8.

Shards

Gahn's grin widened. "Such morbid words don't make ya sound cool, ya know. Did ya guys really come here alone?"  He fingered one of his earrings and pulled it off. It morphed into a fist weapon with a crescent blade that lay over his knuckles. "I guess ya might as well mourn ya deaths now, huh?"

Reyna leapt out of the way from the two clashing demons. Her high, airborne jump arched her upside down over Dante and Cerus' own face off. When she landed, both feuding parties had departed from the scene to seek a fighting area that wasn't too cramped.

"Such nonsense," Mundus said as Reyna landed in front of him.

"What?" she said, straightening from crouch. "You?"

He looked away and scanned the empty field that only held a stretched out fortress and a mortal girl draped in azure.

"Master," Lina said upon reading Mundus' intentions, "be careful. The human girl is not weak anymore."

As if to prove the Spirit's point, Reyna spoke, "I should've finished you off when Dante had you."

Instead, I hesitated, she added to herself, recalling her brief intentions to mend his torn shoulder.

Mundus chuckled. "I doubt the possibility of such an occurrence." He seemed to stand taller now. His wounded arm could hold onto his body without his hand holding it.

"It doesn't change the fact that it should have happened because of what you're doing. What you've done." Reyna shook with anger and her armor momentarily blazed around her.

Mundus was unimpressed.

"I don't understand why you chose what you did. At least answer me that."

He was quiet for a long time. Each second that crawled by increased the hot weight in Reyna's chest.

"The saving of your life was not a determination of a higher 'good' upon my part. I simply valued your safety over all. The menace that was your brother no longer a threat signified your safety had been secured. It was understandably natural for me to simply return to the previous engagements of carnage I had temporarily forsaken," he at last spoke.

Reyna stared at him in stunned silence.

"But," she managed to say, her eyes trying to find another explanation on his hard expression, "that was my home. My friends. My family!"

Mundus gave a small shrug.

She shook her head, grasping for understanding. "Besides, what you said doesn't make sense. You want to keep me safe? Being here in all this is not safe. I mean, your damn mom still wants me dead!"

He sighed. "Yes. Such is why I request—"

"No!" Her voice was stern. "No. You were not going to ask me to join you just now. Not only would that be one of the dumbest things you've done, you already know the answer to that stupid question!"

Unfazed by her response, Munuds drew his sword. His healed shoulder popped with the action. Reyna understood. She dispersed her still baffled emotions and summoned her own arsenal. A ring of cobalt blades—multiple in number, each about a foot in length—hovered around her. Mundus lifted an eyebrow at her feat, intrigued by it, but said nothing more as he rushed towards her.

Several miles away, while Mundus and Reyna had been conversing, Gahn had been decimating Erian's defenses. The Teleporter's fist weapon was heavily stained with the Seer's scarlet. Erian, unable to react, much less counterattack, was riddled with wounds. His robe–like attire was almost completely shredded from the barrage of slashes. Even strands of his long, dark green hair had not been spared.

Gahn shifted his onslaught to Erian's legs in an attempt to bring him to his knees. He cut into his right limb first. From ankle to upper thigh, Gahn's weapon ripped a long gash deep enough to expose Erian's bone. Just as Gahn was about to slash the other leg, quicker than lightning, Erian's weapon reacted on its own. It shot out and around him, fragments locking together to encase the Seer in a protective, silver dome.

Gahn's blade clashed into the structure with a screeching sound. He dumbly stared at the capsule–like structure that came up to his chest. Stunned, he circled it in an attempt to find a weak spot where he might peel the structure open. He found none and pounded on it with his weapon. His efforts were in vain, for his attacks could not even scratch the mini –fortress.

What baffled Gahn the most was how quickly Erian's weapon reacted. He was familiar with Erian's fighting style that at times allowed his Spirit to act and move his weapon on her own, but in order for her to have blocked Gahn's attack as she did, she would have had to have moved faster than him.

No way, Gahn thought. She couldn't have, but...she did?

He punched the dome and sighed. I wouldn't be dealing with this if Master Auronmar had just let me kill them all.

Gahn's orders had been clear. Knock back the opponents and provide an escape route for Dante and Reyna. Once the humans were secured in the castle, Auronmar would move it and reinforce it with greater Magika defenses to prevent any pursuit.

"Remember, Gahn, do not kill them," Auronmar had said. Gahn protested as usual, but he knew Auronmar was in the right, and not because it was the moral and ethical thing to do.

Again Gahn sighed. His plan had been to bleed Erian to unconsciousness, but somehow, this happened instead.

 "Hey!" He banged on the structure. "How about ya come out now, huh?"

