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_New chapter time! I'm doing my best to keep progressing with the story, trying to stick to a daily wriitng quota. Wish me luck and hope i can keep it up for as long as it takes to complete the story. I hope you will enjoy this new piece of the story. As always, your comments are more than welcome. _

All Hell has broken loose, and the Princes now walk the Earth with their armies pillaging, destroying and looting the once proud mortal cities. The blue planet is fast turning black and crimson as corruption spreads, gorging in tears, blood and sweat.

*Chapter 72 - Planet Hell *

There could be no doubt about Katy's desire to visit Eaglenest: she had been practically bouncing excitedly on Killer's shoulders for all the time it had taken to walk the length of the suspended bridge, miles and miles above the clouds, and enter into the castle. Once inside, she had grown stiff and motionless, but only because she fell prey to awe, her gaze running over every bastion, along every row of columns and arches, as Killer and Vesta deliberately took a long detour to allow her to discover most of the fortress, including the vast and peaceful gardens of the cloister, with the gigantic weeping willow in the centre.

Katy loved every second of the visit, even though she could recognize only a small part of what she saw: she had read plenty of times about the old Eaglenest, but the new fortress bore little resemblance to what the monastery had been in the past. When Killer had turned the legendary monastery into his fortress and sanctuary within Heaven he had enormously expanded the construction and added a whole new outer layer of fortifications. Externally, the fortress was stronger than ever with its imposing, triangular-shaped bastions topped by enormous rail-guns, and it was only in the very center, past the successive lines of walls and strongholds that the actual monastery could be found. Even this area had been expanded and rearranged, with a new and spectacular cloister on two levels arranged around the large and luscious garden. Another vast courtyard led to the imposing marble staircase of what had once been the cathedral, now reshaped into a throne of titanic proportions, with multiple temples, each larger and richer than the original abbey had been, built under the seat and under the armrests, with a multitude of other chapels and rooms built into the backrest.

Eaglenest was more impressive than ever, and finding out just how much it had changed only seemed to make it all the more interesting for Katy, who eventually asked Vesta to give back her heavy bag of books. When the goddess had done that, the little girl had dug out a pencil and a notebook and had begun drawing quick sketches of some of the areas they passed through, commenting with excitement about the magnificence of the new castle and the many differences she found between what she had read and what was now reality.

Killer had no difficulties guessing that the one place that Katy most dreamed to visit was the immense and famous library of Eaglenest, and so he had walked through the gardens until he had walked under the beautiful arches of the south side of the cloister. There, enormous arched windows of colored glass faced out towards the garden, and he smiled as he heard Katy holding her breath with a little gasp as she gazed inside and saw the rows upon rows of chiseled oak shelves covered in books.

He had reached the heavy wooden door leading into the library, guarded on each side by a soldier at attention, and they pulled the heavy shutters open for him and Vesta, allowing them to access the cool, semi-dark gallery. The library extended on four levels, and its ceiling was tall and majestic, stretching upwards in sharp, agile gothic arches that made it look like a true cathedral of knowledge. Two rows of massive columns, each chiseled into the perfect copy of a tall, proud and ancient oak whose vast canopy served as the base for the gothic arches, divided the space in three vast naives, and there were magnificent windows of colored glass on both sides: one side looked inwards, facing the garden, while the other openings overlooked the outer walls of the fortress, the bastions and the open sky beyond.

Braziers were arranged in orderly rows along the naives, spreading their light and their warmth into the colossal open space, and the walls were completely covered in imposing shelves of dark, richly chiseled wood. Spiral staircases were coiled around the immense tree-columns, and they connected to catwalks running all along the shelves. The windows, even majestic and beautiful as they were, were mere interruptions in otherwise never-ending rows of books and binders of documents and other treasures: there were ancient planetary models and world maps depicting a variety of different planets and there were even weapons and sets of armor exposed in large, elegant niches.

The gallery was several hundred feet in length, and Killer walked slowly down it, giving Katy the time to savor the atmosphere of the place, before she dropped her head backwards with a little sound of awe as they stepped into a circular area bathed in the warm light of the sun coming in from rose windows at the base of a glorious dome high above.

The dome was frescoed with images of Heaven's history, with the Great Rebellion of the angels in full evidence in the very center of the scene, with Vesta and Gabriel standing in defence of God, and Killer took a moment to look at it himself, even though he already knew the drawings.

There, in the middle of a huge battle between angels, stood a titanic body made of silvery stone and with sapphire energy shining out of drawings, lines and symbols traced all over his massive musculature. Killer had wondered more than once about the identity of the giant, but now he knew the answer, and he spent a few long moments memorizing Juggernaut's look, while Katy let out a deep breath of awe as she shifted over his shoulders and gazed to either side to see that the library was actually cross-shaped, and the two arms extended to the left and to the right of the central "island" where they stood. The central area under the dome was occupied by heavy tables of solid oak, with dozens of tall armchairs orderly arranged along each. There were also curved sofas arranged around low tables, forming smaller reading islands spread out all along the perimeter of the circular space.

The left branch of the cross formed another of the sides of the inner cloister, and faced upon the garden, while the right wing stretched towards one of the bastions of the innermost lines of defence of the fortress. The ceiling of the side branches was one level lower, and the arches were softer and narrower, resting as they did upon a veritable forest of thin, agile columns all decorated with chiseled plants and flowers and vines. Katy spotted other reading areas at the end of each branch of the cross, and she smiled softly as she discovered that, thanks to Gaia, now there were also actual plants coiling around the columns, and each reading area also had its own unique mini-lake, with a tiny island in the middle from which quietly sprung always new crystal-clear water, while colorful, beautiful fishes could be seen swimming just beneath the surface, moving under enchanting water lilies of the most stupendous colors.

Killer and Vesta had walked onwards, however, reaching the far end of the long central gallery, where monumental double-doors led them out into a monumental hall, with twin ramps of marble stairs climbing to the right and to the left.

They had walked up the left staircase, turned the corner and climbed another ramp until they had reached a floor that, Katy could easily guess, was located exactly above the left wing of the library. A stupendous corridor of colored marbles extended all along that wing of the palace, but they had entered the very first chiseled oak double-door, with Katy holding her breath in anticipation.

Being allowed into Vesta's private quarters was a dream come true for Katy, and surprise added itself to the awe as the little girl had her first impact with the organized chaos within the queen's room, and especially with the mess of books, bottles of liquors, glasses and weapons spread out all over her desk. Just like her clothing style, her way of talking and acting and her tattoos, the state of her room was bound to surprise and amaze those who had been fed a lot of stories about a queen of Seraphims supposedly perfect and chaste and prissy and God-fearing.

Katy looked around curiously for a few moments, but it only caused a smile to spread over her features, amusement evident in her eyes as she discovered another piece of what clearly was a very different story. One that, truth be told, she liked even more.

Vesta had offered no apology for the mess, clearly beneath her consideration and, she evidently took for granted, beneath anyone else's attention, and instead she had walked up to the large, monumental fireplace to stir the fire back to life, adding a few stout logs and idly snapping her fingers to have them consumed by hungry flames.

Killer had squatted and helped Katy dismount from his broad shoulders, smiling then as the little girl walked around in a small circle, eyes wide as she took in every detail, gazing fawningly over the amazing collection of weapons and the just as impressive treasure of rare books, annotations, sketches and unfinished manuscripts that Vesta had shelved over the course of the millennia.

Vesta had prepared tea and pulled out a couple of bottles of her best liquors as well as a giant bowl of delicious butter cookies, and then she and Katy had eagerly begun to search on the shelves to locate a few books that the queen expected would be useful for their study. Both females were beaming with delight at the thought of delving into a long, complex research, and Killer sat quietly at the desk, watching them with affection, amusement and with true admiration for their knowledge and their lust for expanding it even further. As they searched, it became evident just how well the two females got along, as Vesta cheerfully replied to the many questions, full of sincere interest, that came from Katy as the little girl did her best to help the queen locate her oldest diaries. Vesta, after all, had personally seen the creation of Juggernaut, but the Eons that had passed made it best to not depend purely on her memory, no matter how exceptional it was.

Killer had taken a seat at the desk and had watched the two females working on their research, as Vesta finally located the relevant books and carried them over to the table, shoving to the side the disorderly pile of other books and documents and weapons. It was fascinating to hear the two girls talking and exchanging ideas, suggestions and notions, but the huge male soon found himself lost when it came to magic, and of extremely high level no less. Most of what the two scholars said only had him confused, and only a few of the spells they mentioned made any bell ring in his head, making it once more clear that he was never going to be a good battle mage. Katy, on the other hand, rarely was silent: she seemed to have knowledge of all kinds of magic, although she had blushed a bit and admitted early on that almost all of her notions were pure theory. Without the physical requisites to join the Legions and without the money to pay a mage for lessons, she had had zero access to a suitable mentor that could teach her the art of actually handling magic. She had experimented on her own, but she was wise enough to know that, without some kind of assistance and guidance, attempting to work with high level spells and combat magic was out of the question. Unsurprisingly, Killer learned that Sylvia had strictly prohibited Katy to train with any and every form of "dangerous" magic, and that meant the vast majority of it, because very few spells do not have a possible bad outcome. Killer knew all too well how easy it was to mess up even with a cleansing spell and set fire to something... Katy had admitted that she had stretched the "non dangerous" boundary as far as she dared, but eventually she had ended her experiments before something could go seriously wrong.

He had promised to help her in learning more advanced and risky spells, but it was Vesta's promise to teach her that made the actual difference, and the male knew it all too well. He felt no jealousy for how the two females clearly enjoyed each other's presence; on the contrary, he was all too glad for it, because he truly wished to see Katy turning her dreams into reality.

Vesta and Katy had done their best to keep him involved in their work, even though his contributions could only be far in between, and very modest. He did appreciate their effort, though, and was all too happy to just listen and learn all he could, while drinking a glass of Vesta's excellent whiskey. He could not quite tell how much time they had spent like that before Gaia had gently knocked at the door and joined them. Her arrival had been very helpful, since she had taken part in Juggernaut's creation; Vesta had been about to call her in.

