1.4 Labor of Love?

The air grew thick with tension as the two sorcerers stood before the team. The male sorcerer grinned, his dark, liquid-like magic bubbling up from his hands. The black ooze dripped from his fingers, morphing into grotesque demon familiars that snarled and snapped at the group, their shapes constantly shifting between half-formed beasts and wicked tentacles. The female sorcerer hovered just above, her ravens swirling around her in a cacophony of flapping wings and harsh caws. She laughed, commanding the ravens to dive toward the team. They morphed mid-flight, feathers extending into razor-sharp talons, their forms growing more monstrous with each passing second.

“Spread out!” Lem barked as he dove behind a half-collapsed wall. 

Raena, still in her human form, sprinted to the side, her sword drawn and ready. Saba rolled behind a piece of debris, her plasma cannon charging with energy. Daphnis and Isamu flanked the opposite side, preparing to engage.

The male sorcerer sent his liquid familiars surging forward, their forms twisting and growing with every step. One of the demons lunged at Isamu, but with a quick leap, he dodged to the side and fired his rifle into its mass. The creature shrieked as the bullets tore through it, but instead of falling, it morphed again, rising taller and more menacing.

“They just keep changing!” Isamu shouted.

Raena spun toward one of the familiars, her claws slicing through its gelatinous form. The familiar howled as it split apart, but even as it hit the ground, the dark liquid began to reform. She cursed under her breath and sidestepped a second familiar, narrowly avoiding its lashing tendrils. 

"These things won’t stay down for long!"

Meanwhile, the female sorceress screeched, sending her ravens diving toward Saba, their forms hulking and beastly. Saba aimed her cannon and blasted one out of the air, its body disintegrating in a fiery explosion. But for each one she shot down, two more seemed to rise in its place, their bodies growing larger and more vicious.

As the team fought, the sorcerers seemed to revel in the chaos, their magic growing stronger. The male sorcerer raised his arms, and the dark liquid spread across the ground like a wave, seeping into the cracks and forming barriers to trap the team in. His familiars multiplied, their eyes glowing with malice as they closed in from every direction.

On the other side of the battlefield, the female sorceress cackled and began to morph. Her body twisted, feathers erupting from her skin, her arms elongating into razor-sharp wings. Her ravens circled around her, fusing with her form until she became a monstrous, raven-like beast. With a shriek, she dove at the team, her massive wings buffeting the air as she slashed at them with her talons.

"We can’t keep this up!" Daphnis shouted, blasting away one of the liquid familiars as it tried to reform.

Lem glanced around, searching for a way to turn the tide. His eyes locked onto Saba, who had her plasma cannon trained on the sorcerers. 

“Saba, can you hit them with something bigger?” he asked, ducking as a massive winged demon flew overhead.

Saba nodded, her eyes narrowing. “I’ve got a more concentrated version of the plasma beam, it drains my energy supply severely, and it’ll take a moment.”

“Do it," said Lem without hesitation.

"I cannot guarantee 100% efficiency, we don't know how invulnerable they might prove to it," she noted.

"If your plasma beam shoots the same as our rifles, then we need only to keep firing at them until their defenses collapse, do it!"

Saba nodded and jumped a considerable distance away from the fight, her cannon barrel switched into a previously unseen version, one with a more focused and thin cylinder as if its design was meant to pressure the light plasma into it and force it as a concentrated beam.

"Isamu, Daphnis, Raena, we need to draw their attention,” Lem said, stepping out of cover. “Saba’s about to hit them with everything she’s got.”

The team sprang into action. Isamu leaped toward the female sorceress in her raven form, distracting her with a flurry of gunfire while Daphnis summoned her bees, sending them swarming toward the male sorcerer. Raena charged toward the male sorcerer with a roar, her sword raised high.