Though his fists did nothing to harm the capsule's exterior, his words did reach inside the strangely lit structure. Erian heard them and muttered under his breath. He was slumped against the rounded wall, trying to catch his breath. His chest, back, and arms were draped with crimson waves. Though the minor cuts had begun to slowly heal, the deeper ones were still spewing blood.

"Erian?" Azul spoke to him as if on cue.

I am fine, he answered her.

She was about to point out the obvious but settled on saying, "Your See Magika implemented him so effortlessly. I did not think he would be fooled so easily, yet..." She paused as if a secret discovery was slowly dawning on her.

Erian momentarily forgot his wounds as he followed her thoughts. The misty corners of his mind that had long held clouded secrets were being exposed. Her Chaining with Mundus was starting to affect her in the very way Erian had feared. He mentally drew away from her, sealing his concerns. If he allowed her to see them, it would only further the Chaining's aftermath.

"Yet," Azul spoke up again as if nothing, "I am not surprised."

He answered her, Of course it is not surprising. He is an idiot.

"Idiot or not, his speed almost completely skewered you."

Erian's blood was pooling under him, muddying the ground he sat on. But he did not kill me. I believe he was ordered not to do so.

"He is still quite fast."

And such is his weakness as well. He is too caught up in his movements to pay attention to anything else. With what my See Magika gave you, we have the opportunity to counter.

Azul's voice was laced with concern. "You can not in your condition!"

He gave a small smile. I leave it to you. I am sure you understand what I need you to do.

She nodded. The action was unseen but acknowledged by both.

Back outside the dome, Gahn was standing with his arms crossed. He had not seen or heard anything that had happened inside, and the stillness was boring him. He briefly gave thought to the idea of dashing away and helping Dante take down Cerus when something finally moved on Erian's dome. One of the many shards flicked off, followed by another until flashes of silver flew in the air.

Gahn backed away to avoid the flying razorblades. As he dashed past flashes of silver, an opening revealed itself. He launched through the quickly crossing chains of blades. He grinned as he easily dodged them.

Of course she wasn't faster than me, Gahn thought when the still gravely injured Erian came into his view.

The Teleporter descended upon the defenseless demon that was struggling to stand. Fresh blood slashed the air in the form of tiny scythes as Erian's body suffered a new barrage of sharp attacks. He stumbled back down to one knee, head bowed in an attempt to hold onto consciousness.

Gahn stopped his assault. Erian would soon slip away and he was not going to risk killing him.

Erian snickered. It was a weak exhale but there was solid confidence in the sound. Gahn looked at him, puzzled.

The Seer lifted his head. His silver eyes gleamed over his bloody fangs. Adorned with a mask of his own blood, Erian's face was the true definition of a demonic appearance.

Gahn was about to ask him what was so amusing but in the place of words, an inaudible gagging noise escaped his mouth as blood flew out of his lips. His entire body erupted in a spray of red mist. Flaring pain crippled him, and Gahn collapsed to the ground, blood pumping out of his hundred gouges and incisions. The one on his throat especially.

Encircling the area where Gahn had been standing was Erian's fully uncurled weapon. The hovering blade fragments were stained red with the Teleporter's blood. From the ground, he looked up at them and then at the kneeling Erian with bewildered eyes. They then widened with understanding.

Erian saw the realization on his face and calmly said, "You never were observant when Teleporting. It was simple implanting you with the belief that Azul was faster than you. You can not take it back. You believed it and have now made her speed superior to your own."

If Gahn could move, he would have grimaced. Damn. I hope at least Dante is having better luck than me.

Though a great distance away from The Seer and The Teleporter, Dante spoke at that exact moment as if to answer Gahn's thoughts. "I don't think you're going to beat me if you keep fighting like that."   

Half a dozen bite marks littered Dante's body. Most were on his now bare torso and arms. They were moderate wounds, sticky with blood, but quickly healing. It helped that he was sitting down, legs crossed, peering at the demon before him.

Cerus was on his side, tails tucked around him. His fur was splotched with blood from injuries that, like Dante's, were modest flesh wounds at best. His nicked muzzle lay next to Dante's sitting figure.

"I don't know why you're doing this, but it's annoying," Dante said and gave Cerus a halfhearted look.

He nudged his head to look at the human with his white stare. "If I kill you, I know it will hurt Little Reyna."

Dante's face wrinkled with anger. "That's stupid. And stop calling her that. Just fight me for real already. I know you're not really hurt."

The giant wolf closed his eyes and sighed. "Alright."

He snapped his jaws at Dante. The Berserker hardly had time to roll into his dodge. When he stood, his sword was ready in his palm, picked up from the ground during duck. Dante launched at Cerus but the demon jumped to his paws unbelievably fast and was behind the Berserker before the sword even finished its strike.