Gaia was delighted by getting to know Katy, and Killer saw a special kind of softness in the goddess's smile as she gently squeezed the little girl's hand in hers. It was easy to read the light in Gaia's eyes and recognize it as a maternal kind of affection for the tiny girl: she was the embodiment of Nature and the mistress of Life, and that made her particularly tenderhearted. The goddess, however, had also quickly and astutely put Katy to the test, politely asking a few simple questions about her and what she liked to do in life, and gauging her nature through them. Katy had answered politely, all the while admiring the goddess that she knew by fame and through books, and all her intelligence and good nature had immediately transpired, leaving Gaia smiling in approval and giving Killer a little nod of affectionate congratulations.

Mere minutes later, Katy and Gaia had already turned into close friends, and the kitten had turned into the one who asked questions, with the goddess cheerfully telling her the story of her meeting with Killer and explaining the tale behind her collar and tattoo. Killer listened with attention, tensing up with anxiety at the thought of how things had gone, but Gaia was carefully sparing of details about the most violent and sexual parts of her ascension to Disciplehood, and he soon relaxed, thankful for her wisdom and prudence.

Soon enough, while Gaia prepared cups of her very special and absolutely delicious tea, the questions from Katy and Vesta had turned towards the topic of the research at hand, and with the help of the memories of the goddess of Nature, the picture had become a lot clearer, a lot faster.

Sekhmeth had not lied when she had claimed to know Juggernaut especially well: from both Vesta's annotations and from Gaia's memory emerged that she had been part of the creation of the colossal super-golem that Juggernaut was. Lord God Elelyon had decided to create Juggernaut at the height of the war that exploded in Heaven with the rebellion of the Arkangels, when victory had been dangerously close to Satan's grasp.

Killer had already read about the Great Rebellion, but he was glad to go over the story again and learn the details of what was one of the two most defining moments in the history of their part of universe, with the other event being the "Night of Times", a name that actually regrouped in itself multiple days and nights during which Elelyon and Typhon had clashed over the destiny of the galaxy.

Nobody knew exactly how many days and nights that battle had lasted. Nobody was even sure if the days and nights were the same, back then. The Mortal Plane back then was young, and life was barely beginning to appear upon the planet, while Heaven and Hell didn't even exist. Typhon and Elelyon both took an interest in the growing life on the planet, but their ideas for the future were in absolute antithesis: Typhon was determined to warp the planet and its life forms into a toy, a source of slaves and of worshippers that would one day grant him even greater power. Elelyon saw the cruelty of his experiments and decided to put an end to them, challenging Typhon. The epic clash was said to have lasted at least a whole week, but Vesta cautioned that a lot of hyperbole had probably been added to the tale over the Eons. What was certain, however, was that Elelyon had won but had spared Typhon's life, sealing him in a dimensional cage formed "using stars as rivets and rivers of Unworld Residue as the bars".

Only then, Elelyon, now Lord God, had been able to give birth to Hell and Heaven, as well as discreetly nurture the life that was evolving and spreading upon the planet.

The first "Eon" passed in peace, with Elelyon meeting and befriending other divinities, the first of whom was Gaia, who found her true vocation in using her powers to shape a world of bountiful green and of deep blue, creating forests and seas, plains and mountains for the growing life to inhabit.

Over time, the Council of the 7 Gods had been born, as Gaia was joined by Azura, Alcana, Lemuel, Sekhmeth and Ares. All those gods had accepted to work for and with Elelyon, to build a perfect universe and to defend it from the other mighty gods that were shaping their own dimensions all around them.

The mortal life on the planet had evolved "quickly", at least for the standards of immortal gods, and with the maturity of their minds and with their consciences finally developed they were entrusted with the awareness of Good and Evil, and given free choice to abide by one or the other.

Angels were created to populate and defend the Heavens and to guard Hell, to judge and purify the souls of the sinners. Back then, "demons" used to be nothing more than the incorporeal souls of the dead mortals, going through Hell for a period of time of varying length, depending on the gravity of the sin that they had to understand and expiate before being allowed into Heaven. Hell had been just an outlaying province of Heaven, rather than a neatly separated supernatural plane.

The Great Rebellion marked the end of the First Eon and the beginning of a new era.

Satan, the most powerful of the "Angels of the Ark", or Arkangels, the highest order in Heaven together with the Seraphims; had been the Lord Protector of Hell. Michael was the Lord Protector of Heaven.

Over time, Satan had grown enamored of his own power and of the fact that he ruled, effectively, a small world separated from the rest. His ambition grew, and with it envy for Elelyon's power and the wish to sit in his glorious throne.

A circle of powerful and ambitious Arkangels had begun to form, but no one dared to make a move against God... until, one day, Elelyon visited Typhon in his prison and became convinced that times were mature for freeing the ancient enemy and give him a chance of redemption. Typhon was admitted into the royal court, where he behaved splendidly, like his darkness had never even existed. For a thousand years he sat in the senate and worked honorably, never exceeding his bounds, never once straying from the right way.

Despite the unease and suspects of many angels, Vesta included, Lord God eventually decided that Typhon had changed so much that he could now become his right hand, his closest advisor: Typhon was more ancient and more powerful than any god in the Council of the 7, and it was unthinkable to keep him sitting in a mere senate chair now that there could not possibly be any doubt about his sincerity.

The ascension of Typhon to the new rank, however, caused grief and scandal among the angels: Lucifer, a noble Arkangel among the strongest and most respected, warned god in the strongest possible terms about the true nature of Typhon. He tried to get Elelyon to reverse his decision, but Lord God gently but firmly rejected all the accusations.

It was the start of a long clash of personalities, and sometimes fists and blades, between Lucifer and Typhon. Discord had entered Heaven, and it proved impossible to be removed: Satan had approached Lucifer and the two had agreed that Elelyon was no longer able to lead Heaven with the necessary wisdom... and that was the start of the Great Rebellion, as other several other Arkangels joined their faction, bringing with them an enormous number of angels. Abaddon, Malkira, Hades, Astaroth and Asmodeus had all joined Satan and Lucifer and denounced God's choices, asking him to step down. A powerful and ambitious Seraphim named Lilith had also chosen to side with the rebels, completing a group of formidable warriors with a veritable army of followers.

Elelyon had been shocked by the number of people suddenly requesting his demise. He considered himself their father, and each angel that turned against him was a son lost, a knife pierced deep through his heart. He had tried to get them to see the error of their ways. He had attempted to get them to trust him again, to see the reasoning behind his decisions... but diplomacy, at that point, no longer had any chance of success, and Elelyon was left staring in horror at his loved sons and daughters as they launched a deadly assault against him right in the middle of what had started as a discussion, an attempt to find common ground.

Vesta and Gabriel and Michael had fought Satan and Lucifer back and allowed Elelyon to survive the murder attempt, covering his retreat from the Great Hall. The battle soon engulfed the entire capital as the rebels swarmed the gates and flooded Caernarvon, picking up weapons that had been carefully smuggled past the walls in the previous months.

The flames of war had spread rapidly through all of Heaven, as loyalists and rebels locked horns in every town and in every village, and for a whole week the royal palace had been under vicious siege. Eventually, Elelyon had forced Satan back, Michael had wounded Lucifer and Vesta had almost killed Lilith, forcing her and the others to flee the devastated halls, with Gabriel and his troops following closely to land the final blow.

But that was easier said than done. It proved impossible to defeat the powerful rebel leaders, and the number of angels siding with Satan continued to increase: the counter-offensive died after obtaining only modest gains, as the rebels managed to consolidate their positions just outside the royal palace. The siege continued, as did the slaughters and the massacres, and Vesta and Gabriel struggled desperately to clear up some ways across town to reconnect with other loyalist troops coming from other regions of Heaven.

After many failed, costly attempts to achieve victory in battle, the loyalist troops were exhausted and the image of Elelyon was starting to fade and fall apart, as his failure to apply decisive power against the traitors was seen as weakness when not as an obvious proof that he was wrong, that his objectives weren't pure. That only went to the rebel's advantage, and Satan gained more power by the day.

Michael, then commander in chief of all of Heaven's forces - a memory that still made Vesta shudder in distaste - ended up facing Elelyon to peremptorily demand the creation and the fielding of a super-weapon which would be able to shrug off both Satan's tremendous strength and Lucifer's incredible prowess with magic. He demanded something strong enough to dislodge the rebel forces from even their most formidable strongholds all on its own, an extraordinary requirement. Michael had insisted relentlessly for weeks, arguing that God absolutely must give a true display of his power in order to crush the enemy's very will to fight as well as end to the uncertainty and doubt that had gripped the heart of so many angels, which were deserting in ever greater numbers to join the rebels.

Vesta and Gabriel had countered that true angels did not fall prey to doubt so easily, and that scaring the legions into obedience would never be the same as having them discovering the truth of their faith within their souls. Fear would keep them on God's side, but only until it lasted, while true loyalty would be unbreakable. It was Lord God's very own belief, and Elelyon had initially been inflexible in turning down Michael's request, insisting on the need to let the angels decide with their hearts and minds, without him using his force against them, not even to impress them. If they believed in him, he thought, they would stand by his side to the end. Guarded by Vesta and Gabriel, firm in their faith and in their love for their Father, lord god thought it assured that the other angels would soon rediscover their loyalty and affection for him. Michael's request was turned down again and again, but the rebellion continued to expand, as more and more angels misinterpreted God's merciful and non violent calls for weakness. Faith proved to be weak, and the sheer scale of the betrayal took a tremendous tool on Elelyon, heartbroken, confused and disbelieving in front of such explosion of hate against him. Doubt had gripped Lord God's very own heart in front of hostility that he could not understand; and perhaps even fear wormed its way inside him, because one day he finally surrendered his very own beliefs and gave his consent to Michael's plan, despite the protests of Vesta, Gabriel and many others.

Elelyon himself had sculpted a mountain into a titanic golem, imbuing the hard stone with his energies and giving it a mind, a will, an unflinching loyalty and an enormous power, both physical and magical. Gaia had been called to give her contribution, and the goddess had soaked the stone with the awesome might and resilience of Nature. She made sure to have the spark of Life soaking every inch of the titan, giving him even greater strength and the ability to grow, to evolve, to change, and to regenerate.

And Sekhmeth had completed that spectacular mix of powers by blessing Juggernaut with her fearsome power of Destruction, giving him the ability to annihilate any enemy either by means of sheer, overwhelming strength or by assaulting the enemy's biological system from within, corrupting, warping, destroying a living being through sickness.

