Maybe one or two more chapters after this one and that'll be it. That's what I'm thinking at least...
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        It was true that Scar was lacking in the speed department, but everything else in his arsenal was absolutely terrifying. Even with (y/n)'s speed, getting close to him was barely even possible. He had gotten a decent amount of attacks in, but the moment he landed them, he had to retreat to avoid being touched. Zhu had things somewhat easier since Scar wasn't focusing on him. Even so, Zhu hadn't gotten the chance to land a single hit. One thing was for sure. Getting close enough to steal his soul was not possible.

        "This isn't good. He's got to be hiding something," (y/n) thought. For the first time after permanently losing his mind link with Zhu, (y/n) wished to have the fox's voice in his head even if only for a moment. Their teamwork wasn't quite the same without it. Scar didn't know this, but he was certainly taking advantage of their lack of perfect synchronisation.

        "You pests! Die like the insignificant beings you are!" Scar snapped. He must have gotten tired of swatring at them as if they were flies. Without much time to figure out what Scar was about to do, (y/n) had to rely on pure instinct to get him out of whatever was about to happen. Scar let loose a powerful shockwave of energy that momentarily stunned both (y/n) and Zhu. Then he held his free hand over his head and a terrifying gravitational pull began to draw them in.

        "Claws, now!" Zhu ordered as he himself sank his deadly claws into the ground. (Y/n) was barely able to pull off the task. He had to pull away from the force with his entire weight in order to keep from being pulled into the sphere of energy being formed above Scar's head. Panic found its way into his mind as (y/n) realized that he was unable to move.

        That scared him more than anything, but he calmed back down once he realized that Scar wasn't able to move either. "So...that's how that works," he noted just before the gravitational force disappeared. (Y/n) was thrown forward by his own previous efforts to keep himself from being killed. He knew Scar would immediately attack him first, and he narrowly escaped the attack that was thrown at him. Instead of a close range attack that put Scar at a speed disadvantage, (y/n) was nearly met by a row of blue flamed geysers.

        "Hey, watch who you aim that stuff at! Don't you know that fire is dangerous!" (y/n) spoke more out of irritation that his intentional plan. It seemed Scar was easily agrivated and would use the gravity defying attack whenever he was too irritated. That would be how (y/n) would take him out. He wasn't exactly sure how just yet, but he would certainly figure it out.

        "Speed. I need more speed. Or maybe I just need to sloe Scar down," he thought. It was easy to come up with the idea, but actually implementing it would take more effort. "Maybe Zhu will catch on if I take the lead," he hoped. Scar changed his pattern and swiped his sword in the direction (y/n) intended to land. The prediction was perfect, but (y/n) had time to adjust his landing and ended up bouncing right off the flat side of the sword as if it were a wall.

        "Nice try. You'll need to be quicker than that to catch me," (y/n) taunted as he used the gained momentum to shoot past Scar. He successfully landed a clean cut right across the bend in Scar's arm. That would certainly slow down his attacks. Before Scar could turn around to attempt another attack, (y/n) landed another attack at the bend in one of Scar's knees.
       
        It was then that Zhu caught on. When Scar was forced to kneel from the damage he'd taken, Zhu went for his neck. The attack was very close to landing in perfection, but Scar had surprising reaction time and was able to lean to the side just enough to narrowly escape death. With a roar of rage, Scar let another wave of energy reverberate across the area. It succeeded in giving Scar time to get back up amd it put some space between him and his attackers.

        Just as Scar went to attack Zhu, they all noticed a slight distraction. Ain was carrying Ara across the lava and it was obvious that they intended to free the imprisoned priestesses. "You nuisances aren't going any further," Scar said as he prepared an attack to knock Ain and Are down. Neither of them seemed afraid of Scar's impending attack. In fact, Ara seemed pretty sure that she would be just fine. "As if I'd let you!" (y/n) growled.

        He dashed towards Scar so quickly that is seemed as if he'd teleported there. The idea of Scar attacking Ara suddenly pissed him off. She was definately someone he didn't mind fighting for. "You're fighting me and don't you forget it!" he snapped as he made an attempt to take out Scar's left eye. Unfortunately, Scar was a quick thinker and used his sword to block the attack instead of releasing the built up energy to take Ara and Ain down.

