Asura watched as the countless horde emerged before his eyes. The storm and fires were clearing up, but as he looked up into the sky, all he could see were the beating wings of wyverns and small black dragons. Their eyes were void of everything but hunger, desiring nothing more than to rip into the flesh of the living. As the drakes, lyndwyrms, and wyrms crawled overtop, the ones close enough spotted the priests, and their stomachs rumbled at the sight of flesh and meat.
"This really won't fucking end, will it?"
Asura prepared to drop Kane, but Rose grabbed hold of his arm,
"Protect Kane. We will deal with this now."
"What? Like hell I'd miss a fight."
Rose stared at Asura with eyes that were unwilling to yield this demand.
"You are exhausted. Rest."
"And you and Mel are half burnt like bacon."
Lydia slammed her fists together as lightning arced from her body to the ground at her feet. Her blessing was going rampant as the quotidian mana poured out from the newly born dragons.
"Don't worry, I can handle a few dragons. That big one was a doozy, but I'm still confident as a Paladin. If anything, all of you should rest."
Rose's weapon crashed into the ground, sinking in from the force.
"I can fight."
Wain sat down and stared at the dragons in the city. Many found perches on the rubble to scout, while others tore through the streets.
"I can't. This one is on you. If I go anymore, I'm a dead man."
As they spoke, a red drake rushed out from the ground, leaping over the rest to bite Rose's head. However, the shot rang out from Mel's shotgun, releasing pellets coated with amber flames that ripped through the drake's head. Half of its head exploded as the pellets carved their way through its scales and body. The drake fell hard, sliding from the momentum to Mel's feet.
Mel kicked the drake's head as blood showered the priests and coated the floor.
"I'm also okay. A little sunburn isn't stop me from getting my payback on that serpent."
Mel blasted a Wyvern out of the air as it swooped from above. The pellets ripped through its wings, sending it tumbling to the floor. Then, another shot followed, finding its way through the head of the wyvern as it tried to recover and push off the ground. Its large body slumped immediately, and Mel smiled.
"Let's get to work, girls."
Mel racked another shot.
"Where the hell is Ash?"
Asura turned to Wain, who was sitting on the ground beside him.
"He's in a building nearby. He's fine. When we left, I made the golem hide him."
The ogre watched as the three women fought against the tide of wyrms and dragons from all directions. Lydia struck the lyndwyrms and wyrms clawing their way towards the group. Their massive jaws opened wide, trying to bite down on her, but she seemed to dance right out of their grasp with her quick footwork.
As they approached, their heads caved from the heavy blows from her fists colliding with their skulls. The martial artist held none of her strength back with her strikes, throwing each one with killing intent. The back-to-back crunching sound of several heads crushed sounded like someone walking on glass to Asura.
Anyone who got past Lydia's relentless attacks was met with Rose's wrecking ball, which left holes through their bodies as it punched through. Black water rose and crashed down onto those swooping down from the sky. The dragons and wyverns punched into the water and were deflected onto the ground, where they crashed and tumbled into rubble.
Mel swapped her gun into an assault rifle with a large drum magazine. The burst of fire illuminated their area and attracted more beasts like moths to a flame. As they soared towards the group, a storm of bullets was sent throughout the air, ripping and tearing through the bodies of the dragons. All around, Asura watched as dragons and wyverns fell to the earth as if they were hunted like ducks.
Their bloody corpses were filled with bullet holes. Before they could pile up upon one another, their lifeless bodies erupted into fires that burnt away everything, leaving nothing behind. Asura couldn't help but find their lives lasted as long as grubs or mayflies. Their lungs would only ever be filled with a few breaths before ceasing to beat shortly after.
The fire attracted increasingly more as time passed, and the holy flames grew brighter. Before they knew it, it felt like the entire corpse of Jormungandr was headed towards the priest's location. Mel braced her gun against her shoulder, repeatedly making round after round to refill her drum magazine, but as hundreds of bullets left the barrel, she found herself running short.
Dragons crashed into the buildings all around. Their bodies slammed into the rubble and bricks, sending debris and dirt down the area. Flames erupted from some of their mouths as they learned to breathe fire or manipulate the elements. Others, like the lyndwyrms, unleashed bolts of lightning that tore through the ground toward the priests.
Lydia struck down anything she could get her hands on. Her fists and legs were drenched in the blood of the dragons. As Lyndwyrms opened their mouths, she stuck her fists into their throats, channeling mana through her arms and causing their heads to explode as lightning ripped through.
Rose deflected the heads of those who started to channel their mana, causing water to rise from geysers and slamming into their heads. The lyndwyrm's and wyrm's heads turned, sending the lightning from their mouths toward their allies. Each bolt punched through the others, causing more eruptions of blood everywhere as their bodies evaporated.