Juggernaut possessed simply unbelievable physical power as well as corruptive, devastating abilities that weren't far from Erra's own. He could strike down any enemy fool enough to stand in his path, and he could shrug off immense amounts of damage literally without noticing: thanks to the wild power of Nature that Gaia had gifted him, he could regenerate any damage he sustained at a fearsome rate. He could absorb energy constantly from the world around him, and evolve his form and his abilities in a constant, accelerated cycle, which meant he basically grew stronger and stronger with every minute that passed.

According to Gaia, Juggernaut had no organs of any sort: inside, he was made of molten metal and pure magic and supernatural energy. His outer layer, also made of metal, was solid enough to hit any target with full, devastating force yet soft enough to deform and absorb harmlessly any hostile blow.

Vesta, Gaia and Katy discussed at length about what kept Juggernaut alive and how it did so, but nobody had the answer: the powers of three gods had been infused into the gigantic golem, as well as ancient magic that only Elelyon knew. The three females had a theory about the three "great powers" being still present somewhere within Juggernaut as separated "cores" of some sort, but that was only a wild guess and there was no telling where such potential "weak spots" might be located, or how large they could be.

It was perhaps more of a hope than a belief, because if they assumed that the three powers had fully merged together and fully imbued Juggernaut's body, they had to assume that he was completely devoid of weaknesses, and that the only way to get him to stay down was to completely pulverize all of his form. It was a scary thought, and one scenario that they hoped to be able to discount with more study and, maybe, with whatever Sekhmeth had to say.

Juggernaut was truly an unstoppable force, the closest thing to perfection to exist since the times of Light and Darkness, the primordial, all-powerful beings that had created the universe by destroying each other at the apex of their never ending clash. His creation had immediately changed the scenario of the Great Rebellion, spelling doom for Satan's plans: nothing the rebels had in their arsenal could achieve anything against the super-titan, who made a literal mockery of them all, walking all over them, crushing angels by the thousands and annihilating Satan's army in mere instants, just by walking from one end of its ranks to the other, crushing everyone under his toes.

It had taken him ten steps, nothing more... and when he stopped, the greatest part of the rebel army was nothing more than red pulp at the bottom of his gigantic footprints, which grew larger and larger, step by step. Juggernaut, in fact, was too powerful, too perfect: whatever mix of powers was born when Elelyon's Creation met Gaia's Life and Sekhmeth's Destruction, it proved to be too wildly potent to be controlled. Juggernaut had grown almost ten times larger in the time it had taken him to walk out of the royal palace and stroll over the enemy strongholds, and as a result all of the ancient, original Caernarvon laid in ruin behind his back, pulverized and full of corpses buried under the rubble.

Juggernaut's first and only battle had been a fearsome massacre that had brutally crushed friends and enemies alike, erased Heaven's glorious capital and killed thousands of innocent civilians in a short, monstrous minute that left both factions staring in awe and horror at the gigantic monstrosity. It was all too clear that Juggernaut was too powerful to be controlled, and it was the titan himself who, after realizing what he had done, begged his Father to devise a way to keep him from harming other innocents.

Elelyon and Gaia had immediately stepped in to somehow solve the problem, but nothing they could do would stop Juggernaut's ruinous growth, and nothing was able to hurt him, destroy him, or remove the life force from the stone. Elelyon and Gaia had been left with no choice but to imprison Juggernaut for eternity, and even that was almost impossible to do: they had to first devise a powerful enchantment that sucked energy out of Juggernaut's body and converted it into electricity that was then dispersed away from him. Enormous cables, a mile and more in diameter, had been stretched from Caernarvon to the Middle Sea and other lakes and oceans and deserts, and buried deep underwater or in dead, arid fields, where the fearsome discharges of electricity would not harm Heaven's towns.

Even that proved to be insufficient, however, as Juggernaut's body greedily absorbed the energy back through contact with the very ground, and generated power at such rate that they had had to urgently hook up towns and machinery and other users to absorb even more electricity. Finally, Elelyon had used his might to tear the earth apart, opening an immense crater right where the ancient Caernarvon used to stand, and Gaia had created a thick, solid sarcophagus of a kind of crystal which would naturally deflect energy flows away, lowering it into the deep hole. Juggernaut had been sealed into that solid cocoon of crystal, and thankfully the barrier proved effective, making it impossible for his body to absorb energy from the ground.

That was the end of Juggernaut. Elelyon attempted to give him a merciful, eternal sleep before the crystal prison was sealed, but it proved impossible just because of how impervious to any kind of magic or supernatural power the titan was. Even without that relief, Juggernaut had quietly and meekly accepted his prison and he had collaborated with Gaia and Elelyon all along, curling up and meditating to try and restrain his own abilities while all the draining system was installed.

The goddess of Nature still remembered with sad admiration the peaceful way in which Juggernaut had not only accepted that cruel fate, but urged Elelyon to bring it forth: the titan was absolutely horrified by what he had done to Caernarvon's people and was terrified at the idea of doing it again to some other town. He had all but thanked his creator for burying him alive, curled up within a tight, uncomfortable cocoon, hooked to immense cables that drained his strength away, and wrapped in chains that restrained him.

Juggernaut had never been seen or heard since, but his very own energy, converted in electricity, had been feeding Heaven's growing power needs from that day onwards: for Eons, more and more towns and villages had drained power from the ancient, titanic cables, and never once had the increasing demand caused any problem with the supply. Juggernaut seemed truly limitless, and the more they asked, the more he had to give... Not that people knew, anyway. Most people in Heaven had absolutely no idea of the ancient secret behind the gigantic cables that could be seen crossing some of the most desolate areas of Paradise.

The demise of Juggernaut had not put an end to the Great Rebellion, though. Satan, Lilith and the other rebel Arkangels had survived the slaughter, along with a sizeable legion of angels and a great number of Benevolents. Vesta and Gabriel pursued the rebels with a vengeance, pushing them out of the Heavens and forcing them to retreat into Hell, and that was where the war once more ended up stalling. Satan and the others were able to seal most of the portals leading into Hell, and when Vesta conquered the few remaining passages they reacted by reshaping Hell itself, surrounding it with a massive wall of dark stone and eternal tempests that made flying over the barrier impossible. They had created the river Styx to run around the formidable wall, and they had given life to Cerberus, their own super-weapon, before shaping the inviolable Black Gate that had frustrated Vesta and Gabriel's attempts to advance any further.

The war finally ended after a long, painful and frustratingly useless siege, during which Hell only expanded, thrived and grew stronger: Satan by then had acquired power that truly rivaled with Elelyon's, and he used his new knowledge and might to dramatically enlarge and to completely reshape the Underworld. He created the Central Spire, his royal fortress, to stand in the very middle of the new, dark world, and arranged the other territories around it in concentric circles, molding each province around one of the capital sins: Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Envy, and Pride.

The souls that used to transit through hell to be punished, purifier and then accepted into Heaven now became prisoners for eternity, and redemption was replaced with perdition, sweetened somewhat by power, as the souls ended up taking mighty, imposing physical shapes determined by the characteristics of their principal sins. Demons were born, to serve as Satan's army.

Lilith had a key part in creating the most powerful and ancient kinds of demons: she was the "Mother of Monsters", since she had turned into an incarnation of Lust and had over the years given birth to the children of Satan, Lucifer and the other fallen Arkangels, now known as Princes of Hell.

Lilith's blood ran in all of the most ancient and powerful bloodlines of Hell: every demon that was born immortal rather than created by the warping of the soul of a mortal was a distant relative of the Mother, and that included Ira.

Hell and Satan emerged from the Great Rebellion as de facto winners. Elelyon was not deposed, but Satan ascended to power levels truly comparable to God's, and he gained complete control over a world that was at least as vast and glorious, in its own way, as Heaven itself.

Eventually, an uneasy peace was agreed when Elelyon recognized Satan's gains and the two leaders determined that mortal souls would continue to reach Hell and Heaven depending on the purity of their actions. Reapers of souls were created to be impartial collectors of souls, separated both from Hell's and from Heaven's interests, and impartial judges were chosen and entrusted with the delicate job of weighting the souls and determining which was worthy of Heaven and which was not.

It was a fair deal in theory, but of course it actually left Heaven at a disadvantage, because Satan and Lilith immediately began a very successful work of corruption of the mortals, spreading temptation among them and luring them to sin and into perdition. Sins tend to be more attractive than the hard and challenging path of virtue and faith, and the effect was, from the very beginning, a much healthier afflux of new arrivals into Hell than into Heaven.

During the entire Great Rebellion, Typhon was never seen picking up arms. Despite having been an indirect yet decisive factor in igniting the war, the god felt no need to step into the fight directly. He sat back and watched, like many other senators and angels and benevolents, sticking to God's cause with perfectly chosen words of support but never with anything more substantial.

Typhon, the great dark lord that had once tried to snatch the galaxy out of Elelyon's hands, said to everyone willing to listen that he had changed, that he was a new person, that he was no longer interested in power and that he was no longer any use on the battlefield, having renounced to fighting as a way to solve disagreements. Vesta had hated every moment of what she considered a disgusting skit, but her protests were for nothing: Typhon emerged from the war surrounded by an aura of holiness, his good faith described as total and his loyalty to his God seen by many as unwavering. Elelyon himself had gently but firmly slapped down Vesta's suspects and urged her to drop her prejudices, letting Typhon work freely into the senate.

It was the one order that Vesta had never, never been able to swallow. It had enraged and saddened and shocked and horrified her from the very beginning... and now, so many years later, her anger was made even greater by the knowledge of having been right all along, and the awareness that on that fateful day the seed of the current disaster had truly been planted.

Killer had listened to the whole tale with attention, absorbing each and every new detail that emerged. His training had included lessons about the Great Rebellion, but those early studies had been pretty quick. He needed to understand the world around him, but back at the time it didn't seem like it was necessary to truly focus on the details, when there were so many other things that appeared far more urgent.

Now, with a more complete understanding of the past, he was left once more contemplating God's actions with something like confused anger: as much as he tried, he couldn't understand why Elelyon had taken certain decisions. He could understand being generous to Typhon, but was it truly necessary to stick by the side of his ancient enemy with such determination to alienate so many loyal sons? And how could Elelyon tolerate their betrayal, and why didn't he use more of his power right away, reminding everyone of his might instead of just trying to win the rebels back through kindness...?

