"The Supreme Commander is here to help us!" a soldier shouted. Helios looked at him with a faint, chilling smile and continued walking.
"Supreme Commander, are you going to help the others?" another soldier asked, stepping closer.
"I have something important to do," Helios replied. He channeled spiral energy into his legs and vanished in a blur, Zyla trailing closely behind him.
"Your Majesty, why are you joining the war?" Zyla asked as they streaked across the battlefield.
"I'm not joining the war. I'm just here to see a friend," Helios said, his voice dropping into a menacing, low growl. "And to kill him."
"Do you mean the person floating above the castle?" Zyla asked, her eyes narrowing.
"Yes. That guy," Helios confirmed, their speed increasing until they were little more than streaks of light.
Below them, an Aethelgard soldier pointed at the sky. "Shoot him!" The squad opened fire on the Twelfth Apostle, but he didn't even glance their way. He simply leveled his hand.
"Bang," he whispered. Green lightning struck the soldiers instantly, leaving their charred bodies smoking on the ground. "Even the flies are buzzing around me today," the Apostle mused.
Suddenly, Helios appeared directly in front of him, his face a mask of cold fury. He landed a heavy punch that sent the Apostle hurtling toward the ground. Zyla was already waiting below; she intercepted his fall with a brutal strike that sent him flying into the castle wall, creating a massive crater.
Helios landed gracefully on the cobblestones, glancing at the wreckage. "It seems he's weaker than expected," he remarked to Zyla.
"Human, it seems you have a death wish, fighting an Apostle," Circlet's voice hissed inside Helios's head.
"You said I couldn't fight an Apostle on the plane, but look—he's on the ground," Helios thought back, pointing toward the wall. But when he looked, the crater was empty.
"Not even going to say hello?" the Twelfth Apostle's voice drifted from directly behind Helios.
Helios spun around, but the Apostle was faster, catching him with a kick reinforced by crackling green lightning that sent Helios flying. Zyla lunged to intervene, but the Apostle caught her in the gut with a lightning-shrouded fist. Both Helios and Zyla slammed into the castle fortifications with bone-shattering force.
"Calling me weak? That's rich coming from you," the Twelfth Apostle mocked, a sadistic glint in his eyes. Helios slumped against the stone, coughing up a mouthful of crimson blood. "Now, why don't we have a talk?" the Apostle asked, his voice eerily calm.
"What... do you want?" Helios managed to ask between wet coughs.
"Nothing much. Just for you to join Doom. Specifically, Rose," the Apostle stated.
"What are you talking about?" Helios asked, struggling to find his footing.
"I haven't explained, have I? My apologies," the Apostle said with a mock bow. "Doom is an organization of Sovereigns. Each Sovereign has their own Apostle. 'Rose' is our branch. I've seen your talent, and I want you to join my Master. Become his Apostle, and you will never need an artefact again. You will become stronger than you ever imagined."
"I'll pass on the offer," Helios spat.
The Apostle instantly closed the distance, his fist glowing with lethal voltage. Helios dodged just in time, appearing several yards away as the lightning blasted a hole in the wall behind him. Zyla charged in, her sword appearing in her hand in a flash of light. She swung with everything she had, but the Apostle caught the blade with his bare hand, his expression twisting into one of pure annoyance.
"You're irritating me," he snarled, violently hurling Zyla away like a broken doll. He turned his attention back to Helios. "If you won't accept, I'll just take you by force. We can always brainwash you later."
He blurred forward again, throwing a lightning-fast punch. Helios slipped to the side and countered with a spiral-energy-enhanced blow to the Apostle's stomach.
The Apostle didn't even flinch. "Are you trying to tickle me?" He summoned a massive bolt of lightning at point-blank range. Helios blocked with his arm, but the limb turned pitch black and began to smoke under the intense heat. Taking advantage of the opening, the Apostle drove his fist into Helios's abdomen, punching a hole straight through his torso.