"Go go go go!" Lem yelled as he fired repeatedly against the male sorcerer, drawing closer and closer as he readied his energy sword, "Don't let them think about anything else but y—"

Lem suddenly miscalculated. He stepped out too far, and a tendril of dark liquid lashed out from the male sorcerer, catching him in the chest. He was flung backward, crashing into a pile of rubble. Dark energy pulsed through his body, causing his vision to blur, but just as he was about to be overwhelmed. 

He noticed how Daphnis grabbed his arm and dragged him to safety behind some rubble. 

“Not yet,” she whispered, her bees stinging him gently, their venom numbing his pain and clearing his mind. “Let's see this to the end!”

Lem groaned, but he pushed himself up, "R-right! I promise I'm not letting myself get caught on purpose." 

"I know, none of us are," Daphnis said as she shot the goo with her pistol, drawing it away.

Lem realized his rifle was now beyond reach, well behind the encroaching tendrils created by the male sorcerer. Worse even, his attempt had alerted gooish hands of a possible attack. The boy shook his head, checked his pistol, and beamed his energy sword, “Let’s finish this.”

With Saba’s cannon finally charged, she shouted, “Get clear!” The team scattered as Saba unleashed a massive burst of plasma. The shot tore through the battlefield, disintegrating the male sorcerer’s familiars and striking him directly. He screamed as the dark liquid began to boil and bubble, his body twisting and contorting as the magic turned against him.

The female sorcerer seemed to shriek in pain as her body contorted in the air, losing any form of momentum in the air and just dropping like a dead bird, crashing to the ground. 

The team's faces slowly smiled as they panted, releasing some of the tension and alertness they had built up during the fight, Lem let out a huge sigh, hoping this would be the end.

"Did... did that do it?" Isamu asked, lowering his rifle. 

"Stay alert!" Raena yelled, "When sorcerers come in pairs, it's because there is a budding romance between them!"

Lem turned to the draconic girl, unsure of what he heard or what she meant. Raena glanced back and rolled her eyes, annoyed, as if explaining herself was unnecessary.

"It means that they must have some super secret attack!"

The male sorcerer, struggling to keep himself knelt, stretched his hand towards his fallen comrade. 

"Ravina..." he uttered, his eyes softening as a dark liquid shot like a water sprout towards her.

The female sorcerer, in turn, reached out with her hand as she lay on the ground, "My love, Umba..."

The dark goo connected and she was violently pulled towards the male sorcerer, their bodies crashing against each other. They exchanged glances, and an eerie smile cracked in their faces, followed by a dark cackle that echoed across the central area of the mall as dark liquid and countless feathers created a tornado of darkness around them.

"Hey Lem!" Isamu called. His friend slowly turned to him, "This is the second stage, bro!"

"Yeah, no shit!" Lem said, "I wish it had only been on stage!"

The tornado dissipated, sucked by the new amalgamation that was reveled in the two sorcerer's union. Their bodies merged into a horrific, raven-like blob, a monstrous mass of feathers, tendrils, and molten darkness. The fused creature let out an ear-splitting screech as it grew in size, towering over the team. 

The monster laughed grotesquely, "BEAR WITNESS, TO THE MARRIAGE OF OUR MAGICS!"

It laughed as it began to slither, slowly towards the team, uttering strange and obscure chants that growled within it as it dissonated with the laugh.

"H-how are we supposed to beat that thing?" Daphnis said, recoiling in fear.

"Saba?" Lem called, looking behind them.

However, the android was now on her knees, her unusual sensor-like ears now venting steam as she looked exhausted, depleted even.

Lem cursed as he considered his options, "Selena! Can you cast your shadow spell over us?"

Selena simply shook her head as she dodged an attack from one of the monster's tendrils, "I have used most of my mana to cheat death several times now, it will not be enough! Besides, I feel like that thing can see our magic even if cloaked."

Lem began to feel like he came into the fight unprepared, or as if he had chosen to use his strongest cards and skills on an enemy whose capabilities he was unsure.

The monster released a cloud of hovering feathers that floated in front of it before veering towards the team. As Selena dodged once more, she realized the feathers turned in her direction, and she felt two painful darts piercing her leg and shoulder. 