        Despite that, (y/n) was more than satisfied by the deep gashes that appeared on the sword. Ara had made it safely to the other side with Ain, and that was what really mattered. They would free Gloria and Darkmoon which would likely strip Scar of the power he stole from them. "You fool. If you think stalling for them will stop me, you are highly mistaken," Scar said.

        He released another shockwave of energy and immediately furned his attention to the captured priestesses. Ara and Ain hadn't quite made it to them yet. "Sult, as your loyal servant, I offer you this world. Now rise!" Scar said. The priestesses power left both Scar and the priestesses themselves. The entire volcano began to shake and the lava within it boiled. "No...what did you just do?!" (y/n) said. Had they really failed? Was Scar simply toying with them all along?

        Scar only gave them an evil laugh as he basked in what seemed to be his victory. "You will all perish and Sult will build his new world on your corpses!" Scar proclaimed. Those were his last words. Out of seemingly nowhere, a streak of red flashed across just below Scar's head and he was no more. "You underestimate Elrios' I'll to keep living and flourishing in this land. And for that your blood has joined the many others who once shared your view. Stay dead," Elesis spoke once she landed.

         "You were here all along?" (y

) muttered. Elesis didn't answer him. "You need to call on that godess friend of yours. We could use her help right about now," she suggested. The eerie aura that had been following her around was slightly weaker than (y/n) remebered. She even seemed less crazed than last time. "I don't have contact with Illipia anymore, and I'm not asking for her help," (y/n) growled. He refused to rely on the godesses any longer.

        "Something has to be done to st-" Elesis was saying in retaliation, but her words were cut short when a portal appeared at the law's surface. It was layered with dark colored chains to prevent Sult from escaping. The volcano began to shake a little more violently than before and an idea struck (y/n). It was a random and rather foolish idea, but it was far better than relying on a goddess or even failing entirely. "Elesis, get everyone out of here. Tell Ignia and Artea to let the volcano erupt," (y/n) said just as a hand began to slowly rise out of the portal.

        Elesis looked at him seeing that he didn't intend to argue with her in the matter. "You're going to die if you stay here. Both of you are," Elesis spoke. "I know that. It's not like I didn't expect it," (y/n) said. Everything he had done up until that point was done without any regards to risks. "Just makes sure everyone gets clear of the area. Once the lava reaches the top, Ignia and Artea can calm the volcano back down. That should be enough to stop whatever that thing is. Zhu, you go too," he ordered.

        Elesis said nothing more to him, but Zhu certainly did. "Are you kidding me? I told you, I'm the one who's going to kill you. I'm not letting some vol-" Zhu began to rant. "Just go already!" (y/n) snapped. He felt his own aura grow to the extent it was back in the forest just hours earlier. Zhu kept quiet and turned away from him although it was clear that the fox was highly upset.

        He waited until both Zhu and Elesis were leaving before he turned to face Ara's direction. She was carrying Darkmoon and Ain was carrying Gloria as they got ready to retreat as well. Both of the priestesses were unconscious. What would he say to her? Would he even say anything to her? Ara would likely stay if she found out about his plan. (Y/n) was snapped from his thoughts when Are called his name. "Come on! I don't know how we're going to stop that thing, but right now we need to get out of here," she called.

        Just to make things believable, (y/n) met them at the cavern exit where they were supoosed to escape. "Elesis is back with us. You guys will need take Gloria and Darkmoon back to Lanox. I'm going to help the others until you two return," (y/n) said once he got to them. "You're bad at lying," Ara growled. She had already known he planned to try something.

        "I'm not lying this time. What I'm going to do really will help everyone. Eun, just this once, do me this favor. It's for Ara's safety," (y/n) spoke. And it was the first time he ever felt like he betrayed someone. It wasn't a good feeling and it left him sick as Eun took control of Ara before the girl could even protest. "If you survive whatever you are planning, I will make sure that Ishmael grants you a reward for enduring so much," Ain spoke.

        (Y/n) didn't tell him that he had rejected the goddesses. He'd let Ain go on believing what he wanted. Another tremor kept (y/n) from being able to watch them vanish from his sight. The hand had already began to break through the chains crossing the top of the portal. There wasn't much time, so (y/n) had to do something to stop it until the volcano could erupt and finish everything. "Alright, Sult. You get to be the first one I test these brand new powers on."
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Yeah...probably just one or two more chapters. Until next time you epic readers!