Suddenly, seven angels appeared throughout the horde as Lydia snapped her fingers. The living, she marked with her blessing, were scattered throughout the horde. With a smile, she watched as the giant angelic beings raised their large weapons high. Three of the seven had large hammers they brought down onto groups of the dragons, crushing them under their heavy weight. The angels wielded sickles that swiped through the crowd, cutting them down like grass.
Asura's eyes never left the three as they fought. With every step, shot, and usage of their blessing, he could tell they were becoming sluggish. Everyone was exhausted, and it was only a matter of time before they found the crack in the wall of their adrenaline.
"Judex Divinum destroys the enemies of the righteous and all that is good. Let the blaze of anger consume your heart, but only against those who will never repent. Through Uriel, we are emboldened by his wrath. Go forth, the few, strike down the multitude. For your strength is the Lord's, and it never yields to the wicked."
Suddenly, white flames erupted all around the women. Their mana mixed with Asura's, and their hearts welled with courage and vigor. Lydia's lightning melded and became tinged with the white mana. Mel's amber flames mixed and swirled with the white flame. Inside, Rose's black liquid white flames appeared like stars in the black void of space. As the water touched the skin of the dragons, it scorched them with intense heat as it boiled them alive.
Asura smiled as his fire swelled, and his tattooed runes ignited once more. The Paladin's blood pumped rapidly as their hearts were covered by Uriel's wrath. Their hatred for the evil and wicked took hold of their bodies, and their irises became pure white. The incantation echoed in their ears like a war cry, rallying its troops to stand their ground.
Lydia laughed, and her lightning went into a frenzy. Whipping and tearing its way through everything it touched, leaving only devastation in its path. She channeled her mana into her fists, and with two strikes into the ground, she unleashed a burst of electricity that spread out from her body like roots from a tree. Each branch weaved through the air and tore through the dragons, only stopping when upon striking the buildings on each of her sides.
Hundreds of corpses fell to the ground from the blast, leaving a tiny opening for a quick breath.
"What was that, Asura?"
"No clue, something Uriel left in my head."
"It feels amazing!"
Lydia grabbed hold of the lightning in her hands, whipping two bolts around that tore and incinerated the flesh it came into contact with. The dragons hesitated after watching their brothers and sisters slaughtered with little resistance. To Lydia's surprise, the wyverns and small dragons perched onto the buildings but never moved. Instead, they studied and waited, hoping for an opening to strike.
"They are getting smarter."
"Yeah. I would hope so after you've probably killed thousands of their buddies."
Bullets struck the head of the dragons, sending them falling from their perches and slamming into the ground. The thuds and crunches of their bodies splattering against rubble and pavement made the others fly off.
"They are leaving. We can't let them escape the city. I bet there's still a few survivors throughout."
Lydia nodded and studied the dragons as they started to fly west.
"We split up. I'll hunt down all that I can."
"Wait, I don't know how long the incantation will last. It might run out, and if we are separated, some of us will die. As much as I hate that guy, let's get Ash and stay together."
Wain stood up and pulled out an herb,
"I agree. There are still thousands of dragons throughout the city. Plus, she should be here by now."
Lydia raised an eyebrow,
"Who?"
"Our calvary. Look up."
Asura, Lydia, Mel, Rose, and Wain watched as countless objects appeared in the sky. The ogre's eyes widened at the sight. At first, they looked like birds flocking together in the swarms that almost seemed to blot out the sky. However, as they approached, he could tell they were all falling. Thousands of rocks filled the sky above, resembling small meteorites traveling at high speed down at the city.
"Is that hail?"
"Just wait. It's about to be a firework celebration kind of day."
"What?"
"You ever watch American man?"
"Yeah?"
"It's the fourth of July."
Suddenly, the rocks rained down onto the earth, and as they struck, Asura could tell they were crafted from metal, molded and shaped into large bullets the size of a person. As their nose touched the ground, the shells exploded into balls of fire that consumed the entirety of the street before the group. The first struck before them, and the golden light shimmered and illuminated the entire street.
The wind from the explosion sent their hair flying backward, blowing scorching air over their bodies. To Asura's surprise, no one was shocked, and Lydia even had a large smile on her face.
Mel groaned,
"You gotta be kidding me..."
Lydia laughed as the second explosion followed the first immediately after. Then, the third struck slightly farther down the road. The golden flames coated the entire block, pouring over every structure, but Asura found that whatever the flames touched still remained after it passed over. However, the dragons were evaporated, leaving not even ash behind as it washed over them. The baptism of holy fire was merciless.
"That's awesome!"
