Warrior Cipher lunged forward, ready to deliver the final blow—but something was wrong. The monstrous Mother Mornogan soul sucker began to ascend, its enormous form vanishing into the swirling darkness above.
She ground her teeth. "Coward," she muttered, watching it disappear into the storm.
Behind her, Cipher from Intra-Multi-Gaming-Voyage followed, sensing everything Warrior Cipher felt—the pulse of rage, the burning determination, the underlying tension of the battle.
Cipher stole a glance at Emma, who was a blur of motion, leaping between enemy after enemy, cutting down every soul sucker in her path.
Warrior Cipher redirected her focus. The portal.
More of them were coming through.
Her jaw tightened. "That thing won't return anytime soon," she said under her breath. "But the portal—it's endless."
She gripped her weapon and charged forward, locking onto the gateway where wave after wave of Mornogan soul suckers spilled into their realm.
She wasn't waiting for them to come to her. She was taking the fight to them.
Arrows sliced through the air, striking their targets with deadly precision. Warrior Cipher cut down Mornogan soul suckers in relentless succession—those that ventured too close lost their heads, while others felt the sting of her dagger, expertly jabbed in lethal strikes. Some creatures fell instantly, their forms crumbling into abyssal nothingness, while others writhed, struggling to regain their vicious energy.
Behind her, Cipher from Intra-Multi-Gaming-Voyage watched in stunned awe, eyes wide, every move being etched into memory.
Warrior Cipher didn't slow. She saw the relentless waves pouring through the portal. More soul suckers. More threats. It had to end.
She barked over her shoulder. "Keep holding them! I'm going for the portal—watch my back!"
Emma, catching her breath, gave a fierce nod. "I got you. Go blow them up!"
Emma turned back to the battle, her blade flashing as she sent more creatures screaming into the void.
Warrior Cipher leaped skyward, gripping an explosive. "Let's see what happens when I give you this!" she roared.
Then—impact.
A force unlike any before slammed into her, sending her careening backward.
Emma's eyes widened in horror.
Out of the abyss came a new terror.
A queen.
Three times the size of the mother Mornogan soul sucker, its monstrous form loomed, its presence suffocating.
Warrior Cipher landed hard, teeth gritted. Her grip tightened around her weapon.
Emma muttered, barely above a whisper. "What the hell is that?"
Cipher steadied herself. "The fight just changed."
The queen Mornogan soul sucker let out an ear-splitting roar, rattling the very ground beneath them. It spread its monstrous wings, enlarging the portal, making way for countless more Mornogan soul suckers to flood in. The battlefield was shifting—this wasn't just a fight. It was a war.
Warrior Cipher steadied herself, heart pounding. She wasn't afraid. She had fought worse. But the sheer size of the queen, the eerie intelligence in its gaze, the army now standing in perfect formation—it was unlike any battle before.
"Not good, Emma!" she called out, shaking off the initial shock.
Emma wasn't looking at her. She was staring at the queen, eyes wide, grip tightening around her blade. "Yeah," she whispered. "Not good at all."
Then, the queen did something neither of them expected—it spoke.
"Filthy humans," its voice slithered through the air like poison. "Just the two of you? You think you can stop my revolution?"
Cipher from Intra-Multi-Gaming-Voyage stiffened. She had never seen anything like this before—never encountered a creature that carried this much presence, this much terror. But she saw Warrior Cipher tense at the words, jaw locked in defiance.
Emma exhaled sharply. "It speaks?" Her voice was barely above a whisper, as if saying it out loud made it even more real.
The queen let out a low, guttural laugh, the sound vibrating through the storm. Its many heads moved in eerie synchrony, eyes glowing like molten fire. "Your souls… all of them... your entire planet… belong to me! And you two?" It paused, savoring the moment. "You'll make fine appetizers."
Emma's breathing quickened, but her grip didn't falter. "Cipher. What the hell are we supposed to do against that?"
Warrior Cipher narrowed her eyes. "We fight. We end it."
Cipher from Intra-Multi-Gaming-Voyage noted the shift—Warrior Cipher was no longer hesitating. No longer calculating. She had made her decision.
"Vulture," Warrior Cipher spat, stepping forward. "You're not the first thing that's tried to tear this world apart. And you won't be the last."
The queen hissed, intrigued. "Oh? You welcome death, then?"
Warrior Cipher's lips curled into a smirk. "Death fears me."
The queen's laughter erupted in a wave—deep, twisted, filled with mockery. "AHAHAHA! HAHAHAHA!"
Then—it shifted.
"Children," it cooed, voice dripping with command. "Honor your queen."
The Mornogan soul suckers moved—a synchronized swarm, their monstrous bodies lunging toward Warrior Cipher and Emma like a flood of nightmares.
Emma clenched her jaw. "Hundreds, Cipher."
Warrior Cipher raised her blade. "Hundreds we've already killed."
Emma inhaled sharply, adjusting her stance. Then—she grinned, flipping her dagger in her palm.
"Let's show them what we're made of."
They met the incoming swarm head-on.
Arrows flew from Warrior Cipher's bow, striking creatures mid-flight, sending bodies crumbling into the abyss. Emma twisted and leaped, her blade flashing as she cut down every soul sucker that dared get close.
But the queen wasn't watching her army—it was watching Warrior Cipher.
Cipher from Intra-Multi-Gaming-Voyage saw the shift, the quiet amusement in the queen's expression. It wasn't concerned about its minions. It was waiting.
Then—it moved.
A blur of sickening speed, a monstrous shape lunging straight for Warrior Cipher.
Emma shouted. "Cipher! MOVE!"
But the impact came first.
A force unlike anything before crashed into Warrior Cipher, sending her tumbling through the air. She twisted mid-flight, gripping her sword tightly, using the momentum to regain control before slamming into the ground—hard, but steady.
Emma was already moving toward her. "You good?"
Warrior Cipher exhaled sharply, wiping blood from her lip. She smirked. "I can't easily go down just like that?"
Emma let out a relieved, breathy laugh. "Any new ideas?"
Cipher's gaze burned with battle-born resolve. She glanced up at the queen, still hovering, still watching, still amused.
"I am working on it."
Emma nodded once, then pulled something from her belt—a small, glowing explosive.
"This?" she grinned. "Should do the trick."
But before she could throw it—the queen moved again.
This time, with purpose.
The impact was devastating.
Emma's body was sent flying, the explosive knocked from her grasp, skidding across the battlefield.
Warrior Cipher's breath hitched.
The queen loomed over Emma's fallen form, towering, monstrous, watching her like prey.
Warrior Cipher moved.
Faster than thought, faster than instinct—her sword was in her hand, her body lunging straight for the queen.
The queen laughed, twisting at the last second, dodging effortlessly.
"Oh, how lovely," it purred. "Your rage is delicious."
Emma coughed, pushing herself up. "Cipher…"
The queen's claws flexed, hovering just above Emma's form.
Warrior Cipher gritted her teeth. "You touch her—"
The queen grinned, so many eyes locked onto Warrior Cipher.
"And then what?"
The storm raged on.