Killer couldn't understand it. God's actions were in many cases diametrically opposed to what he would have done in the same situation, and the vast gulf separating his vision from God's own worried him and made him angry at the same time. Vesta herself had been unable to hide her disapprobation, much as her faith to her Father remained total. She and Killer, as warriors, were at times wary of diplomacy and pacifism: they had learned through bitter experience that the noble desire of avoiding a fight, when pushed to the extreme consequences, could cause more damage than it prevented. To their eyes, God's actions, while guided by the best of intentions, had surely caused the death of millions in a war that they felt could have been avoided... or at least brought to an end in much shorter time.

Killer was also left shaking his head in bitter amusement as he thought of how many differences separated the true story and the one told by religion and by priests.

Most people, both in Heaven and in the mortal world, knew a different, romanced variant of the story that said that Lord God had "stood up from his glorious throne and banished the rebels into the darkness of Hell to punish them for their betrayal", but that tale was a relatively recent invention, imposed upon the people by Typhon after Elelyon departed Heaven and left him as ruling prince.

Typhon had demanded to change the official history, like he did with many other laws and tales, to enforce the dogma of god's infallibility. The senate hadn't put up much of a fight and the mortal civilizations on the planet, back then still relatively young and primitive, had readily accepted the precept. Mortals, indeed, found it reassuring to think that the Maker was infallible.

Typhon had done it all in Elelyon's name, "to pay the right tribute to Lord God's perfection", as he had said, but there could be no doubt about how all of those new and modified laws were actually intended to prepare the ground for his ascension and for his reign: the more he played up God's powers and the more he made the faithful dependent on the Maker's benevolence, the more power he assured himself once his usurpation was successfully completed.

Much could be said about Typhon, but for sure he was cunning and had demonstrated that he knew how to be patient and methodic in his planning. He had prepared his ascension with great care, and Killer grudgingly admired the near perfection of his Eons-long schemes.

The morning flew away rapidly as Vesta, Katy and Gaia recomposed memories, notes and the text of books written at the time to put all pieces of the puzzle back in order. Noon came unannounced and unnoticed, focused as they were on their research and study, but Alexis and the others joined them over the following two hours, bringing several plates covered with excellent food.

Killer barely remembered eating chips and roast, and ravioli in mushroom sauce before that... He had little attention to give to the food, intent as he was on studying little Katy and the way she held herself as she talked with Alexis, with Ira, and the others. The girl was a true joy, so good natured and intelligent, always able to find the right thing to say and always smiling so brightly. There could be no doubt at all about her intelligence and about her studying: again and again she demonstrated that she had not exaggerated at all in saying that she had read, multiple times and with attentive curiosity, Vesta's books and the many other ancient texts. Katy repeatedly had Vesta speechless with the knowledge she displayed and, more important still, with the speed with which she picked up clues and understood new concepts. She was bright, imaginative and wise enough to always stay away from hyperbole and fantasy, so that her theories resulted always worthy of consideration.

It was a real pleasure to see her and Vesta cheerfully trading ideas, quickly picking up on each other's thoughts with just a gaze, as if they had known each other for ages. Killer observed them with an affectionate smile on his lips, thinking that he could have happily watched them go on for many more hours... but in the afternoon, bad news had started filtering to Eaglenest with increasing frequency, forcing him to devote all of his attention to the events back on the Mortal Plane.

The shapeshifters embedded in the mortal armies of several of the major powers of the world began to report assassinations of high rank officers and cases of sabotage that they attempted to contrast. Some of the angels simply ceased to file in reports, and that meant that Hell's own shapeshifters had won the game.

Killer immediately put all other angels in the Mortal world on high alert, and through some of them he put the Northern Empire and all other countries he managed to influence on high alert, to send fighter jets scrambling and to have the troops recalled and the ships sent out to sea.

His warnings came not a moment too soon: in Java, one of the most technologically advanced countries of the world, Hell scored a major victory when its shapeshifters hijacked a massive, heavily armed warship and emptied its magazines against other key military depots and installations across the country. Right after firing all the dozens of cruise missiles the ship carried, they had sunk it in the middle of the port's entrance, in shallow waters, effectively trapping all other vessels within the bay, turning the imposing ships into sitting ducks.

In Ire, the largest and most powerful country in the mortal world, Hell didn't seek to destroy, but rather to influence... and that worried Killer even more, because Ire was but a little encouragement away from declaring war on his Empire. Clearly, Hell hoped to have Ira and its allies doing just that: assaulting Killer's homeland and his territories to distract him from what happened elsewhere, and add to his problems. A few shapeshifter angels had been sent into Ira to try and bring sense within the rooms of power, but several of them suddenly went silent, one after the other.

All over the world, warships suddenly went rogue and opened fire on their own country or on another, using long-range artillery and missiles to bring devastation in towns and in military bases.

Many angels were successful in stopping major sabotage attempts, but even so the damage caused was fearsome, and it soon became catastrophic when a first submarine, probably Irenic, fired its nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles, annihilating dozens of towns and bases in the space of thirty minutes.

Killer had feared such an event right from the start, and he had done all he could to infiltrate at least one shapeshifter upon each nuclear-armed submarine and within every land-based silos. Many demonic attempts to launch the missiles had been stopped successfully, but in several cases the fearsome weapons had left their launch tubes, and only few of those were then taken out by anti-missile defence systems.

Sekhmeth's warning was proven dramatically correct, and indeed Hell's great invasion began earlier than they had hoped and expected.

By evening time, Killer and Alexis were ready to go back to their physical bodies, back in the Mortal world, to lead the resistance right from the front, but they had to wait for Vesta, Gaia and Ira to open up a very special kind of portal that would properly reconnect them with the bodies left in the mortal plane.

Vesta and Katy had attempted the explain him the complex metaphysics that had made it possible for his and Alexis's body to be in two places at once and their consciousness in just one of the two, but Killer had soon abandoned every hope of understanding. It was magic of a level so far above his knowledge that he eventually held his hand up to gently interrupt their explanations to ask instead for a quick, schematic summary.

And quick it had been: basically, if they did not rejoin their bodies in the proper way, a part of them was going to be lost forever, making them weaker and leaving them damaged in terrible and unpredictable ways. They could have ended up crippled for life, deformed, or even fallen into a vegetative coma... and that awareness made both Killer and Alexis a lot more condescending with the idea of waiting for the ritual to be completed properly.

While the females worked to open the special portal, Killer mulled over the unbelievable changes he and Alexis had undergone during their time in Heaven, and he couldn't help but grin as he tried to imagine the reaction of his brothers at the sight of his body, taller by more than 5 feet, far more muscular, far more powerful and with a tattoo on the shoulder. It was hard to believe and accept, but yet he knew all too well that the many years spent in Heaven amounted to just a few hours of mortal time. Back in Kendrew, the night that had seen Killer and Alexis falling asleep as mortals for the last time was still high. Siegfried and Alexander and all the others had no idea that Killer and Alexis had ever moved from their bedroom: for them, only a few hours had passed, and they had been relatively peaceful until things had started exploding apparently at random in every corner of the world.

Killer thought for a moment about how he was going to explain his brothers the full, astonishing immensity of the events. How to explain his godhood, his travel through Heaven, the immense time difference, the confused events of the demonic invasion and the dramatic uncertainty of the future facing them all...?

He found it scary and amusing at the same time, aware of what an absolute shock it was going to be for his brothers and, indeed, for everyone all over the planet... and despite his most sincere efforts, he couldn't find a way to tell the tale in such a way to make it credible by mortal ears.

Finally, Vesta, Ira and Gaia completed the rituals and stepped back from a portal that looked more like a tear in the fabric of space and time. It was a wound in reality, with a translucent, rippling veil, like a soft and thin curtain separating Heaven and the Mortal world. It looked directly over Killer's bed back at home in the royal palace of Kendrew, and thought it Killer could indeed feel... himself. There, curled up tightly together under the sheet, were his and Alexis's bodies, and a shiver of confusion ran down his spine as he gazed at his own form through the rippling and dancing veil of the portal.

"I hope this works." The huge male mumbled, and Vesta glared at him a bit, poking his powerful chest accusingly as she exclaimed: "Hey! Did I ever let you down?"

"No, of course not." Killer immediately replied, smiling amusedly as he caught her by the shoulders and pulled her forwards to kiss her forehead, then her lips. "Join us soon on the other side."

The goddess nodded, then slowly stepped back and away from him, letting Katy walk up towards her father, who went down to one knee and welcomingly opened his arms, hugging her close.

"I'm sorry, Katy... I hoped I would not have to leave this soon. I wanted to spend a lot more time with you, but as you've heard, I really must go."

Katy clung to him tightly, burying her face against his chest, and for a few moments she just breathed his scent and sought reassuring, warm contact, wrapping her arms around his massive frame as best she could. There was no need to put the pain and disappointment into words, and Killer could understand all too well what it was like to be separated again, so soon after they had found each other. But Katy was strong, generous and wise, and she knew that begging him to stay would only have been an act of extreme egoism.

"A lot of people will need your help..." The girl finally said, looking up at him with a quiet, trembling smile. "Go, daddy. Protect them... you arrived when I needed your help, and it was the most beautiful of feelings to know that nothing would be able to hurt me again. I hope that they will all get to experience that serenity." She hugged him tightly again, and reached up with one hand to gently stroke his cheek, adding: "Take care, and stay safe. Please, come back to me soon."

"I will, Katy." Killer promised, kissing her forehead, then her lips, before straightening as the little girl stepped quietly to the side, hugging herself a bit but giving him a little smile of reassurance when he gazed down.

Vesta and Ira took their turns hugging the huge male, spelling no salutes, only squeezing him tightly and trading short but passionate kisses, full of love and need. Somehow, they found the strength and the discipline needed to keep the leave-taking brief and simple. Knowing that the separation was going to be brief, considering that both goddess would soon follow with their legions into the Mortal world, certainly helped. Vesta's voice trembled only slightly as she cleared her throat and looked from Killer to Alexis and back, warning: "This is not a portal like the others. When you'll step into it, you'll lose consciousness for a few moments, as you are reconnected with your manifestations back in the Mortal dimension. It is... weird, and might disturb you a little, but it is nothing you should worry about. You'll awaken within a minute or two... in your bed, back home."

Killer and Alexis nodded silently, and walked towards the rippling veil, looking at the others one last time before reaching up to push lightly at the translucent curtain... and then, as they walked past the threshold, everything became darkness, and Killer felt the world slipping away, his body going limp and completely insensitive, lost in nothing but immaterial blackness.