Selena collapsed on the floor. Daphnis rushed to her side as she attempted to drag the dark elf, but the blob was almost over them as the bee girl covered the wounded Selena in a final, desperate attempt to shield her.

For a moment, hope seemed lost, but then Raena’s eyes glowed with determination. Her body began to shimmer.

"Ah, yes, just in the nick of time," she said, grinning, as her pupils slit and her teeth began to grow into fangs.

In a massive puff, she transformed back into her dragon form and rammed the blob with all her strength. With a mighty roar, she plummeted the monster to the ground, her claws tearing into its flesh. The monster shrieked in pain for mere seconds before hitting the dragon with a tentacle, sending Raena's gigantic body near the edge of the Spire.

Now the bulbous creature stood in the middle of the team, Raena on one side, and the rest on the other. It roared as it raised its bigger tentacles triumphantly.

The Spire began to glow and pulsate, surprising Raena as her eyes widened, realizing what it meant.

"HUR HUR HUR," the monster growled, "THAT SOUND... OUR DEMON LORD IS SENDING ANOTHER WAVE OF WARRIORS AS WE SPEAK... YOU SEE THAT, WORTHLESS SCUM? THAT IS THE SOUND OF YOUR DOOM..."

Lem gritted his teeth as he felt the situation getting more and more desperate. He rushed to Saba, reaching her with a few leaps, and knelt before her. Isamu rushed to fire at the monster while Raena brawled with its tentacles. Daphnis also managed to drag Selena and treat her, albeit partially, as she too felt like going down due to the expense of her mana.

"Saba," Lem urged, glancing at the others, "We need another shot of those, tell me you can do it!"

"Unable... to... comply..." she said, losing power, "Light magic source has been almost depleted, deactivation of mainframe functions... inevitable..."

"Come on Saba!" Lem begged, "There must be a way we can supply more power to you, just enough for you to make that shot!"

An explosion drew their attention, as Raena had begun to fire her green breath at the monster, who shrieked in pain. Lem turned back to the android.

"You see that? If you both concentrate your power, you can bring it down... what can we do?"

Saba's eyes robotically looked at him, considering him, then back to seeing a blank point in space, "There is a way... but you won't like it..."

"Let's do it!" Lem said anxiously, "What do you need?"

"You won't... comply..."

"SABA!" Lem said, grabbing her face, "I said I'll do it, what do you need? My blood?!" 

The boy's eyes raged with determination. At that moment, his mind rushed with all the possible things the android would ask to regain her strength. However, his mind went blank when he felt Saba's hand holding him from the back of his neck, her fingers pressing with her debilitated strength. The android's eyes turned to him again—rather, a particular place in his face, right below his nose.

"Initiating mind meld..." she said, and she pressed his lips against hers. Lem was not ready for this, as something deep in him now fully blossomed. It was a wish, a desire—a dream. 

His mind rushed to all those times he had seen a girl in the train station and wondered what would be like to have a life beside her, as well as all those times he saw a girl in class being nice to him, and he hopelessly wondering all the possible "What ifs" in his life. Isamu called him a 4D, 5D, and even 6D chess player, but little did he know that was a curse, for not only did he dream of a simple high school relationship, but he went far and beyond, even as to picture their bedridden deaths, where the faceless girl laid beside him, holding hands, and together exhaling one final time.

All those conjectures were slowly erased like realities being destroyed, his mind now invaded by the consciousness of a girl android that sucked his mouth relentlessly like a pro kisser. Just as his many fantasies slipped away, so too did his strength fade, until he could no longer stand on his own and he remained in the embracing hands of Saba's power suit.

In the meantime, Daphnis and Selena looked at the kissing pair, seeing how Lem's initial resistance rapidly crumbled and he hung on Saba's increasingly stronger arms. 

"W-what?!" Daphnis yelled, "How? Why? What?!"

"Gross..." Selena said, "Who knew you were an indecent construct, Saba?"

