Andurill. The Celestial had fallen on a large building that almost appeared. The field of uneven rubble was walked over by massive and tiny skeletons, all ensnared by similar tentacles. 'Those are the things from the bridge... But... They're being controlled...' Aside from the various piles of rubble, the entire area resembled a town, the structures still standing seemed to be built onto a hill. He jumped over the buildings.

"Spirit Ignition!" A familiar voice roared.

"That's..." Ajal stopped and looked down at the roof.

George was in the street below, his shirt drenched in sweat and his fists bloodied. His curly hair was a mess and he was exhausted. Several possessed skeletons charged for him. 'Spirit...' Ajal jumped from the roof towards the approaching skeletons. 'Ignition!' He slammed his foot into the ground, knocking George off his feet.

"A- Ajal!" George shouted in surprise.

"Hey... Are you-" Ajal looked down to see George covered in wounds.

"No... Not really... What the hell is going on? Why is the sky pitch black?!"

"No time to explain, are all of the hybrids from Cabac here..."

"Most of them... I tried to help but I got separated from Adam and Reinhardt... What are those spikey things causing the hybrids to go mad?"

"Avoid those tendrils at all costs George!" Ajal ordered. "If it pierces you you'll die in seconds!"

"Oh..." George said, his tone frightened. "I'm trying to lead the fodder away from the civilians, they don't stop coming... It's been four hours since they showed up and started attacking... At least it got the hybrids to stop fighting... By the way, you got any food?"

"Shit... Listen, George... I need to go help the hybrids, I think I can stop this and get everyone-"

"Then don't waste time with me! Go!" said George.

Ajal felt anxiety lingering on his spine. "Don't die on me! Stay safe!" Ajal turned and ran further through the mysterious city serving as the new battleground.

'I'll save them... I'll save everyone!' Ajal ran through the cobblestone streets. He passed rusty chains and old faded signs. Barrels riddled with holes. Eroded sets of green stone stairs.

"Shura's Array! Fourth form!"

On top of the Celestial, two fought on the fallen pillar. 'That's Vala! She's not possessed!' Something floated up connected to hundreds of tentacles that spread around, it held two large blades in its hands. 'Is that it?! It looks like it...' The knight flew toward Vala and the two clashed blades, the strike echoed over the hundreds of buildings. Vala was launched back as the knight stopped in mid-air. Tentacles extended from its back and reached for the tumbling queen. Ajal conjured a double-sided scythe, 'Dark Passage.'

"Prism Slash!" Vala shouted.

Ajal lifted the scythe up and flexed his arm, he breathed in while aiming for the skeleton's body, however, the two continued to move. 'Spirit Sense...' Ajal's third eye flashed and opened wide as it watched the spirit of the knight. 'Spirit Ignition!' He flicked the scythe, it flipped through the air at a high speed, whirling so fast it could be heard. Vala made a single circular swing and slashed multiple tendrils at once, darted forward, and slashed twice more before lunging forward and clashing with the abyssal being once more.

Avery darted across the rubble clad in green electricity, trying to reach the queen, but was thwarted at each turn. She dodged the stomps and slams of giant skeletons on two feet with tails.

The abyssal being was about to lunge forward. The scythe pierced straight into its skull, 'Dark Passage!' Ajal teleported to his scythe, grasping it and kicking the creature. The knight was knocked back, it looked at Ajal carefully before reengaging.

"You!" Vala gasped.

"Rah!" Ajal charged forward and started spinning the double-sided scythe.

Ajal clashed with the eight-foot monstrosity, he tried to use his right arm to fight, as his left was still in pain 'This thing isn't like the other skeletons!' It was a strangely tall skeletal knight, holding two greatswords with its bony hands like nothing, the skeleton wore armor as well as silver aesthetics. The insignia of an apple in front of the roots of a tree. 'Those swords... seem similar to Alexander Rael's... But it has two...' The skeleton wore a crown upon its head as well, its entire body ensnared with tentacles, almost resembling a body. It swung its greatsword down at Ajal, he pivoted to the left as he redirected the strike. The knight missed, but it came to a complete stop, the arm twisted and angled the blade horizontally. 'What!' Ajal spun the scythe and blocked in time, with the handle. However, the knight continued to push the blade, and Ajal's feet dragged across the surface of the fallen tower. Ajal's spirit shivered as he noticed the knight's other arm.

'The other blade-'

Vala clashed with the blade coming to slash Ajal from behind, their backs slammed into each other.

"Thanks-" Ajal turned his head as his third eye opened and glowed. "Dark Blast!"

The purple beam released from his third eye and blasted the armor of the skeletal lord. It quickly raised the greatsword and blocked the beam. A blue figure had climbed up onto the Celestial and charged forward.

"Shura's Array! Fourth Form!" Shina growled with ferocity in her spirit. "Prism Slash!"

Shina disappeared, all Ajal saw was the blue light flashing four times in a single second before she flew forward and cleaved right through the creature's waist. She flew forward at a breakneck speed, landing and dragging her feet against the ground, sliding on her knee and spinning to a stand as she sheathed her blade and exhaled.