Killer grunted in shock and twitched when he suddenly felt himself coming back to life. For a moment, he had... ceased to exist, it had felt like. He had no idea how much time had passed, but now, even though he was still lost in the darkness, he could at least feel. Feel his heart beating, feel Alexis's own, reassuringly close. Feeling her warm breath on his chest, her arms around his waist, and her legs against one of his, his knee trapped between her powerful thighs, close to the heat of her center... and he could feel the freshness of the sheets of their bed, and the mattress beneath, and the cushion against his cheek. The darkness, he realized, was now due only to his eyes being closed... and when he opened them, blinking tiredly, he let out a soft breath of relief and happiness as he saw the familiar arched windows of his bedroom, and the large balcony beyond, facing over the capital city. The sky was beautiful that night, blinking with infinite stars... and among them, a large, unfamiliar small moon immediately caught his attention. It took him a few moments to realize what he was looking at, but then he bit his lower lip slightly and stared at it with even greater interest, thinking of just how incredibly devastating the Cataclysm had truly been.

There it was, visible from earth from the first time ever: Heaven.

He carefully reached out with one hand to slightly move the curtain of the canopy bed aside, just enough to be able to check the clock on the bedside table: dawn was still more than an hour away, and he once more made a grimace of disbelief at the amazing time difference, which made everything he had experienced in Heaven even more incredible.

He turned his head back towards Alexis, feeling her shifting lightly, and he was unsurprised to see her beautiful eyes glowing a bright sapphire in the dark, her muzzle a mere inch away from his as she squeezed him tightly in her arms, curling up against his powerful form. Killer wrapped his own arms around her waist and squeezed her tightly, pulling her closer and letting out a little growl of need, of craving, of love, of thanks for her presence, pushing his head gently against hers and quietly humming the words of their favorite song, that they had made their promise to each other, softly sung each and every morning. "My fall will be for you, my love will be in you. You were the one to cut me, so I'll bleed forever..."

She closed her eyes for a moment, smiling in bliss as she voiced the words, and then she stroked his cheek lovingly and repeated them, her suave whisper reaching all the way down to his heart, making it beat faster and with greater vigor.

They looked in each other's eyes for a moment, needing to speak no further word... and then he sighed and asked: "So, it wasn't a dream, was it...?"

"It definitely wasn't..." She paused, grinning teasingly up at him, and then he grunted as he felt her hand gripping firmly into his enormous flaccid cock, squeezing into the titanic shaft of black meat and brushing away the remains of his boxers. "And here is the proof."

He let out a little grunt of agreement, only now realizing that his boxers were torn and tattered, and that the immense bed felt a bit less spacious than it used to: they had grown several feet taller while in Heaven, and those were the consequences.

She reluctantly let go of his massive member, even though she pulled up the sheet and propped up her head with one arm, gazing down at the monstrous black shaft, sighing longingly and shaking her head slowly: "Such a waste, not having the time to play with that... but I'm afraid we'll have a lot to do, today."

Killer snorted amusedly and then rolled over to stand up from the bed, walking towards the pants folded upon the nearby armchair before realizing mid-step that they were never going to fit him at that point, and that he did not actually need to bother anyway. He just thought of a new pair of boxers and jeans, and they formed out of thin air upon his legs. "You are right... but before we do anything, there is something much more important to do."

Alexis needed no explanation or hint, standing up from the square-sized bed and stretching out with a yawn even as new clothes formed over her spectacular body. They walked past their vast round table and the enormous fireplace, and the goddess carefully opened a chiseled wooden door, making sure to produce no noise at all. They walked though the baby room, with the cot that had been of Anubis and Mriya when they were cubs, and through another door leading into a luminous corridor, with tall arched windows facing the capital and the entrance to the royal palace to their right and with the doors to the rooms of their son and daughter on the left.

Mere hours had passed in the mortal world, but for them the torturous separation had lasted for centuries, and the wish, the need to see their loved sons again was overwhelming. They carefully slipped into the Anubis's room, moving slowly and silently, not wanting to wake them up so early in the morning much as they longed to hear their voices and see their smiles. Anubis was snoring quietly, sprawled wide across the large bed and with an open book laying on the sheets, not far from the hand that had lost grip on it. Killer spent a long moment just watching him breathe, a soft smile on his lips as he gently reached down to move a bang of his young, nascent mane out of his eyes while Alexis picked up the book and put a bookmark in place before putting the volume down on the bedside table, which was covered with several other books and magazines.

There had been a time, earlier in his life, during which Anubis appeared to have little patience for studying and little interest for politics especially. But things had changed quickly as Serene's lessons highlighted the importance of knowledge and good politics in the well being of entire populations. The awareness that his politics might one day shape the destiny of so many, had worked an impressive change in Anubis.

The boy loved reading, and his room made that abundantly clear with how many books filled up the many shelves and the vast library, which included an arch-like structure spanning over the head of the bed itself. In recent times, more and more of his reading time had been destined to politics and other demanding, complex topics. One corner of the large room, however, was kitted out as a gym and a look at the size of the weights neatly arranged on the racks and on the bench was enough to tell that the boy took his role of warrior and future leader very seriously. Indeed, the weights ready to be used on the bench were massive enough that most adults in the Northern Empire's army would have been intimidated by them. Anubis was young and liked reading more than exercising, but there could be no doubt about who his parents were, because his strength was already supernatural. As prince of the Northern Empire, he underwent intensive and very demanding daily training and he faced his lessons with discipline and determination: he didn't quite love all the exercising, but he took duty very seriously and carried out each and every task with the firm belief that his rank and bloodline required him to excel, with no exceptions. His instructors had soon been left with nothing to teach him, and his strength had rapidly grown to dwarf theirs, so that Killer, Alexis, Alexander and Siegfried had had to step in early on as sparring partners and full-time teachers.

Anubis was a quick learner, and a fast-thinking mind who could be exceptionally dangerous with a sword, Killer thought with satisfaction as his eyes met the heavy practice sword, made of granite, that the boy used during the lessons. The practice sword weighted easily more than twice as much as the boy's actual sword, and that helped strengthen the muscles and build up speed, stamina and resistance. Moves practiced for hours with the practice weapon became extremely easy and natural to do with the real thing.

It was an ancient and effective training technique that never failed to form great swordsmen... and Anubis had the luck of having a sparring partner who was exceptionally eager as well as incredibly skilled: Mriya.

The boy was peaceful, reflexive, a dreamer who loved to read and that had developed a true love of history and of the art of rhetoric and diplomacy, because he thought there was nothing nobler that finding solutions to problems by talking and reasoning together. Mriya, on the other hand, was far more physical and aggressive: she loved exercising, she loved rough contact sports, and she lived for the thrill of the fight. She was a wrestler who loved closing in with the rival to take him or her down with a mix of raw power and enchanting, elegant agility. She was an unforgiving sparring partner, who did not hesitate in punishing mistakes and that demanded tough challenges. The tougher, the better.

It had been evident already early on in her life, with how she always came out on top of the playful struggles with her brother Anubis and half-brother Ewan.

Training with her meant keeping her pace, or suffering the consequences of each and every shortcoming, because as much as she loved her brother, she hated the idea of pulling back her punches. Anubis had tasted the dust more times that he could remember, and much as he always stood back up with a wide smile and a word of congratulations to his sister, he really didn't like being always on the losing side. After a first period of one-sided fights, Anubis had begun working extra hard to catch up... and Mriya had been all too glad to help him overcome his limits. With a smirk, she had punched his shoulder and told him that she needed a sparring partner who could provide an actual challenge, not a punching bag alternative... but beyond the teasing, she was just very glad to help her brother.

On his part, Anubis was suspected to have done Mriya's homework many times... and a good few of Mriya's school tests had benefited from her brother's secret intervention. It was the one case of cheating that Anubis, normally always abiding strictly by the rules, tolerated and accepted to take part in. The love for his sister came first... and to his credit, Killer thought with a smile, he had done it smartly enough that no one had yet been able to catch him in the act. Until then, he could continue to smile and deny.

Killer stepped slightly back and watched with affection as Alexis ever so lightly touched Anubis's forehead with her lips, closing her eyes and staying there for a long moment, as if to check his temperature and make sure he was truly okay, before she carefully tucked him in.

He held the door open for her as she slipped out with silent, natural grace, the swaying of her hips delighting him and leaving him staring as she walked past and silently opened Mriya's own door.

When he walked into the bedroom, though, he recoiled in surprise and his eyes widened as he saw the bed empty and made up with care, before Alexis muttered: "Oh, crap."

"Where is she...?" Killed urgently exclaimed, barely able to keep his voice low as he walked towards the middle of the room and looked through the darkness, checking each corner. Alexis, instead, stroked a hand idly over their daughter's bedside table, seeing that something else was missing... and she quietly said: "Don't worry. I know where she is."

Killer closed his eyes in relief and turned towards her, but it immediately became evident that Alexis was in no hurry to add anything else, and he bit his lower lip before sighing deeply in resignation. "What did you two hide from me...?"

He was tempted to add "this time", but he stopped himself in time. Mriya was his little, beloved girl, and she adored him... but even so, she had a special relationship with her mother. Alexis and Mriya shared literally everything, and mommy was both the "special confidante" and the one parent to ask to when Mriya really, really wanted to do something dangerous. Killer was extremely protective of his little girl, and that meant he often tried to say no when Mriya asked permission to do something brash. Alexis was the ally Mriya could always count on when such problems emerged, because mom would either use her many talents to convince dad, or find a way to make things progress despite his opposition. That, of course, sometimes meant keeping some things secret from daddy, until the right time came to reveal the fait accompli.

Alexis coughed a bit at his question, hesitating for a moment and scratching nervously at her powerful arm before finally answering: "Mriya has taken up underground fight tournaments."

Killer looked horrified at that, but Alexis gave him no time to voice his disapproval, grinning widely as she corrected: "I should say that she has steamrolled underground tournaments, really. They call her the 'queen of the cage' already, and she only fights against groups, because one on ones are over before even starting."

The huge male opened his mouth, wanting to protest, wanting to express his rage and his shock at knowing that his precious little girl had taken up such a dangerous "hobby" despite his opposition, but the words never came up to his lips, and he closed his mouth instead, grumbling a bit under his breath... before sighing as he admitted that he did not feel any real irritation. He felt... proud, in fact, of what Alexis had already announced.

"How many...?"