Helios coughed up a spray of blood, his vision swimming. Gritting his teeth against the agony, he summoned a blade of pure spiral energy and, with a desperate surge of strength, sheared off the Apostle's arm. He used the momentum to put distance between them.
"You annoying brat... why don't you just cooperate?" the Apostle growled, watching as his severed arm began to slowly knit itself back together.
Helios tried to focus on healing his wound, but the Apostle appeared behind him, a fresh bolt of lightning held like a spear. Zyla intervened, swinging her sword, but the Apostle caught the blade once more. Zyla let go of her weapon to block a devastating spinning kick, using the force of the impact to scoop up Helios and retreat.
"Help the Supreme Commander!" a group of approaching soldiers shouted.
The Twelfth Apostle's face contorted in rage. "Enough!" He raised his hand, and a rain of green bolts vaporized the soldiers instantly.
Helios looked down at his wound. His arm was scorched, and the hole in his stomach was gruesome, but he could feel his vitals were intact. "At least my intestines are fine. It's like he missed my vital organs on purpose so I could heal," Helios thought.
"Inferno," Helios commanded in the ancient rune language.
A pillar of fire erupted beneath the Apostle, engulfing him. As the figure flickered within the flames, Helios called out to his shadows: "Rino, Shadow, Z! Hold him back while I heal!"
The three Nightmares emerged from the darkness, kneeling for a fraction of a second. "As you wish, Your Majesty," they chimed in unison. Helios stood his ground, a red light flickering around the hole in his stomach as the flesh began to knit back together.
"Playtime is over, brat," the Apostle's voice boomed from within the fire. The flames died out, revealing the Apostle unharmed behind a barrier of green energy, his arm fully restored.
Shadow and Zyla attacked simultaneously. The Apostle vanished, causing their blades to collide with a deafening clink and a shower of sparks. High above, Z tracked the Apostle's movement and fired a spiral-energy bullet. The Apostle tried to snatch it out of the air; the bullet exploded his hand and grazed his ear.
"You bastard!" the Apostle screamed. He appeared in front of Z and drove his arm through the Nightmare's chest, but Z's form was made of shifting shadows. The Apostle snarled and surged lightning through his entire body to dissipate the shadow.
"Ice Spikes," Rino commanded from the side. Jagged pillars of ice lunged toward the Apostle. He dodged them narrowly, dropping toward the ground as green lightning began to arc wildly from his skin.
Zyla appeared behind him in the air, her sword carving a massive gash down his back, exposing his spine. Shadow followed up with a crushing kick to the chest, the sound of breaking ribs echoing through the courtyard. As the Apostle fell, Zyla drove her sword through his stomach, twisting the blade. Blood soaked his red robes and dripped from the steel.
"Is it over?" Helios muttered. The wound in his stomach had closed, leaving only a fresh scar.
The Twelfth Apostle coughed up a glob of blood, but then a massive bolt of lightning crashed down from the clouds, striking both him and Zyla. Shadow leaped away just in time.
"You thought that was enough to kill me?" the Apostle laughed, the lightning stitching his wounds shut instantly. He grabbed Zyla by the head; she let out a muffled sound as her body dissolved into shadow and vanished. He then lunged at Shadow, plunging his hand into the Nightmare's chest to crush a glowing red gem. Shadow dissipated into mist. Z fired four more rounds, but the Apostle swatted them away like insects before closing the gap and cleaving Z in half with a hand encased in green light.
Rino attempted a kick, but the Apostle caught it and sent him reeling back.
Helios suddenly appeared in front of the Apostle, his hand clamped firmly over the man's face. "Fireball," Helios commanded. An explosion of flame blackened the Apostle's features. The Apostle kicked Helios away, his face already beginning to heal from the char.
"Round two," Helios said, stretching his arms as Zyla, Shadow, and Z materialized beside him once more. "And this time, count me in."
"Challenge accepted," the Twelfth Apostle replied. He tore off his tattered red robe, revealing a sleek black combat suit beneath. Green lightning surged around his limbs, his eyes glowing with murderous intent.