Saba took about a dozen seconds to suck dry the poor beanie boy before carefully placing him on the floor. Lem's eyes were a spiral, his face was red, and his mouth panted incessantly.

"My maker, a hero of the ages in my world, ensured that I would power myself from the emotions of 'help up romanticism syndrome'. Knowing HUS was predominant in unpopular males, it was incredibly wise of him to make it so that I could power up in case of an emergency."

Selena's eyes tensed in aversion, "What kind of hero comes up with something so convoluted... so... twisted?"

"My maker was the first to detect this grave syndrome but managed to turn it into a tool for us to fight demons, I wish he could see me use it," Saba said, regretful.

She felt Lem's hand gently grabbing her ankle as he mustered the strength to ask, "D-did that do it?"

Saba insensibly nodded.

"More than enough... all your dreams and hopes, Lem... they have powered my heroic core to its maximum... turbo laser activated." She said, standing up.

Lem smiled, faintly, "I-I'm glad," as he seemingly expired.

"Lem! Lem!" Daphnis reacted, shaking the body as she tried to materialize one more bee to resuscitate him, to no avail.

Lem's tender smile, however, refused to fade.

Saba aimed her cannon once more, this time charging it to its maximum capacity. “Emotional conversion... completed! Stand back!” she shouted as she locked onto the creature’s head.

Raena lunged, sinking her teeth into the monster’s neck, holding it in place as she once more managed to plunge the creature to the ground. 

Saba fired her shot, the plasma beam slicing through the air and striking the creature’s head. It shrieked in agony, but Raena held firm, her claws digging deeper until the massive blob began to collapse in on itself.

With one final, guttural scream, the fused creature fell, its body dissolving into a pool of dark liquid and feathers. 

As the fused monster of the two sorcerers, a grotesque raven-like blob, let out its final, tormented screech, it crashed into the ground with a resounding thud. The impact sent shockwaves through the mall, cracks splintering across the floor. The dark energy that had fueled the Spire faltered, flickering violently as its power waned.

Suddenly, the portal within the Spire began to swirl in reverse, pulling everything toward it like a black hole. Dozens of demonic shapes, once ready to cross over into Earth, were yanked backward, their snarls and cries silenced as they were thrust into the collapsing void.

The mall shook violently as the Spire’s structure began to crumble, the cursed vines and demonic tendrils that had plagued the area rapidly withering away. Huge chunks of stone and metal broke off, tumbling into the abyss as the portal shrank. With one final flash of malevolent light, the Spire imploded, sealing itself shut with a resounding, echoing crash.

The battlefield fell silent, the demonic presence wiped out, and the mall left eerily still in the aftermath.

The battle was won.

As the team caught their breath, Lem's beanie pulsated with life, scaring Daphnis as she dragged herself back. 

Unnoticed until now, they began to twitch, and then black tendrils sprouted from it, raising Lem's motionless body and advancing down towards the remains of the sorcerers. 

"Lem!" Daphnis yelled, but the scene seemingly paralyzed her. She was unsure if it was her own exhaustion or the sheer shock she felt upon seeing the beanie morph.

"Lem! What are you doing?" Isamu yelled, before seeing his eyes were closed and it was his beanie acting on its own volition, "What the hell?!"

Saba stood stoically from her vantage point, but something within her stirred as she suddenly feared that she may have sucked on a dangerous HUS source.

The tendrils latched onto the destroyed remains of the head, and Lem gasped, then opened his eyes as his mind was flooded with knowledge—secrets of the invasion, the demons' plans, and the sorcerers' power.

His eyes glowed white for a moment before the tendrils latched onto the monster's mass and retracted back into his beanie. He staggered, clutching his head as the newfound knowledge swirled within him, but then the other tendrils that served as support also retracted, and his lifeless body was placed again in the ground.

Lem's ears only picked up vague and distant cries of his name, as his eyes spotted figures rushing to his side, all the while his mind fully harnessing the information of two minds within the army of the United Demon Realms.