Alexis grinned widely at his question, having expected nothing less, and she cheerfully replied: "For less than ten rivals at once, she doesn't even bother."

Killer turned around, crossing his arms and staring at the thick handlebar loaded with giant barbells that Mriya used to exercise, not wanting to let Alexis see that he was grinning in approval and pride. He tried to focus on his rightful irritation at having been kept out of the decision, and somehow managed to sound convincingly angry as he asked: "And why didn't you two ask me what I think of it...?"

"Oh, come on!" Alexis exclaimed, throwing her arms out. "She did ask you about entering the national boxing tournaments, and you said she is too young, that it is too dangerous, that she should not go. She could have no doubt at all about your reaction if she asked to enter no-rules fights in the cage, in the unlawful tournaments downtown, could she...?"

"You knew I would say no, and so you kept it a secret." Killer accused, and the goddess readily agreed, nodding in confirmation as she exclaimed: "Of course we did... we planned to keep it secret for a while, and then I would have brought you out for a date one night, and proposed going to the matches to enjoy the view. You would have seen Mriya kick some asses, and your opposition would have melted like snow in spring. Tonight, in fact, was to be the night... but, as you know, things got a bit complicated." She paused, walking up to him and hugging him from behind, arms wrapped around his waist and her head resting on his shoulder to speak into his ear. "Come on, I know you're not actually angry..."

"I totally am...!" Killer indignantly protested, and it was true... but it was just as true that the rage was drowned away by the awareness that Mriya, despite all his worries and scruples, did not need to be shielded from the world: she could face it and probably beat it into submission. He couldn't help but think of her standing in the cage, grinning and slightly sweaty, beautiful and deadly, surrounded by broken enemies begging for mercy, and her nickname, "queen of the cage", echoed in his mind with an alluring tone to it. Alexis smiled knowingly and licked his cheek teasingly, whispering: "She is our worthy daughter, and you know it... you broke your fair share of rules when you had her age, and I... well, you do know I'm a bad girl to the core. Did you really expect her to accept no as answer, lie down and not seek the thrill she craves...?"

The huge male sighed in resignation at that, and admitted: "No, but..."

"Lover, she lifts tanks, for gods' sake. This is the mortal world, and no matter how many big bad guys challenge her, she's going to make them cry like babies. You should worry about the idiots who dare accepting a turn in the cage with her." Alexis remarked, grinning widely, and the huge male couldn't help himself as a smirk crested his lips. He nodded in agreement, tilting his head against hers as he whispered: "Poor bastards..."

"That's right..." Alexis purred, before her hands slid upwards over his abs to squeeze into his powerful chest as she reassured: "And in any case, she's my daughter too. I don't want anything to happen to her, and I'm not sending her out late at night without a back-up plan for emergencies: I've ordered the Praetorians to accompany her around, offering a discreet but watchful escort."

Killer smiled slightly at that, feeling reassured and almost ashamed of his earlier reaction, but his worries weren't gone, and he knew Alexis was thinking the very same thing when he turned sideways to lovingly kiss her lips. "In normal times, that would settle all fears... but with Hell intent on breaking loose, even the Praetorians won't do enough. We have to reach her, quickly."

"I know. Let's go, before Cold comes smashing down our door carrying the reports about everything that's suddenly exploding into pieces around the world..." Alexis urged, nuzzling him lovingly before turning around and heading for the door. "Cold" was her nickname for Siegfried, and it was a very appropriate one for the disciplined, impeccable younger brother of Killer. As the field leader of the Predators forces, Siegfried always kept the world under a watchful eye, keeping note of anything that happened with the awareness that, whenever something went wrong, his forces would be the first to be sent on the scene. He and Alexander, the other one of Killer's brothers and field marshal of the Empire's army, were certainly already out of their beds, being briefed about the torrential downpour of horrendous news that came in from every corner of the world as Hell's great invasion progressed.

He was bound to come banging on their door at any moment, but Killer made a bit of a grimace and thought that he was going to wait and make do: Mriya' safety came first.

He followed Alexis out in the corridor, gazing out of the windows to see the sleeping town, splendid with its many lights, even while the streets were almost entirely deserted, very few cars traveling around... before Alexis stiffened and rushed to the window, gripping into the curtains as horror filled her expression. Killer was about to ask what she had felt coming, but while he opened his mouth to speak he felt it too, clearly: a massive ripple of dark energy that traveled through the fabric of reality, as hellish corruption filled the air, as heavy and oppressive on the lungs as a physical thing, before the royal palace trembled under their feet with a deep, terrible grumble coming from underground, like a distant thunder into the stone and dirt.

The tremors grew more violent, turning into a vicious earthquake that almost threw them off their feet as all lights in town first blinked, then died completely, cracks loudly spreading through the walls as she windows exploded in a hailstorm of glass fragments, while screams of fear and pain began to tear the night's silence.

Anubis's door swung open, and the young male charged out, wearing only his boxers and looking terrified as he looked out of the windows to see two of the tallest buildings in two wobbling fearsomely, as some of the oldest houses began to crumble and collapse. "Dad... mom..." The boy exclaimed, surprised at finding both of his parents out in the corridor, already dressed. Alexis wrapped one arm around him and pulled him close, and Killer gently gripped his shoulder, giving it a squeeze.

"Mriya...?" Anubis urgently wondered, hurriedly turning back to stare at the closed door, but his mother shook her head and said simply: "She's not here, Anubis. She's out in town." She squatted down and hugged her son tightly, squeezing him against her chest as he blinked in shock and began to ask what should they do, why Mriya was gone, and how could they make sure she and everyone else would be safe.

"Dad and I are going out right now. Don't you worry, we'll bring her back." She gripped his shoulders and looked directly into his eyes, making sure to pierce through fear and confusion as she gently but firmly instructed: "You'll stay here, with Cold and with Alex. You take care of your uncles, okay...? Stay close to them until we return. Do exactly what and as they tell you to do, because they will be extremely busy trying to organize a response to this mess, and will need your help."

Anubis swallowed nervously, but he immediately nodded, his eagle-like golden eyes glinting with determination as he looked up at his mother, than to his father, before they all looked out of the windows as another tremendous tremble made the thick walls of the royal palace groan and crack, collapsing in several areas as the floor shattered under their feet. The earth seemed to recoil, then to ripple as a tremendous force exploded out of the depths... and they were left staring in horror as a vast parking lot in the distance suddenly disintegrated into pieces and in a huge cloud of dust, sinking out of sight and leaving a dark hole that rapidly grew larger, swallowing a block of flats whole as other buildings nearby listed heavily, then collapsed into the expanding chasm. Skyscrapers crumbled like castles of cards and the ruins were swallowed into the darkness as the streets seemed to explode into smithereens, cars and trucks flung into the nearby buildings like they were toys as a dark force began to spiral inside the sinkhole, the very earth rippling and then moving around in the circle, behaving like a liquid as it was hungrily devoured by the dark portal.

A black fog as dense as tar erupted out of the chasm, spreading rapidly over what was left of town, and the intense corruption of Hell immediately killed flowers and trees and grass, turning the parks of the town into nothing but black, charred wastelands while the metal within buildings and cars rusted away to dust, disintegrating the vehicles as people desperately drove through the cloud to try and escape from a town that suddenly felt doomed.

Alexis and Killer stared in horror at a car overloaded with people as it drove wildly down the cracked, devastated main street, trying to race the expanding black fog until the mist of corruption ran it over and knocked it flying like a puny toy. The vehicle landed on its roof and skidded through the street in a burst of sparkles, but before crashing into a wall it had already turned into a rusty, fragile piece of wreckage that completely fell apart, scattering crying and agonizing people in its wake. Under their eyes, the injured survivors crawled desperately through the thickening darkness, attempting to exit the mortal cloud until then collapsed on their faces, poisoned and dead... only to push back up to their feet after a few moments, their bodies rapidly rotting and warping as they howled their brainless fury, storming the streets and chasing after the terrified mortals.

Within moments, the black vortex had expanded to well over two miles in diameter, swallowing much of town into unforgiving darkness, and now demons began to swarm out of the portal, led by muscular, massive Gigataurs that leapt out of the wound in reality and landed heavily upon the powerless mortals, crushing cars and trucks under their giant hooves and bellowing to celebrate their cruel triumph as they swung monstrous maces and warhammers into the puny beings cowering in their shadows.

Anubis stared in disbelief at the sight of the gigantic beasts, gaping as one Gigataur leapt dozens of meters into the air before landing like a meteor on top of a car, crushing it and everyone inside into nothing but a bloody wreckage, before stepping off the pancake-like slab of crumpled metal to kick it hard forwards into the mass of vehicles and people on foot that now crowded the street in the desperate attempt of finding an escape route. The beast's fearsome strength sent the wreckage smashing into a bus with such violence that the long, crowded vehicle was torn in halves and slammed back into the cars that followed, flipping three before an explosion annihilated another and set two more on fire.

More and more gigantic demons surged out of the black hole, and Alexis hurriedly made a cutting gesture through the air with one hand, opening a swirling white portal that left Anubis staring in confusion.

"Change of plans, Nubi." She urgently said, holding the boy by the shoulders and using her little nickname for him, giving him a moment to tear his eyes away from the portal she had just created. "I know you are confused, but it'll be alright..." She gazed to the side as Vesta poked her head through the portal, making a grimace at the sight of an entire demonic armada swarming out of the gigantic rift in reality, before turning to the side with a wide smile, extending her hand towards Anubis.

"Vesta here is a friend. There are more good friends waiting on the other side of the portal, Anubis. I want you to join them: you'll be safe with them."

The boy looked unsure for a moment, his gaze going from Vesta's hand to her face, and then back to Alexis's eyes as he tried to make sure that he was not being tricked by shapeshifters or by some other infamous trick. Everything was so sudden, so confused, and so unbelievable, that he had no idea how to react. But there was no doubt about Alexis being real: she was his mommy, and daddy knelt down to hug him tightly as well, whispering into his ear to trust them and go... and Vesta smiled reassuringly, calling: "Come, my little prince. Let your parents go, they'll fix things up."

"We must hurry. Mriya is out there." Killer reminded, and that was enough to erase each and every hesitation in Anubis, the boy throwing his arms around Alexis's neck, kissing her cheek lovingly before doing the same with his father, finally gripping Vesta's hand and allowing himself to be guided towards the portal.

"Be careful... and bring my sister back!"