Wolf fangs bit into Dante's swinging arm. This time the chomp was fierce and easily cut into the Berserker hide. Nerves and tendons snapped in an explosion of gore, jarring Dante's weapon from his grip.

Cerus clamped onto him as his canines clamped down in an attempt to meet through human flesh. It was Dante's unnaturally invulnerable bones that were preventing the loss of his right arm. Cerus continued to chew and tug. Fighting against the agony, Dante managed to ball his left hand into a fist. He inhaled a lungful of air and held it. This was going to hurt.

He leaned away from Cerus' jaws with all his strength until a stomach wrenching sound signaled his arm had popped out of its socket. Dante clamped his teeth as he twisted his body around. Without his latched arm to hold him back, he was granted extra momentum. Hand still balled in a fist, Dante punched Cerus' huge jaw with all his available power. Giant fang chips snapped at his face as demon wolf muzzle collapsed into Dante's blow.

With a yelp, Cerus released him and recoiled. He pawed at the ground, blood and drool heavily sloshing down from his jaws. During the demon's disoriented state, Dante sprang to his sword, his loose arm distortedly following him.

The Berserker wasted no time and charged, aiming for Cerus' lowered head. The monstrous weapon was true to its intended target area and penetrated through...nothing.

The blade hung in empty air, Cerus standing on one side and Flow on the other. Both sported a dropping jaw and were as equally scarred and bloody.

Flow immediately launched at Dante's face, claws at the ready. The pup's wounds hardly hindered his speed, but Dante jabbed him away with the butt of his sword's pommel. The distraction was all Cerus needed. Swift as coursing water, Cerus was behind Dante once more. The demon forced–Fused his right arm into Dante's left one until their elbows met. They stood sharing the same limb as their essences fought for control. After a few seconds, Dante's arm went slack.

"Get out!" he was only able to speak. If he tried to run away, he would only drag Cerus with him.

Cerus didn't answer, not that he could talk.

He continued his force–Fuse, redirecting Dante's rapid healing to mend his own wounds and not the Berserker's. Cerus pains were eased away and Dante's intensified as the demon's entire being finally took complete control.

They say to kill a Berserker you need to destroy his heart. Since I can't pierce through his bones, I'll have to use something that can, Cerus thought, his words unheard by Dante. Let's just get this over with.

The Shape shifter moved Dante's left arm, blade in hand. He observed the sword's extreme width and height. Too big to use with one hand, but...

Dante had no control over himself except for his thoughts. They were a jumble of confused and panicked ponderings as he tried to make sense of Cerus' actions. The demon made him grasp his sword by the blade tip and throw it like a spear. It landed and entrenched, hilt first, into the ground with its giant blade half protruding.

Cerus forced Dante's legs to walk to the sword. Each step delivered a horrifying pulse of pain up his dislocated arm as it lifelessly thumped by his side. Upon reaching the desired destination, Cerus kneeled Dante in front of the blade so the tip was aimed at his chest. Over his heart.

Sorry, Little Reyna, Cerus thought as he bent Dante's torso into the blade.

The sharp edge easily bit through his skin and eased into his flesh until it tapped his breastbone. The two masses struggled against one another, being of the same substance. It sounded like a blender mincing pebbles, but the pain was worse. Cerus wouldn't let him scream. Dante's head buzzed with his own wails of agony.

The bone struggle was a stalemate; the only thing that gave was the uprooted soil that held the sword up. Without its support, the blade fell, its edge searing down Dante's chest to his stomach, splitting him open. The sword continued to slide into Dante until it completely spiked his body.

Cerus emerged from Dante. He was screaming with his arms wrapped around his abdomen. He quieted himself but was still painting heavily. Relaying Dante's regeneration powers only to himself, Cerus had been able to materialize without any fatal wounds. Flow padded up to him and through his disfigured face managed to give him a look of concern.

The fully healed Cerus was able to answer him. "I know I can make myself immune to the pain. It just didn't seem right to do it." He placed his hands down and sighed. "Come on, Flow. Fuse with me so I can heal you as well."

Cerus turned to Dante and gazed at the grotesquely impaled body with remorse. Guess I didn't really need to get his heart after all, he thought.

The entire blade had now turned a deep red.

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Author's Note: I know, I know! Finally! An update! I am so sorry about the delay. I have never --and don't plan-- to take that long to update again. 

Thanks for your patience, and I hope this chapter was worth the wait. Were you able to understand what was going on? When it comes to fight scenes, I feel like I over explain stuff to the point where nothing makes sense.

I am still dealing with wedding stuff, so the next update should be up by early August.

Again, thanks so much for your patience and for your wonderful support!