Asura smiled from ear to ear. He was in awe of the destructive force. Lydia laughed once again,
"Just wait."
"Why? What's going to-"
Then, the rest landed upon the earth. Thousands of shells struck one after another, following the third in a sequence. Explosion after an explosion erupted, sending wave after wave of intense heat throughout the city. Asura's eyes widened at the explosions rippling like dominos down the body of what used to be Jormungandr.
"Holy shit. I need popcorn. It's like that snake game. Ha, ironic."
The force from the explosions parted the clouds above, revealing the stars in the sky and reminding the group that they had survived the storm. As the explosions rippled throughout the city in every direction he could see, Asura watched the extermination of every dragon, leaving none to survive its wrath.
"Who can do something like this..."
Mel grumbled and crossed her arms,
"My sister."
"What?"
Heels clicked against the pavement behind the group. An angry, somewhat familiar voice asked,
"Why do you say 'sister' as if you hate me?"
Mel groaned again,
"This is exactly why I sent you away. You still haven't managed to mature and outgrow your childish attitude. It seems Captain hasn't been disciplining you enough. Has he grown soft?"
"Really? You're nagging me when your city looks like this?"
Asura turned around and found a tall woman with flowing red hair behind him. Every step the woman took towards the group was graceful, and her back was straight as if she had trained countless hours to maintain such posture. Even Asura could tell from a glance that she was someone of high rank. She wore a fitted dark blue, almost black, military dress shirt with several medals decorating her left breast and fitted unblemished white pants.
The outfit would have seemed normal to Asura if it hadn't been for the blood-red tie around her neck and a dress cap of the same color with golden leaves decorating it, adorning her head. Everything about her demanded authority and total obedience from those underneath her command.
The woman's hazel eyes locked with his. They narrowed, and a frown appeared on her lips as disgust took hold of her face. "Fuck, she's a stuck-up." Asura thought. Asura spat out the holy fire in his mouth, making the woman even more disgusted.
"I never would have thought I'd see the day when my Paladins would have a demon amongst them."
Lydia responded first to try to defuse the situation.
"Wait, Mary, it's not what you think. He came from Mark and with Mel-"
"Stand down, Lydia."
Her eyes blazed with anger. Holy mana poured out from her body, covering the group in an intense blanket that forced them to silence. Asura could feel the mana begin to burn his skin and lungs, but Uriel's mana pushed back against the oppressive force.
"My city is in ruins. Thousands have lost their lives. And yet, here are my officers... playing team up with a demon."
"Mary-"
"Take Kane from its arms."
Rose obeyed without question, grabbing hold of Kane and taking the boy from Asura's arms.
"Look, lady, I don't know who you are, but I can guess. You're the Archknight that runs this... Is that a tank?"
From behind the woman, a large massive vehicle took shape from golden mana like the walls crafted by Ash. However, there was no incantation spoken from her lips. Instead, it seemed to manifest simply from her mana alone.
"I've seen those in shows! That's wicked! Is there a dragon or something?"
Asura looked up into the sky, finding nothing among the stars above.
"Huh."
A fire ignited as he looked back down into the barrel of the large vehicle before him. The ogre watched as a large shell inside was propelled through the barrel, heading directly out from within. The shell blocked the flames, leaving a thin ring of fire around like an eclipse of the moon in front of the sun. However, the thin ring grew brighter and wider. "Wait, if I can see the bullet... that means..."
The large shell shot out, and a loud boom erupted as the shell traveled a short distance into Asura's forehead. A massive explosion rang out, tossing Wain, Lydia, and Mel to the sides. Rose stood out of the way with Kane in her arms and watched as the massive explosion of golden flames consumed Asura in the blast. The woman watched with determined eyes to exterminate the bug in her presence.
Its force whipped Asura's head back, sending him to the ground with the same force the old man struck him with back in the cathedral. A crater was carved by the impact and explosion around the ogre's body like a bowl to hold him. His body slammed hard, sinking deep into the pavement. He laughed but found his lungs ached with every breath and exhale. Asura tried to peel himself out, but his limbs refused to respond.
As he struggled, the woman approached the lip of the bowl. She looked down with the same disgust as before.
"To think a demon could have holy mana... A disgusting existence that should be erased."
"Not a demon... asshole."
The tank fired another round. This time, it struck Asura's chest, and the fire from the explosion consumed both of them. However, Asura watched in horror as she stood firm in flames like some demon from hell watching over its victim. Her eyes never blinked in the fire, and she gazed down upon him with disdain.
A cold sensation washed over his body as the flames doused him again, or rather, his body went numb. His consciousness drifted, and his vision faded into darkness. Leaving the woman from hell as the last sight of this world before entering the cold void.