"We will." Killer and Alexis promised, exploiting the moment to impress into their minds a fresh memory of the beauty of Anubis's golden eyes. As the boy stepped through the portal, gently helped by Vesta and Ira, he looked over his shoulder to see both of his parents disappearing from the spot in a crackle of energy.

Mriya seized the wrist band of her black glove and pulled it down until it was tightly back in place, and she pulled on the strap to secure it. She had felt it slipping off a bit with the last blow she had lashed out, a palm strike which had lifted the bulky, massive bear fighter ahead of her clear off his feet and sent him crashing ruinously into the thick steel bars of the cage, a dozen feet away.

She fondly gazed at the fingerless leather glove, appreciating both its aggressive design and the fact that the thick leather was badly worn out on the knuckles and in other areas. She had put them to great use in the last while, winning fight after fight with them, and earlier than that they had been well used by her mother. Alexis had gifted her that pair of gloves, which had been hers when she had her age, as soon as Mriya had approached her and explained her wish to seek new challenges by joining the underground fighting tournaments that, officially forbidden, were actually notoriously tolerated and easy to find in some warehouses downtown.

Alexis had been all too happy to support her, and she had promised to get Killer to give his permission eventually. Daddy was too protective to give his permission for her to start fighting in the cage, where there was no referee and no real rule other than raw power. It was something extremely dangerous by definition, and Killer couldn't quite accept the thought... despite knowing, in the deep, that the training she underwent daily was actually far more dangerous.

Mriya loved her father with all her heart, but she thought that disobeying, every now and then, was fair game, and this was one of those cases: she was absolutely convinced that she could take down any and every rival they could throw at her, and she was eager to demonstrate her worth and make herself known for more than just being the princess of the empire. She eagerly looked forwards to the moment when, seeing her in action, daddy would forget his groundless worries and just cheer her on and enjoy the show. She craved nothing more than showing off for his pleasure, to demonstrate her prowess and beauty, to make him proud and to see his smile.

She snorted in contempt as she glared disapprovingly at the fifteen bulky wrestlers that crowded the cage, already regretting accepting the fight. They had been twenty until a few minutes before, but four had already been mercifully dragged out and carried away on stretchers, and the bear now slumped in a broken pile against the steel bars looked like a write off as well. The others did not promise to be much more of a challenge. It had been the story of her whole career as an underground fighter: being used to train with Killer, Alexis, her brother and a select few others from the family, she found everyone else pathetically slow and weak. It had been easy to climb the ladder and defeat the original champion, a bulky gator that had lorded over the tournaments for many months before her arrival. She had almost crippled him for life during their fight, scaring him so much that he had promised never to fight again... thankfully, Mriya had carefully doled her strength out, and his spell on a wheelchair had only been temporary. She did not want to kill, nor to ruin lives permanently when there was no need for that... but she had discovered that it would have been terribly easy for her to kill them all, one by one.

In an attempt to make things more interesting for herself, she had refused to enter the cage for single rivals, demanding first pairs, then groups when the first two pairs didn't manage to clock up more than seven minutes in total.

They had nicknamed her the "queen of the ring", and she had more than earned that name, breaking records in scores and setting new heights. She had recently beaten records that Alexis herself had scored in her youth, and more were set to soon fall, but the lack of challenge was already annoying and worrying her, because there seemed to be no one out in the world who could actually stand up to her.

Mriya was not yet aware of her godhood, but she couldn't possibly miss the fact that even the largest and bulkiest wrestlers invariably felt weak and frail and useless when locked in the cage with her. For a while she had suspected that daddy might have discovered her new "hobby" and worked to force the managers into planning "fake" matches, against the weakest fighters... but the suspect had been short lived. Before she had time to get angry about it, she had already ascertained that the fighters were real, that they had a history, that they weren't pulling back their punches.

She was truly that much stronger than them, that was all... and that awareness had also made her think about how truly special her father and mother were. She had in particular begun to take note of how his beloved daddy absolutely dwarfed, in every sense of the word, the other males she encountered on the ring and even more so the boys outside of the cage. The vast gulf of difference was mind blowing in its vastness.

Mriya was developing quickly and beautifully, as the tigers' rapid growth changed her body from that of a child into that of a young and alluring woman that brought honor to Alexis. Looking at the young female, there could not be any doubt about her ancestry: she had Alexis's enchanting sapphire eyes and the same golden mane, and the shapes of her body showed clear signs of being destined to the same glory. Large, firm breasts already tented her simple black shirt in an impressive way, the short garment pushed up and outwards enough to reveal a generous amount of underboobs when she arched her back to easily dodge a vicious swing from a muscular shark male in the gang.

Her belly was bare, her firm abs on proud display: they didn't have Alexis's bulk and rippling perfection yet, but she already looked fit and potent. Her long legs were clad in black leather pants and steel-reinforced motorcycle boots, but the form-fitting garment did very little to hide the flexuous masses of muscles in her thighs, or her powerful calves. Her shoulders were broad and powerful and her arms toned and firm, her biceps already bulging with power even though she retained a slender, lithe look. Her muzzle and the front of her strong body were pure white, but her back, her sides and her arms came with the black stripes of Killer's coat, which criss-crossed her tail as well, right up to the large leonine tuft at the end, which however was golden, matching her hair and her mother's look.

She was beautiful and deadly, and much of the public regularly filled the warehouse just to stare at her, not for real interest in the fight: she was extremely popular and the dream of all males in the vast room, but she had no interest whatsoever in any of the boys around her.

Mriya backstepped almost absently as a massive black bull with a broken horn and a pair of red shorts charged forwards with a vicious swing of his fist, thick, heavy brass knuckles glinting under the red floodlights aimed into the cage. A burly elephant with a prominent muscle-gut stormed in from the side and slammed both hands down in a tomahawk against her, but the young female idly intercepted with her forearm, parrying the blow and then shoving him dismissively backwards, causing him to stumble and fall heavily on his arse, eyes bulging in shock at her fearsome strength.

"The queen seems to be taking time tonight! Playing with her food, much...?" The speaker's voice came in howls from the loudspeakers, and the crowd filling the ugly grandstands outside the cage shouted and catcalled and cheered even louder, filling the old warehouse with noise. Mriya was indeed wasting time, her gaze once more moving over the crowd, from one end of the grandstands to the other, as she tried to spot her parents... but once more, she found nothing. Big as they both were, they would have been easy to spot had they been present, but they still hadn't arrived. They were horribly late, but Mriya trusted her mother, and Alexis had said she'd come and bring daddy along. She did not want the battle to be over before he could see her in action.

"Stay put and fight, little princess...! The stories didn't talk about you hopping all around the cage like a little bunny!" A bison angrily snorted, steam coming out of his nostrils in small clouds as he stepped forwards swinging a heavy section of a bent and bloodied steel tube inserted with large, sharp nails. The shout was loud enough that people outside the cage heard the taunt clearly, and the catcalls and laughter that followed had Mriya clenching her fists, fangs grinding together slowly.

"The stories are absolutely right... but you see, I'm bored and in need of entertainment. Ending all fights right as they start grows repetitive after a while." The young female teased, grinning gamely even as two of the other bulky, scarred fighters lunged against her, one of them slamming down a heavy mallet that sunk deeply into the solid concrete floor when the queen elegantly slipped to the side and then forwards.

The large bear holding on to the mallet's handle looked up in shock, too slow to follow her movements and confused by her sudden disappearance, before Mriya's elbow smashed into the back of his neck, sending him crashing onto the mallet with a groan of agony as the sturdy handle poked up into his stomach and then worked as a pivot over which he flipped to crash face-first into the ground.

The bison stomped his way against her and yelled in fury as he slashed down his spiked mace, but Mriya once again moved faster than his eyes could process, her hand shooting upwards to ram palm-up into his forearm, knocking it upwards and loudly shattering the bones within, so that the male's hand lost all strength and control and the metallic tube flew high up into the air.

The bison made the mistake of following the heavy tube with his eyes for a moment, and before he could gaze back down, Mriya had already seized him by the thick tuft of beard at the chin, her other hand balled into a fist that smashed into his abs with enough force to lift his hooves clear off the ground, pushing him up high above her head as she grinned and flipped him past her shoulder, smashing him down on his back.

"Oh, boy...! That gotta hurt!" The announcer shouted, trying to make himself heard above the cheers and howls of the crowd as the queen turned around and stomped her foot on the bison's chest, pinning him to the ground while catching the rusty, bloodied iron tube as it fell back down.

"Opening your big, dumb mouth when you are not tough enough to follow with the act is a very poor choice." Mriya announced, leaning forwards over her own leg, grinning down at the massive, dark-furred male. He was larger than her, and thick with muscle, but her toned body was spectacularly powerful and as her thigh muscles flexed and bulged, the large bovine all but sunk into the concrete, cracks loudly spreading through the floor. "Your choice of weapon is a poor one as well..." She added, holding up the thick tube and pushing with her thumb to bend the metal like it was a mere blade of grass, her smirk widening as the steel let out a weak groan.

The bison stared up at her in shock, eyes bulging and sweat rolling down the side of his muzzle, his hands clawing into her leg to try and force it away from him as she shifted her weight almost playfully, crushing him deeper into the ground. The black bull assaulted Mriya from behind, lashing out his massive, armoured fists and snorting in rage and frustrating as she easily avoided both blows, tilting her head first to one side, then to the other, before she pulled one foot up and spun elegantly on the spot, her boot grinding painfully into the bison's chest as she twisted out of the way to avoid the bull's kick.

Fast as lightning, Mriya tossed away the bent metal tube and seized into the bovine's leg instead, flashing him a taunting smile as she dragged his leg hard forwards, making him slip off the floor to crash ruinously onto his back. He grunted in pain and surprise, but still was lucid enough to kick up his other leg, the deadly hoof rising towards Mriya's abs, but the female arched her back to let the hoof hiss past her belly and simultaneously drove her knee into the back of his leg, making him howl in agony as the limb bent the wrong way and the bone loudly shattered.

"That's another one that won't stand up for a while...!" The announcer howled, and the crowd roared its approbation, cheering even louder when Mriya leapt up in a perfect somersault, her foot smashing up into the muzzle of a sweaty, scarred bear to send him crashing backwards, leaving a trail of blood and broken teeth on the floor as he dazedly gripped into the first two bodies he slammed into, even as the two fighters irritably shoved him away to charge at the queen of the ring.

