Helios summoned his Nightmare Armour, the dark plates shimmering as he charged toward the Twelfth Apostle. Channelling spiral energy into his legs, he launched a savage kick aimed at the Apostle's face, but the man caught Helios's leg with arms wreathed in crackling green electricity. In a flash of purple light Zyla appeared at the Apostle's side, her blade whistling through the air, but he caught her sword mid-swing with his hand. With a grunt of disdain, he hurled them both in opposite directions.
The Apostle blurred through the air, appearing directly above Helios. He brought his heel down with bone-crushing force, intending to cave in Helios's chest. Helios crossed his arms to block, but the sheer power of the impact shattered his arm bones. Lightning surged through his body, agonizing and blinding, as he was driven into the cobblestones, leaving a massive, jagged crater.
Shadow lunged in, kicking the Apostle away, and the two began a frantic trade of blows. Z levelled his rifle and fired, but the Apostle used Shadow as a shield before sprinting toward Z. He moved so fast the ground cracked beneath him, leaving a trail green sparks.
"Inferno!" Rino barked in a rune language . A blue tornado of fire erupted beneath the Apostle, his silhouette flickering violently within the heat. Yet, he emerged unscathed, tearing through the flames to reach Z. With a brutal swipe, he sheared through the Nightmare's chest, shattering his core. Rino was his next target, but Shadow reappeared to intercept, his sword flashing in a defensive arc. The Apostle recoiled, only for Helios—his hands now fully knit back together—to appear behind him and kick him away with a roar of fury.
Zyla intercepted the Apostle before he hit the castle wall. She swung her blade with lethal intent, but the Apostle slammed his hand into the ground, halting his momentum instantly. He pivoted on his palm and delivered a spinning kick that sent Zyla flying.
"This is getting boring," the Twelfth Apostle sighed, his expression one of pure apathy.
"Why don't you just give up then?!" Helios shouted, his voice thick with frustration. If I can't kill him right now, I'll find a way to do it later, he thought, his teeth grinding together.
"That's a good idea," the Apostle remarked, hovering effortlessly in the sky. "But before that, let me play for just a little longer."
He descended like a falling star, a streak of green lightning in his wake. His fist connected with Helios's jaw, the impact spray of blood and the sickening crack of bone echoing through the courtyard. Despite the pain, Helios grabbed the Apostle's leg before he could retreat, swinging him with all his might into the earth. As the Apostle hit the ground, Helios leapt high and drove his legs into the man's torso, forcing a spray of blood from the Apostle's lungs.
The Apostle snarled, grabbing Helios's ankle to deliver a high-voltage shock that sent Helios tumbling away. Standing up and floating out of the smoking crater, the Apostle's face hardened.
"I don't need you to join us anymore," he stated coldly. "You have annoyed me to the point where I simply want you dead." He raised his hand, mimicking the shape of a gun. "Bang."
A colossal bolt of lightning tore from the grey clouds. Helios dove aside, the ground where he had been standing instantly turning into a pool of bubbling, molten lava. Rino attempted another runic spell, but the Apostle turned his finger toward him. "Bang." Lightning struck Rino instantly; when the light faded, the Nightmare was gone, leaving only melted rock behind.
"I told you that you could never beat an Apostle," Circlet's voice hissed in Helios's mind, dripping with mockery. "Now you're going to die because you didn't listen to me."
"Can you be helpful for once and tell me what to do?" Helios snarled internally.
"Bang. Bang." With two more casual gestures, the Apostle obliterated Shadow and Zyla. He raised his hand one more time, bringing down a thunderbolt so massive it turned the crater into a lake of glowing lava. Lightning rumbled aggressively in the blackened clouds.
Nearby, Aethelgard soldiers watched the devastation in horror. "It seems like the enemy Seeker is fighting someone," one soldier whispered. "Should we help?"
"Are you crazy the answer is no," another replied, looking at the burning ruins and shattered brick around them. "Let's just do our job and finish the remaining forces. I don't want to die because of a dumb idea. "
"Crown, give me an idea!" Helios thought desperately, staring at the encroaching lava with a worried face.
"Ask for that guy's help," Circlet said, his voice eerily calm.
