Terrocht, with his blonde hair, yellow eyes, and Donovan's stolen identity, circled Kalika as she glared. He smirked as more of the earth fractured around them. "I'm afraid you won't be escaping any time soon… Evil One."
Kalika sneered. "Like I plan on it!" She conjured her dagger, pointing at the angel. "Give Donovan back, you bastard!"
Terrocht traced the side of his head. "You mean that human soul that helped push you out of me?" He mused in Donovan's voice.
Kalika's glare intensified.
Terrocht chuckled. "It only works one way. Once we absorb you, we take your flesh, memory, magic, and eventually–" He tapped his chest in cruel delight. "It all becomes part of us."
"Yeah? Well, I got out, and I'm far from being a part of you."
His smirk faded. "Because you, yourself, are an anomaly. You're something that shouldn't exist in this world. You defy everything that this world is supposed to be."
Kalika lowered her dagger slightly, gazing at Terrocht's displeased expression, which then shifted back to a cruel smile.
"But not for long."
His arms shot at Kalika. She ducked and dashed as several more limbs launched and lunged from his body.
She twisted and turned, dodging and closing the distance.
Kalika slashed through his waist, ripping past his white flesh.
She leered back, and saw his wound heal in seconds.
Terrocht laughed and arched back, his gaze looking more playful.
Arms erupted from his back, angling toward Kalika. She slashed the first few, then lunged out the way as an army of his hands smashed the earth and caught air, chasing her.
"Your resistance is futile," he said. "You should act more like your friend and accept it."
"Shut up!"
Kalika twisted past another flurry of arms. She drifted back to the angel and stabbed into his stomach. She twisted the dagger and pushed harder.
Terrocht caught her wrist. "Now why would you do that, Kalika?" He smiled carelessly, using Donovan's face.
Kalika blinked in confusion.
Her eyes widened, and she dodged to the side and sliced half of Terrocht's body as his own hands struck him.
"Bastard!" Kalika slid back, facing Terrocht as she pinched her fingers. Her blood coiled from her finger, forming her knife.
In an instant, Terrocht closed the distance. In a panic, Kalika threw the knife, scratching his cheek.
He chuckled and grasped for Kalika, catching only rubble as Kalika leaped over him.
Terrocht peered up. "You're an agile one, Evil One."
"Stop calling me that!"
Kalika landed behind then dashed, forced to run and slice through his hail of arms. She glared at Terrocht.
He smiled.
A second later, Kalika's red knife flew past and slashed the back of his neck. The blade arced, flying and slashing the angel in a relentless barrage of attacks.
He scoffed. "Annoying."
"Good!"
Suddenly, all his limbs returned to his body at once. He flicked the blade away, then reeled in his right fist, enlarged it, then hurled it toward Kalika.
She slid to a stop and braced.
But nothing happened.
She opened her eyes, finding Terrocht's large fist shaking. "Still resisting?" he quietly mused.
Without hesitation, Kalika darted around the fist, dagger in hand, her knife flying by her. "Give Donovan back!"
Kalika stabbed the angel's chest as her knife struck his head.
Terrocht's hand pulled back, then grasped Kalika by the head. "He's dead."
The knife spun from his head, slicing the hand off. Kalika darted away, evading another swarm of the angel's arms. She glared, running along the edge.
The ground beneath crumbled. Kalika lost her footing and fell alongside the growing mound of earth and stone. Her eyes widened as she watched the chaos of the world splitting around her.
Her eyes flicked back up, finally seeing Terrocht jumping after her. With Donovan's face, he smiled and reached out his hands. "Kalika. Take my hand."
Her hand started to rise. She clenched and jerked it back. "Go to hell!!!"
Terrocht snickered as arms by the dozen erupted from his body at once, all vying to capture Kalika.
She bared her fangs. The space around her distorted in an instant, and her body vanished in a sphere of black.
She re-emerged behind Terrocht, eyes ice-cold, and stabbed the angel's back.
Terrocht cringed. Hands lunged from his back, all grasping at Kalika's face and body.
She grimaced and twisted her dagger as they finally crashed into the ground below. She quickly tore herself away from Terrocht, distancing herself.
Her eyes darted around the new arena of rock and rubble, seeing the pieces of land towering over them like mountains. She felt the ground below her sink down as other fractured land above and crumbling stone walls stayed put or slowly descended too.
"Wh-what the hell's happening?"
From the rubble, Terrocht emerged, smiling even more cruelly.
"So you finally noticed?" he chuckled. "Isn't it beautiful? The world is finally correcting itself to the way it was meant to be."
Kalika narrowed her eyes. "You're not making any sense."
