Although there was no blood on the blade, James whipped his black sword to the side as if he were throwing off blood. His serious demeanor from battle immediately switched to his characteristic arrogant smile. He walked towards Natasha as if there was nothing wrong with his late arrival. As if there was nothing wrong with him taking the black blade.

  “Sorry, I was late. I had to go pick something up,” James said as if he did not have a care in the world. He could have just as easily been talking about picking up a package for a game.

  “Don’t act like nothing is wrong,” Natasha’s eyes narrowed as her voice filled with anger. “Not only are you late to the battle, but I told you that weapon was forbidden!”

  “Yeah, I thought that was kind of a stupid suggestion,” James shrugged nonchalantly. “We are up against a powerful adversary. Why wouldn’t I use everything at my disposal?”

  “You don’t get to talk to Natasha that way,” Joe said as he leveled his spear.

  “What are you gonna do about it?” One of James’s subordinates said as he walked toward Joe with his chest held high. “We have you outnumbered.”

  “Calm down, both of you,” James said. “There is no reason for us to fight. I chose to do this, and I know the consequences.”

  “You sure don’t act like it,” Natasha said. “What are we going to do if you end up just like them?”

  “Then you kill me,” James said flatly. “I am prepared to die if it means the future of humanity is safe.”

  Natasha was taken aback by the response. She was speechless for a moment. That was not the sort of answer she expected. “Are you sure that’s what you want?”

  “Completely sure,” James nodded. “I will tell Austin the same thing.”

  “Fine,” Natasha said as she stomped her foot and crossed her arms. “I’m still not happy about this, but I guess there is no point in arguing further.”

  “As long as you accept it,” James said before he turned away from Natasha. “With that, we should probably get moving.”

  James’s subordinates quickly formed behind him as he finished speaking. James quickly kicked off into a dash up the hill with his subordinates following close behind. Before Natasha could say anything else to them, they were already too far.

  “Are you sure that was wise?” Joe asked Natasha as he watched the group run up the hill.

  “I’m really not sure,” Natasha said with a frown. “But I don’t think we have a choice.”

  ***

  Austin and his group grew closer to the top of the hill. Just a little more, and they would make it to Chet. As they ran, the beasts started to pursue the group more actively. The beasts must have realized Austin’s goal and that they needed to stop them before they reached Chet.

  Josh took the back of the group as they realized the beasts were not stopping their pursuit. He started to fall behind the group as he periodically slowed and turned to face the beasts. As he did, a bluish white wind twisted in his hand in a ball shape. He tossed the ball high into the air. The ball flew high over the oncoming beasts and then exploded into wind shaped like curved blades. The blades fell on the beasts like rain. They were not outright killed by the attack but were wounded and slowed.

  As Josh felt satisfied by his attack, he quickly turned back around and followed the group. He knew that it was best if the group kept together. He probably could have stopped and finished off the beasts, but that would have delayed him. He could not be sure what further support Austin needed.

  As Josh caught up with the group, Chet finally came into sight. He looked to be much larger than before, not quite the size of one of the oversized gorillas but definitely larger than a regular human. It was also obvious that he went through a wild new metamorphosis. His hair had turned snow white, and his body was now covered in red and purple scales. The scales ran up his entire body to the bottom of his face. Growing from his forehead were two long purple horns. His new features and the fact that he sat on a gnarled wooden throne had given him the appearance of a demon king.

  Standing next to the throne was Andrea. She, too, had transformed. Her hair was the same stark white as Chet’s, and her skin was covered in the same scales. She did not have horns like Chet but had fleshy wings growing from her back, similar to a bat’s wings.

  Two strange creatures stood guard in front of Chet and Andrea. The only thing that made sense to Austin was that the creatures were originally human. The pair looked like they used to be human but had been transformed. Both of the creatures had long claws, sharp teeth, and pointed ears. One of them was large and muscular with red skin. It had long, unkempt white hair. The other creature was thin and had purple skin. It had the same long white hair. Unlike the red creature, it had four long tendrils protruding from its back. Austin could not be sure how, but it seemed like Chet had obtained two demon minions.

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  Before the group could arrive at Chet, the bodyguards moved into action. The pair raced down the hill faster than any of the beasts they had encountered. As they raced down the hill, Gavin and Josh started to move into action to stop them.

  Gavin was the first to move. Metallic silver crawled across his body until his entire body was coated in silver. Then, with a burst of Essence, he moved at incredible speed towards the red demon. As the red demon realized Gavin’s intent, he threw a punch as he charged towards him. As Gavin approached, he also threw a punch. The two punches hit each other in the face and knocked each other backward.

