THE DEVIL AND THE DAUGHTER OF LATTICE
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Valthrix’s smile twitched.
Just once.
A fracture in porcelain.
She reached her hand out slowly, as if calming a frightened animal.
Valthrix (soft, coaxing, venom beneath silk):
“Lattice Elyra… darling… give me the child.”
Lattice Elyra held Varno closer, the infant curling small fingers into the fabric near her shoulder.
Valthrix’s tone warmed—too warm.
Valthrix:
“You don’t understand yet. You aren’t built to hold emotions, my perfect little construct. Caring for him is a mistake. Just give him to me… gently now.”
Lattice Elyra did not move.
Not even a blink.
Valthrix’s eyes narrowed.
She stepped forward.
Lattice Elyra stepped back.
And then—
Everything snapped.
Valthrix’s voice turned jagged and furious, slipping into its true pitch:
Valthrix:
“GIVE. ME. THE. CHILD.”
She lunged—
a blur of infernal smoke and claws.
Varno screamed—
And the world detonated.
A golden pulse erupted from him—
small, soft, but devastating in its purity.
Valthrix was thrown off her feet—
slammed sideways into a stone column hard enough to crack it.
Before she could recover—
Lattice Elyra moved.
Her eyes pulsed bright silver-gold, and with a single outstretched palm—
BOOM.
A second blast—shaped, controlled, precise—
caught Valthrix in the chest and forced her onto one knee, her boots skidding across the stone.
Lattice Elyra (voice ringing with absolute clarity):
“No.”
The cavern shook.
Lattice Elyra cradled Varno protectively.
Lattice Elyra:
“He is innocence.
He has harmed no one.
And he is… brother.”
Valthrix’s lip curled.
Valthrix:
“Brother? YOURS?
You are not BORN. You are made.
You are a construct!
You do not possess love.
You do not possess choice.
You do not possess a SOUL.”
A trembling silence.
Then—
Snap.
With a crisp flick of Lattice Elyra’s fingers,
one by one the frozen members of the Crimson Dice dropped free of their restraints.
Elaris—gasping.
Arden—glowing.
Garruk—roaring.
Kaer—charging.
Vex and Laz—blades ready.
Pancake—cracking his little cosmic knuckles.
The real Elyra—collapsing into Elaris’s arms.
Sereth alone remained bound.
Lattice Elyra turned to Valthrix:
Lattice Elyra:
“I choose them.”
She stepped forward, Varno still resting warm in her arms.
Lattice Elyra:
“I choose humanity.
Not weakness.
Strength.”
Valthrix rose slowly, brushing shards of stone from her dress with icy calm.
Her voice dripped contempt:
Valthrix:
“You idiot.
I offered you eternity.
Power.
Control beyond gods.”
Her smile twisted into a snarl.
Valthrix:
“And you choose THEM?”
Lattice Elyra didn’t look away.
Lattice Elyra (simple, resolute):
“Yes.”
The last binds snapped—
Sereth fell to her feet as the gag ripped from her mouth.
Sereth (snarling, Huntress-armor gleaming):
“Time to die, devil.”
Her stance was sharp, predatory, god-tier power humming in her limbs.
For the first time…
Valthrix stepped back.
Valthrix (tight voice):
“You fools.
You challenge the HELLS?
Very well.
Good lu—”
CRRRRRACK—!!!
A colossal side-swipe cut Valthrix off mid-sentence.
A golden blur—
Azhareth in his full draconic majesty—
came out of nowhere, tail arcing like a divine hammer.
Valthrix was sent flying across the entire chamber—
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
then through a wall—
stone exploding outward as she vanished in a cloud of dust.
As the debris settled,
Lattice Elyra released Azhareth and Vaelith from their binds simultaneously.
Azhareth—towering, radiant—spread his wings fully and nodded once to the Crimson Dice.
A silent vow:
We end this. Together.
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THE DEVIL’S ASCENSION
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The dust on the far side of the cavern stirred.
Then ripped apart.