"That corpse those demons call 'Pit'... Their so-called 'Homeland' is finally falling apart, and soon they'll be smothered along with all those other wretched creatures born from that decaying body. And it's all thanks to you, Evil One."
"W…What?"
Terrocht glanced at a widening crack just below him, where darkness lay. "Regrettably, even that country humans call 'Celestine' will be buried, along with parts of your country and capital, if I'm not mistaken. But those are acceptable losses for Cassell's perfect world."
Kalika clenched her fists. "You're out of your mind…" Thoughts of the wolf that followed, Zelak, Charla, even the children she had known for a short time, flashed through her mind.
"Don't tell me you feel sorry for those abominations. They were always meant to be discarded. But Cassell's brother was too soft to let their creation die."
Kalika frowned. "You and your god are no better than Zorbian," she said quietly. Her grip loosened. "Damned gods."
Looking at Terrocht, Kalika noticed a small strand of white flesh poking from his feet, which entered a small crack.
She reacted too late—Terrocht's hand erupted below, catching her neck. Her knife flew and sliced at the hand in vain.
Amused, Terrocht approached, caught the blade, and wrapped it in his own flesh. From his hand, he shot a chunk of his own flesh into the stone wall.
Another hand slung from the ground, catching Kalika's hands as she struggled to break free.
"It's been a fun game, but I think it's about time we ended this… Even if I can't absorb you anymore, I can still bring you before Cassell."
Terrocht reached for Kalika.
Suddenly, his hands were sliced. He jerked back, watching as blades of wind sliced through the arms holding Kalika.
"GET AWAY FROM HER!!"
Kalika fell to her knees, gasping for air. She glanced up, finding Lillian hurling more slices of wind as she descended. She coughed blood, then switched to her fist as she flew towards Terrocht and punched him.
Terrocht caught her fist. "Holy light holder…" He raised his hand, catching Rakon's spiked arm from above.
Both demons glared, then distanced back to Kalika.
Lillian wiped her mouth and turned back. "Kalika!" She ripped the pieces of Terrocht's hands off Kalika, freeing her from his tangles. "We have to get out of here!" She held her hand out. "Please… Kalika. Trust me."
Kalika's gaze lingered on the ground.
"It's my fault," Kalika whispered.
"Huh?"
"LILLIAN!!" Rakon yelled.
Lillian spun and was caught by the neck. She gasped, then unleashed a sea of fire against a flurry of outstretched hands.
"STAY AWAY FROM HER!" Lillian broke free from Terrocht's hand, then conjured a wall of earth.
Rakon rushed in, slithering and coiling like a guided pool of blood, and attacked the angel.
"Persistent demons." Terrocht's hands broke through Lillian's wall.
She retaliated with a sweep of earth and wind magic as Rakon continued to counter and exchange blows with the angel, barely keeping him at bay.
Through the assault, Terrocht narrowly managed to ensnare both their necks. He squeezed with one hand and concentrated fire in the other, ready to kill.
He stopped. He sneered. "You too?" His grip loosened, and the two escaped.
Lillian and Rakon attacked in unison, pushing the angel into the wall.
Kalika, still hunched on her knees behind the two, continued to stare at the ground, feeling their descent continue. "Who cares about some demons?" she told herself. A pit in her stomach sank, and her hands shook.
"There they are!!" A man yelled. "FIRE!!!"
"Huh!?" Kalika turned up.
Blasts of fire came from all sides. Lillian turned with a glare. She rushed to Kalika's side and forced out a barrier of water. Blood ran from her eyes and ears, trying to hold her magic together.
Rakon slid away from Terrocht, entering the barrier and nearly bumping Kalika. "Tch! Damn humans!" he sneered. "You should escape while you can. I don't think Lillian or I can last much longer as it is."
Kalika's hands clawed silently at the dirt and rubble in her grasp.
"So take advantage while you can," Rakon said.
He lunged out of the barrier, back into the battle, wrapping around Terrocht like a liquid snake made of thin ribbons of black blood and slicing his arms. He tightened around the angel, giving Lillian a small opening as the two continued the fight.
The chaos around her became white noise.
"[Do you want to save them?]"
Kalika flinched, hearing a voice so gentle, yet firm and earnest. It sounded so familiar, yet it was the first time she had heard him speak. Slowly, a single name formed in her mind.
"Felim?"
"[I'll ask again. Do you want to save them?]"
Kalika's lips tightened, and she clenched her dirt-filled hands tighter.
"Yes."
"[Then press your palm against the ground and infuse the earth with my power.]"
A wave of confusion washed over her, but she complied, pressing her hands firmly to the ground.
"[Now use my magic and don't stop.]"