"Are you crazy? I'm not giving Azerion my body!"
"Well, you're going to die anyway. He's the only one who can help," Circlet replied seriously.
"Bang." The Apostle continued his execution. Helios dodged strike after strike, but the battlefield was becoming a landscape of molten slag. With nowhere left to run, the Apostle levelled his hand for one last "Bang" to finish the job.
"Azerion!" Helios yelled.
Suddenly, the world seemed to freeze. The descending lightning bolt slowed to a crawl.
"You summoned me Sovereign King of Nightmares," a mocking voice echoed. Helios looked up to see a white figure with long hair drifting in front of him. "You know what I want. You've been listening all this time," Helios said, glaring at the spirit.
"What do you want? I wasn't listening," Azerion teased, a sinister, wide smile stretching across his face. "Kidding. But what are you going to give me if I help you?"
"What else do you want? I'm giving you my body for free!" Helios snapped.
"I don't need your body right now," Azerion said, floating lazily around Helios. "So, let's make a real deal. A very fair one for you. I take over your body twice in the future, and I give it back to you after this fight."
Helios hesitated. That's a good deal... it's only two times.
"Hurry up. It seems the attack is getting closer," Azerion noted, glancing at the lightning bolt inches away.
"Deal," Helios growled.
"Good. Then sign here." Azerion summoned a parchment written in a runic language . "This is a blood pact. If either of us breaks the agreement, we die."
Helios signed the paper. Azerion reached out for a handshake, a devilish grin on his face, his mouth looking like an empty dark hole. As their hands met, Azerion leaned in close. His eyes began to bleed, looking like twin voids of darkness. "See you later," he whispered.
The lightning bolt struck.
"It seems my job is done," the Twelfth Apostle muttered, looking at the smoking impact site. He gritted his teeth, looking down. "What a waste of a good robe."
"What a great attack," a sinister voice rang out from the smoke. The sound of slow, rhythmic clapping followed.
"You're still alive?" the Apostle asked, his voice laced with annoyance.
"You could say that," Azerion replied. As the smoke cleared, Helios's body stood perfectly unharmed all the wounds healed, his eyes transformed into bottomless black pits.
The Apostle lunged downward with blinding speed, but Azerion dodged with effortless grace. The Apostle's punch hit the lava, creating a second crater that sent molten rock flying. Azerion landed on the surface of the lava on his toes first, a thin red barrier of spiral energy protecting him.
"You're not that guy... you're a Fallen," the Twelfth Apostle realized, hovering above the filling crater as lava started to fill it up.
"Yes, I am. You're a genius for noticing," Azerion teased. "Rain," he commanded in the rune language. The grey clouds began to water, cooling the lava as green thunder rumbled. Azerion let the barrier go and vanished.
"Where did he—?"
The Apostle didn't finish. Azerion appeared behind him, his arm driven straight through the Apostle's stomach. Intestines spilled out as the Apostle coughed up a spray of blood. "Looking for me?" Azerion whispered happily into his ear.
The Apostle tried to fly away, but Azerion appeared in his path and kicked him back down. "You're so weak, it's boring," Azerion sighed, sitting cross-legged on a platform of red spiral energy in mid-air. He began to walk down the air as if descending a staircase using spiral energy.
The Apostle fired a bolt of lightning, but Azerion vanished again. He reappeared inches from the Apostle's face with a devilish, predatory smile and ripped the Apostle's lightning-covered arm clean off. Blood sprayed the cobblestones.
"But you are interesting to play with," Azerion chuckled, kicking the man away.
The Twelfth Apostle lay on the ground, staring at the clouds as the rain washed the blood from his skin. Azerion approached slowly, one hand glowing with lethal red energy and the other tucked casually in his pocket. "If you're this strong, I wonder how much stronger the Apostles below you are," Azerion mused.
He stood over the broken man and raised his hand to pierce the Apostle's heart. Just as he was about to strike, a hand made of pure green energy caught his wrist. Azerion leapt back instantly.
A female form made of shimmering spiral energy floated next to the Apostle, her presence causing his wounds to slowly knit back together.
"Hello... Master," the Twelfth Apostle wheezed, a weak, bloody smile touching his lips.