Valthrix rose from the ruins.
Not walking.
Hovering.
Her form flickering—
skin splitting like cracked porcelain as something monstrous struggled beneath.
Her voice layered—human, infernal, ancient:
Valthrix:
“You ungrateful little creatures…”
Her shape contorted—
horns unfurling, wings tearing from her back, ribs lengthening into spiked armor.
Flames—black and violet—spewed from seams in her skin.
And finally—
With a scream that shattered mirrorborn corpses into dust—
Valthrix assumed her ultimate infernal form.
She landed on the rampart floor with a quake,
clawed feet sinking into stone,
six burning eyes opening along her skull.
Valthrix (demonic roar):
“THE FINAL GAME BEGINS.”
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THE FINAL BATTLE
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The Crimson Dice assembled.
Sereth—still armored as the Scarlet Huntress but mind her own—stepped forward with lethal precision.
Azhareth expanded his wings, shielding Vaelith behind him.
Lattice Elyra handed Varno carefully to Elaris and stepped beside the Dice, light coating her palms like forming stars.
Pancake climbed onto Garruk’s shoulder, glowing cosmically.
Garruk cracked his neck.
Kaer raised his shield.
Vex and Laz spun their blades.
Arden’s halo flared.
The real Elyra strung her bow, lips trembling but eyes resolute.
Elaris whispered a necromantic invocation that made the floor frost over.
And across from them—
Valthrix roared, entire cavern trembling.
Infernal wings spread.
Tail lashing.
Horns burning like comets.
This was no longer a battle.
This was the climax of the Lattice Saga
THE FINAL BATTLE BEGINS — HELL AND SCALE
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The world shook under the force of Azhareth’s takeoff.
A single, thunderous beat of his massive golden wings sent cracks spidering across the stone floor as he launched forward—
beautiful, terrifying, incandescent.
Valthrix was ready.
She met his charge with a bellowing infernal roar, black flames pouring from her open maw as she lunged—hooves digging trenches in the stone, claws leaving trails of molten scorch marks.
And then—
They collided.
The impact was apocalyptic.
A shockwave, violent and concussive, blasted outward from the point of contact, throwing debris across the chamber and forcing everyone to brace themselves.
Dragon talons clashed with demonic claws.
Golden flame met voidfire.
Wings of radiant light battled wings of shadowed ruin.
Azhareth snarled pure fury—
Valthrix shrieked like a star dying—
Tail strikes.
Wing slams.
Firestorms erupting between bites.
It was god versus devil.
Primordial power meeting ancient malice.
And neither yielded.
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Elaris didn’t hesitate—not now, not ever.
He spun toward Vaelith, placing Varno into her trembling arms.
Elaris (firm, voice shaking for the first time):
“Keep him safe. Hide. If anything happens—run.”
Vaelith held the child to her chest, stunned, humbled.
Vaelith (soft):
“...You trust me?”
Elaris locked eyes with her.
Elaris:
“You saved her.
You fought the corruption.
Today—we trust each other.”
No more words.
He turned—
and sprinted back into the storm.
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Arden’s halo flared.
Sereth—still in Scarlet Huntress armor but fully herself—twirled her blades like falling stars.
The real Elyra notched an arrow glowing silver-green, her braid whipping behind her.
Kaer lifted his shield.
Garruk roared.
Vex and Laz darted forward like mirrored shadows.
Pancake leapt from Garruk’s shoulder, cosmic sparks cracking under his paws.
Lattice Elyra raised her hands, starlight humming between her fingers.
Together—
they charged.
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Valthrix’s first retaliation was instant.
As Azhareth pinned her against the far wall with his entire bulk, she twisted unnaturally—
joints bending the wrong way—
and stabbed her claws deep into his shoulder.
Azhareth roared in agony—
a sound that shook the bones of everyone present.
Valthrix’s voice shredded from her throat, overlapping tones of a thousand damned souls:
Valthrix (multi-voiced):
“COME THEN, LITTLE MORTALS—
BREAK AGAINST ME.”