She took a deep breath, and despite the lingering uncertainty, the magic gushed from her body into the earth. She flinched, feeling something immense, old, and stale pass through her into the ground.
The pulse grew stronger, traversing and jumping over fractures, traveling fast and spreading like an unstoppable force.
The pulse continued past the battlefield and into the chaos of the villages and cities strewn throughout the sinking part of Celestine and Dahlia.
Suddenly, the sinking stopped.
Feeling a sudden stillness in the ground, citizens slowly peeked from their homes, and prayers to their god ceased. Children held close to their parents as they looked around.
But then, the rumbling returned. Chunks of earth and rocks rose around them, as their village began to rise above other fracture landmasses.
Cracks rippled across the ground of several regions, splitting villages, cities, forest with some tugging at homes and trees.
A village child ran to the edge, his mother catching him just before the edge. He saw their home continue to rise. "Mother, what's happening?"
The mother kept silent, watching as her country turned into seas of floating islands with surprising self-contained rivers and hanging trees.
********
Fire washed across the ground, engulfing the small battlefield in heat.
Lillian pressed her hand to her stomach, endowing herself with holy magic. She gritted her teeth, trying to hold the water barrier together. She glanced back. "K-Kalika!"
Fire intensified, burning through Lillian's barrier. A hail of Terrocht's arms whipped around her.
Rakon freed her, then turned, barely holding Terrocht back. Rakon clenched his teeth. "I think this is it."
"ENEMY ATTACK- AAAHHHH!!"
A golden soldier fell, cracking his neck at the base of the crumbling stone wall. More fell by the dozens as a man's voice boomed over them.
"FIRE!!"
The thwacks of arrows filled the air above them, and a light show of hundreds of barriers lit blue over the golden army. Eventually, barriers cracked and shattered under the rain of arrows, leaving men vulnerable as they were pierced from above.
"What the hell?" Lillian peered up as the waves of fire weakened. Through the flames, she saw another human army wearing worn-away armor.
"General Lam!" A voice echoed. "That Demon King just told us to scout!"
"Quiet! Just keep shooting!"
Terrocht glanced at the army, hearing the two men. "This isn't supposed to happen."
Rakon sliced through Terrocht.
Kalika peeked at the two, watching as they practically tore each other apart. Her arms shook, feeling the strange magic pass through her like a conduit. "Come on…"
Terrocht's arms exploded out, grazing Kalika and punching Lillian in the gut.
Lillian fell face-first into the ground. She raised herself up, stopped, and turned in confusion. "What the…"
The ground shook between the four. Rocks rose around, and the entire battlefield groaned. Slowly, the jagged, fractured pieces of the border seemed to drop away beneath them as their piece of land continued to rise.
Sensing the change, Kalika raised her head and stared in shock. The ground they stood on rose above the chaos of battle.
Terrocht caught a stray arrow and took a spiked arm to the face. He knocked Rakon away and reformed his face. He raised his arms with a scowl, and froze. "W…What?"
Rakon stumbled to his feet and stopped, finally noticing the change around them.
Everyone watched as the broken land masses rose alongside theirs, with each piece drifting away in the sky.
"No…" Terrocht uttered. His eyes watched the transforming landscape in disgust, feeling a foreign magic that didn't belong. "No! What have you done?!"
Rakon tackled Terrocht, stabbing into him.
Irked, the angel grabbed Rakon and threw him aside.
Lillian raised her hands, magic spurting and failing before being smacked away.
Undeterred, Kalika stood indignant at Terrocht's fury.
"You ruined Cassell's world." Terrocht froze, his hands inches from their faces. "You don't know when to stop." He muttered.
"Good…"
Veins bulged in Terrocht's eyes. He pulled his hand back.
"Get back!" Rakon sliced through Terrocht's head, and Lillian conjured a stone spear and thrust it into the angel's shoulder.
Like a natural disaster, he knocked Rakon off the rising mass of land and grabbed Lillian by the neck. Without a second thought, he lunged into the air with feathered wings arched as strange blue magic formed in the palms of his hands.
A chill ran down Lillian's spine seeing the magic. "Kalika, run! Get away from him!!"
Unamused, Kalika watched.
"What are you doing, Kalika? That attack—it was used to destroy Gralin!"
Terrocht smirked. "Ah, so you remember." The magic grew larger and larger.
Kalika stiffened, seeing the magic continue to grow. "So that's why that crater was there…"
Terrocht's eyes sharpened on Kalika. He watched Kalika conjure a small ball of darkness in the palm of her hand as she scrutinized the little thing. He laughed inwardly at the shallow attempt.
"Humorous," Terrocht said. "As soon as I'm finished with you, I'll erase every demon in Rocia!"
