Spark lunges at me with fire in his hands, forming two flaming whips from his palms. Breath follows suit, summoning spikes from the concrete ground that make a trail towards me and Reaper. I turn metal and shatter them, leaving a cloud of dusty debris.  I can't see a thing, but I suddenly feel a shooting pain in my arm, a burning sensation. I look up to see an orange light and feel something wrap around me neck, choking me and melting my metal flesh as I gasp for air.

"Reaper," I hear M.S. desperately pleads from a thick cloud of dust and smoke, "help." Her voice is horse and weak, and I know I must act now. I draw power from the souls I've taken and clear the area of it all. I see Spark choking M.S. and melting her metal flesh with flaming whips across the street and Breath in front of me, blocking my path.

"Let her go!" I roar, lunging at Spark. Breath blocks me with a wall of vines. "Like we'd let it be that easy," Breath smirks, "I am a goddess of love. Consider this a test. A test of your love for her."

"Test this bitch!" my temper explodes as I unleash a cone of holy and unholy fire, one from each hand, and scorch the vines. Breath tries to counter, but her stones and vines turn to ash and melt under the heat and power of Unwinged's soul. She is consumed in the twin flame,s and falls over, dead, nothing more than a charred corpse. She should know better than to do two things.

1: Get in the way of an Author Slayer.

2: Question my love for M.S. or my motives for my genocide.

I take her soul and turn to Spark, who drops M.S. and turns to face me.

"Die," I growl, the only word I need to say to him. He lashes his whips at me, but I counter with a torrent of rushing water, putting out the flames, and rending the flesh from his bones from the sheer force. The fact he's a fire god only makes his death quicker.

 As he falls, his muscle and skin scattered around his skeleton, I swipe his soul as I help M.S. up.

"Are you OK?" I ask, helping her to her feet, "his death was painful, I promise. Where did he get you? How bad is it?"

I look into Reaper's eyes. For the first time, I see it. I finally see it. I see his fear. I understand it to some extent. He's afraid of losing me. It finally makes sense. I wanna hug him and tell him I'm OK, but before I can, he sees the scars in my arm and neck.

"Stay metal," he explains, "or you'll bleed out."

"I'm fine," I smile, "just-"

"How bad does it hurt?" 

"It... really bad."

"Don't," he hugs me, "don't cry. I'll get some angel's blood. Wait here."

He dashes into a nearby alchemy shop and grabs some angel's blood, leaving some money on the counter before rushing over. I can see he's been crying as he hands me the healing liquid. I drink it and get back up.

"You OK?" he asks.

"As long as you are," I smile.

"I am with you here," he kisses my cheek.

Damn it boy, stop doing this shit! You have to stay focused! Gods dammit! I guess I should just enjoy the day until it ends. Then back to work...

"Come on," I smile, holding her hand, "they said there's only one more, and that's all I sense. We're almost done here."

"Right," I force a smile, "almost over..."

It's almost over. After this, if we win, there's the festival. I have to convince him to stop during the festival, which means for now...

We MUST win this contest. This is my only chance to save him. Either I win and show him that he doesn't need to kill the Author by enjoying the festival with him because...

According to the Author's notes, this is the last holiday special. My last chance to save him before the war...