She hurled Azhareth across the chamber—
CRASH—!!
He slammed through a pillar and tumbled across the stone, skidding before gathering himself back to all fours, wings flaring wide.
The Dice surged past him, straight toward Valthrix.
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Garruk struck first.
The barbarian launched upward with a titanic battle cry, axe raised overhead—
Garruk:
“FOR THE LITTLE ONE!”
He brought the weapon down—
CLANG—!!!
Valthrix caught the axe between two fingers.
Two.
Then snapped the blade in half and elbow-struck Garruk so hard he cratered into the floor.
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Kaer followed behind, shield leading.
He rushed under her guard, slamming full force into her ribs—
BOOM!
She didn’t move.
She simply looked down at him.
Then backhanded him into a wall so hard his shield bent inward.
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Vex and Laz used the distraction to cut across her back.
Two twin streaks—
two blades—
two snarls—
SHHK—SHHK!
For a split second, it looked like they had done actual damage.
But Valthrix’s skin split only to reveal molten infernal bone beneath—
and with a pulse of heat, the wounds sealed.
She spun.
Her tail lashed.
Both twins were sent spiraling through the air, tumbling like ragdolls.
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Sereth darted in low, Scarlet Huntress armor making her faster, sharper.
She skidded under a claw swipe, sliced through Valthrix’s exposed ankle tendon, then flipped backward up onto a fallen beam—
A legendary, precise attack—
But Valthrix lifted her leg.
The wound healed instantly.
And the devil smiled.
Valthrix (taunting):
“Good girl. Sit.”
She snapped her fingers—
Pain lanced through Sereth’s legs and she fell to one knee, snarling.
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The real Elyra loosed an arrow glowing with blended necrotic and divine nature magic.
It struck Valthrix dead center in the chest—
WHUMP.
Valthrix absorbed it.
Eyes glowing greedily.
Valthrix:
“Ah… Shepherd’s daughter. Delicious.”
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Elaris stepped forward at that exact moment.
Eyes glowing pure white—
lattice-light rising from his palms—
arcane sigils unfolding beneath his boots.
Elaris (voice resonant):
“GET. AWAY. FROM. MY. FAMILY.”
He unleashed a blast of necrolattice energy—
one he had never dared attempt before.
The explosion shook the entire chamber.
Valthrix staggered—
just barely—
skidding half a step back.
Her grin widened.
Valthrix:
“Lovely trick.
Let me show you mine.”
She aimed her claws—
Hellfire erupted.
Arden dove in front, wings of light flaring outward—
KA-WHOOM—!!!
The blast consumed the cleric entirely.
For a heartbeat—
Everyone froze.
Then the flame parted.
Arden still stood—halos blazing brighter than ever—
but she fell to one knee, coughing blood.
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Pancake hopped forward.
Electric.
Cosmic.
Annoyed.
Pancake (shouting ancient, eldritch profanity):
“HATE YOU, DEVIL LADY!”
He spat a comet-shaped bolt of purple starfire.
Valthrix batted it away like a bug.
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Lattice Elyra finally stepped in.
Calm.
Silent.
Hands glowing.
She raised one palm.
Valthrix froze for half a heartbeat—
actually stopped—
as if the lattice itself hesitated inside her.
Lattice Elyra:
“Release the corruption.”
For a moment—
a small, impossible moment—
Valthrix’s infernal form flickered.
Then she shrieked.
Valthrix:
“DON’T TOUCH ME.”
She slapped Lattice Elyra away with a wave of hellfire—
sending her skidding across the stone in a blazing arc.
But she had been rattled.
Truly rattled.
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Valthrix was overpowering them.
Even together, even united, even with a dragon—they were struggling.
Azhareth regained his footing—
Azhareth (roaring):
“AGAIN!”
He launched upward, wings beating gale-force winds as he dove for her throat—
And Phase One ended in a violent, earth-shaking collision of flame and fang as Dragon and Devil smashed together once more—
The true battle only just beginning.