Kalika leered back, her eyes shining a bright orange. "As if I'd let you." She aimed her magic and shot it directly into Terrocht's magic.
Nothing happened.
Terrocht laughed.
Kalika huffed. Then flicked her finger down.
Within his magic, space distorted, and before he knew it, darkness expanded, consuming every bit of his magic.
The attack flared into a black, shadowy mist.
Lillian stared in shock as Terrocht looked up blankly where his attack once hovered.
"What…?" Kalika said, staring blankly. "It worked?"
"YOU WENCH!" Terrocht lunged and outstretched his enlarged hand with a snarl.
A black sphere enveloped her. Before he could turn, Kalika reappeared above the angel. She landed on his back and grabbed his shoulder, then stabbed her dagger into his neck. "Let Donovan go, you bastard!"
Kalika tumbled and grasped the angel's head, catching herself.
Hands shot from Terrocht's back, grabbing Kalika by her arm, neck, legs, and body.
"Kalika!" Lillian wrestled harder to free herself.
Terrocht tossed Lillian away.
Kalika winced, fighting to resist Terrocht and clinging tighter to his head. "Give him back!"
Her orange eyes glowed as she dug her fingers into his skull.
Terrocht flinched. "What are you doing, you filthy demon!?"
"Give him-!!" Kalika froze as she heard and felt something alien. From her fingers, black veins snaked into his head.
Terrocht writhed and clung tighter. "Release me!"
Kalika dug deeper. "N-no!"
Suddenly, Terrocht's hands spasmed out of control. His wings followed, and the two fell headfirst.
They crashed hard into the ground.
Her fingers loosened, and the two separated.
Kalika lunged back onto Terrocht. She pinned his back to the ground and clawed her fingers back into his skull.
Noise filled her mind with thousands of voices.
She felt their memories.
Their fear. And above all of them, something pressed over them.
Terrocht.
"There!"
Kalika pushed against him. His body convulsed.
"What are you doing!?"
She pushed harder.
Terrocht roared with pain. "You worm! You think you can control me!?"
Kalika narrowed her eyes. "No."
His face melted and reformed, with eyes that changed and flickered in and out of life.
"I'm shutting you out!"
"No! You belong before Cassell."
Kalika clenched her teeth. "Shut up!"
********
Enocht froze mid-battle.
Without hesitation, Jala conjured a wall of ice, freezing Enocht in half. Lucius smashed her frozen half, and Jala sliced her neck.
A strong gust blew both demons back as she rapidly regenerated.
For a moment, Enocht didn't move, then turned her attention to the newly rising islands behind her.
Lucius and Jala stopped too, stunned at the display of floating islands.
Enocht narrowed her eyes at a single distant floating island. "Impossible," she muttered.
********
Terrocht thrashed under Kalika.
"NO!! I AM TERROCHT!!" His eyes flashed in different colors. "I AM CASSELL'S CHAMPION!!"
Desperate, Terrocht freed his arm and clung to Kalika's head. "You cannot stop Hi—"
His voice stopped, his arms fell, and the body went still.
Kalika froze as she saw Terrocht's blonde hair shift to ginger. And his pale-white skin turned fair. Slowly, his blue eyes opened.
"K…Kalika?"
Her hands pulled away. "Donovan?"
He stared at her, then at his own hands, flexing his fingers. "I… Can feel."
Suddenly, Kalika leaned her head against his, trying to steady her breath. "Thank goodness," she breathed.
"U-umm… what happened?" Donovan asked.
Kalika mustered her strength, pulling away from Donovan with heavy eyes. "You idiot… You lied. You said you'd follow me, but you—"
Silence filled the air.
"Kalika, I–"
Donovan's eyes dulled.
"Donovan?"
His body fell limp.
"D-Donovan!?"
********
Enocht lowered her head. She glanced from Lucius and Jala, who stood ready, to the distant floating islands.
"It seems our battle is over," she said.
Lucius narrowed his eyes. "Cold feet?"
"No, but it seems that Terrocht is broken."
Jala raised a brow. "Broken?"
"Yes," Enocht said. "I can't feel him anymore."
"So, he's dead."
"No… Not quite. But it seems a human he's consumed took control…" She continued staring into the distance, smirking. "Fascinating. Perhaps another future can be created…" she mused.
Enocht leapt into the air and unfurled her wings.
Lucius stopped, and Jala watched quietly.
"Shame that Cassell noticed him as fast as he did." Without hesitation, she flew off. "Until next time~."
********
Lillian and Rakon climbed back onto the island. They both watched as Kalika shook Donovan's body, tears welling in her eyes.
"Donovan!" Kalika yelled. "Donovan, wake up! Donovan! DONOVAN!!"