  Josh did not have the same speed as Gavin and had to intercept the purple demon in a different way. He channeled his Essence through his sword. Wind began to gather around the sword before he swung it. The swing sent out a wide-bladed arc of wind at the purple demon. The purple demon did not slow as the attack came. Instead, it pushed against the ground with its tendrils and sent itself flying into the air. As it landed, it threw a punch at Josh, which he quickly blocked with his sword. Immediately, Josh noticed that the demon’s skin was hard. The blade did not even make a scratch on the demon as the punch came in contact with the sword.

  “Keep going!” Josh and Gavin yelled in unison.

  Austin and Maya did not even nod in recognition. The pair just kept running. They knew that if they slowed for even a moment, they could get caught in the fight with the demons. They had to have faith that Josh and Gavin could fight them off.

  It was not much further to Chet and Andrea. Gavin and Josh entered an intense battle with the two demons, which allowed Austin and Maya to easily run past them. Once they finally arrived at the throne, the pair started to slow. They knew that the final battle was about to start, and each of them entered a battle stance immediately.

  “Well, well, well. I have been waiting for this,” Chet said with a smile. His sharp teeth were now overgrown and protruded outside of his mouth. “Ever since that day, I have been waiting to kill you. And I know you feel the same.”

  “Yes,” Austin said flatly as Essence formed around his arm. The silver light of his Essence wrapped around his arm like a web until it shattered like glass to reveal his shield. “I can’t say I am happy about it, but we are destined to fight each other.”

  “I am so happy you feel the same!” Chet let out a bellowing laugh as he stood from his chair. “We are too different! Neither of us can live while the other lives!”

  “Well, if they are gonna fight. We probably should,” Andrea looked towards Maya with a grin.

  “Fine by me,” Maya said as she drew her axe. “I came here to fight you.”

  “At least we are in agreement,” Andrea said as she drew her knife. “No hard feelings. Just the way things have to be.”

  “I can’t say I agree,” Maya said as Essence flowed through her body. Her body began to be covered with fur as her hands grew into long claws and her teeth grew into long fangs. “I definitely have hard feelings against you.”

  At that, the two stopped talking and kicked off the ground towards each other. Maya brought her arm back to prepare for a swing of her axe while Andrea stabbed forward with her knife. As they grew closer, the pair realized their adversary’s weapon was closing in and quickly stopped their attacks to jump out of the way. As they landed, they each prepared to continue fighting. Andrea was the first to close the gap; her knife moved in wild strikes as Maya dodged them. Maya knew that she would have a harder time finding an opening because of Andrea’s swiftness. So, she took her time to analyze and dodge the attacks until she could.

  ***

  Chet let out a bellowing roar as vicious flame-like Essence enveloped the area with him at the center. His purple and red Essence blended in a torrent of wild colors. Austin covered his face for a moment as the Essence splashed against him. It did not seem to have any debilitating effect besides the fact that it just felt wrong. It enveloped Austin’s sense, and he swore the smell of rotting eggs hit his nose.

  Austin quickly regained his composure from the intense smell when he realized that Chet started to charge him. Chet’s axe was raised high while he charged like a wild boar. As the axe came towards Austin, he threw his shield forward to block the attack. Cracks of Essence shot out in every direction as the two weapons hit each other. Limbs of nearby trees crashed to the ground as the cracks struck it like bolts of lightning. The force of the clash threw both of their arms backward.

  Chet recovered his stance quicker than Austin and swung his axe in a wide arc. Austin quickly regained his balance but did not have much time as the swing came at him. Austin was forced to duck underneath the swing. Austin quickly followed up by filling his shield with Essence and throwing a powerful uppercut at Chet’s gut. A flash of silver light exploded as Austin hit, but, to his shock, Chet did not even move.

  Austin looked up at Chet with wide eyes. Chet was smiling with a wicked grin as he looked down on Austin. Before Austin knew it, Chet’s axe already came down on him. He let out a scream as the axe sank into his shoulder. Before the axe went too deep, Austin sent a surge of Essence throughout his body and pushed his good arm against it. The two pushed against each other with all their might. Austin gritted through the pain as they faced off against each other. If he let the axe go any further, then he would be in serious trouble. For a moment, he felt like the axe was going to go further, and he knew he had to do something. With all his might, he threw his entire body weight upward. The maneuver threw Chet off balance and forced him to let go of the axe as he tumbled backward.

  Austin backed away from Chet to give himself a moment to breathe. As he did, he tore the axe out of his shoulder. The pain surged through him as he did, and he could not help but wince. Once he had the axe in hand, he sent a wave of Essence from his arm and threw it as far as he could.

  “There, that annoyance is out of the way,” Austin grinned through the pain as he watched the axe fly.