Mriya once more gazed over the grandstands, frowning as once again she found no sign of her parents' presence, and making a bit of a grimace as she began to worry whether she was truly in trouble this time around. Maybe mom wasn't having luck convincing dad this time around...?

She barely spared a look for the shark and the elephant males that assaulted her, rising her strong arms in time with their movements to parry their blows, making them snarl in powerless rage and frustration, before she suddenly leaned forwards, slipping between their arms and ramming her own fist into the shark's belly, sending the burly fighter flying across the ring like a ragdoll.

Just as the shark crashed into the steel bars of the cage, the massive twelve-foot tall elephant roared in rage and swept his giant fist sideways to sweep her away like a fly, but the ligeress squatted elegantly down and spun in a sweep-kick, tearing the feet out from under him and sending him flying while she smoothly straightened. The elephant threw his hands down into the floor and caught himself before crashing, thrusting both legs up to donkey-kick her, but Mriya reacted swiftly, gripping his large feet and lifting him up into the air, swinging him hard to the side until he crashed into another fighter, crushing him against the bars of the cage hard enough that they bent out of shape, while several bones loudly cracked.

There was no comment from the announcer this time around, and Mriya was suddenly aware of the uncommon, weird silence that had suddenly fell in the vast room, only broken by the groans and whines of the injured wrestlers around her and by the violent rattling of the cage. For a brief instant, Mriya thought that her parents must have made their entrance... but she immediately realized that the fearful silence was the consequence of the ground beneath her feet trembling with increasing violence.

Dust and rubble began to rain down from the roof far above, and the red lights visibly trembled and slipped out of position, casting their light in weird directions as the silence suddenly dissolved, replaced by shrieks and shouts and panic as the people crowding the grandstands hurriedly stood up and began to rush for the exits.

The wrestlers still standing inside the cage hurried towards the exit, but thick, heavy chains and massive padlocks held the door mercilessly closed, and the guy who had the keys was gods knew where amid the crowd. "Come back, you can't abandon us here...!" A tall husky cried, banging his fists on the bars and rattling the door as loudly as he could while the building around them began to crack and parts of the walls collapsed into piles of rubble as the earthquake intensified. The husky and a large rhino seized into the heavy chains and pulled with all their strength, trying to force the heavy steel links to snap, but no matter how hard they tried, the chain didn't budge.

"I don't want to die squished under the goddamn roof!" The husky whimpered, clawing desperately at the padlock, and the rhino continued to stare in terror at the cracking roof, before a collective gasp of terror rose from the crowd as the lights died away, leaving them in complete darkness.

Mriya cursed under her breath, but her eyes immediately adapted to the darkness, and she had no difficulty in rushing towards the door and gripping the heavy tangle of chains. The two bulky males were terrified and out of their minds, and they continued to wildly wrestle with the heavy metal, leaving her no room for maneuver. "Let me do it!" She urged, and she repeated her order with a roar when they only continued to shriek out their fear, finally managing to snag the chains out of their hands and gritting her fangs as she jerked in the opposite directions. Immediately, the thick steel links burst apart like they were made of pasta, the heavy chains severed like blades of glass, and the heavy door immediately swung open as the husky banged desperately against it. He fell out of the cage and nearly crashed into the floor, but immediately stumbled back up and rushed in the dark towards the nearest exit, immediately followed by the rhino.

Mriya felt other wrestlers rushing out, cursing and whining when they smashed into chairs and other obstacles hidden by the darkness, but as the roof began to collapse she made her way back to the center of the cage, where the injured fighters, unable to do more than slowly crawling on their own, were crying in despair, begging for help. She rushed to the black bull and seized him by one arm, easily dragging him up and throwing his massive form over her shoulders, rushing towards the exit to bring him to safety, ignoring him as he began to sob over and over again: "Thank you, queen, thank you... thank you..."

"Your majesty...?" A voice called, and Mriya looked to the side with a little sigh of relief as the Praetorians approached, Pamela leading the group, her massive cleaver sword on her back, steel boots at her feet and a leather-like armor covering her breasts, while bracelets and pauldrons of the same material protected her forearms and shoulders. A short leather skirt left most of the white tigress's strong legs uncovered, and her chiseled abs were also on display. Mriya saw also Nikita already rushing up the few steps leading into the cage. The mare was dressed in the same style, although her armor was somewhat lighter in color and less richly decorated by silver figures engraved over the plates. Pamela was the captain of the team, and her armor reflected that.

"There are more inside the cage, help me bring them all out!" The ligeress ordered, and the warrior females slammed their fist on the chest in salute before running into the cage to collect the other casualties. Crystal, a drakkaren female with smooth scales and a lithe, toned body, rushed past with her massive cleaver slung over her back, while Valery, a proud lioness, had her huge longbow and a heavy sword at the side. Mriya also spotted little Kate, a vixen that was by far the smallest member of the team, running in with her short, curved daggers sheathed at her sides.

Mriya moved her gaze upwards along the long staircase that led to the exit door at the top of the grandstanding, deciding that going that way was a waste of time and rushing right towards the wall instead, turning a bit towards the side so to ram the solid concrete with her powerful shoulder. The semi-unconscious bull, unable to see clearly in the darkness, did not understand what was about to happen until he was startled by the sound of the wall exploding into a hailstorm of fragments and a cloud of dust, the cool air of the night suddenly washing over his wounds and making him tremble violently.

He found himself staring at a sky covered by gigantic, threatening obsidian clouds, swallowing in fear and confusion as thunderbolts of crimson energy crackled back and forth through the night. Mriya charged towards the middle of the car park, well away from the collapsing buildings on either side of the road, and she carefully dropped him on the ground, immediately running back towards the warehouse even as the asphalt cracked and shifted with brutal force under her boots.

Nikita was right behind her, carrying the bison on her shoulders, and the other Praetorians followed closely, all carrying a casualty.

The five Praetorians all came from Glacial, Alexis's homeland. They had been part of the resistance against the occupation army led by Riaku and they had fought against the RA's technological battle machines and against Regina's demons in Argolis. When Killer and Alexis had arrived to save the kingdom, the five warrior females had stepped forwards and offered their service to him, following rules of a tradition as ancient as the kingdom itself. The Praetorians were a special life guard corps, a force composed by a small number of selected, highly skilled warrior females that were sworn to serve their king and master in every way he required, not just on the battlefield but also in the bedroom. Killer had been hesitant at first, but their enthusiasm and absolute dedication during the campaign had erased all his doubts, and he had gladly accepted their service. They had followed him back home in Kendrew, where many at first had made the mistake of snickering at them, considering them to be mere sex slaves, although very clearly willing ones. It hadn't lasted much, anyway, because the five females had quickly demonstrated all their worth as warriors, leaving the troops speechless with their marksmanship and with their deadly ability with swords and blades of any kind.

With their help, Mriya was able to bring to safety all the rivals that she had left broken on the floor of the cage or right outside of it: in the ring they had been enemies who did not give and did not expect mercy, but leaving them inside the collapsing building to be crushed by falling chunks of concrete was out of the question. It was clear, however, that they would not be able to help the hundreds, the thousands of other people who tried to escape from the trembling, cracking buildings all along the street as the ground continued to violently rattle.

The princess gazed towards the guards, happy to have them at her side: few things scared her, but the earthquake certainly was one of the things that did. Seeing her loved hometown collapsing in ruins around her and knowing that there was nothing she could do was devastating, and it brought tears to her eyes.

Pamela, the Captain of the Praetorians, wrapped a strong arm around the princess shoulders and squeezed reassuringly as they stared at a tall block of flats further down the street as it crumbled into heavy pieces and segments of wall, restraining each other as they heard the screams coming from inside: they both wanted to run into the building and bring out everyone, but it was too late, as the whole structure caved in and crashed onto the asphalt in a gigantic cloud of dust, as the shrieks grew louder and then, abruptly, died away into horrible silence.

Mriya repressed a shiver, trembling a bit and moving her gaze back to the Praetorians, admiring their cold professionalism and drawing courage from it, hoping, not for the first time, to join their ranks one day in the near future. Mriya couldn't think of a better and more honorable job than fighting in the name of her father, serving him not just as a warrior but as a lover, a toy, a slave as well. Mriya knew the Praetorians well, because she had understood a long while before that the reason why they were always not far from her was that they were her silent, stealthy escort.

It had taken her a while to notice their constant presence, because the Praetorians knew all too well how to follow someone without being discovered... but eventually, she had ambushed Nikita, the muscular mare warrior, and forced her to reveal the details.

Mriya had initially been furious, as she did not want nor, she thought, need an escort, convinced that she was more than strong enough to defend herself; but that phase had rapidly been overcome when Alexis made clear that the escort was going to stay in place.

Rather than uselessly sulking, Mriya had sought to make the most of the Praetorians' presence and had asked them to contribute to her physical and combat training, receiving their complete support. Mriya and the guardians had soon enough become friends, finding common ground during the time spent sparring, and early on the princess had begun asking countless questions about what it was like to be a Praetorian. Over time, her interest had moved specifically towards how her father used them, and about what they thought about their king and absolute master.

Initially, the Praetorians had carefully attempted to leave the sex out of the picture, but Mriya was growing rapidly and her curiosity expanded faster than her strong body did, so that she insistently asked about her father, and what it was like to share his bed. Eventually, the Praetorians had begun to answer, satisfying her curiosity, and that was when Mriya started to become sincerely enthralled with the idea of becoming a Praetorian herself. It was clear from their tales, and from her mother's, and from the words and comments and awe so clearly found in everyone else around her, that her father was indeed extraordinary, far above and beyond all other men, and that confirmed what she had been discovering in first person: no one seemed to compare, and the awareness added a whole new dimension to the endless love she felt for her daddy.

Her eagerness to learn had, in turn, made her relationship with Pamela, Nikita, Valery, Crystal and Kate even stronger and closer, as she asked them to explain the history of the Praetorians, the traditions and the rules, showing a sincere interest in all parts of that ancient role, that had been part of Glacial's mores for millennia. And when the embarrassment and hesitations on either side had fallen away, Mriya and the Praetorians had found complete intimacy in their long, daydreaming discussions about their common love: Killer, who so well embodied their fantasies and wishes of young, feasty girls who adored life and its pleasures.

Mriya had not told Killer about her desire to become a Praetorian yet. She suspected that he would have tried to discourage her had he known... but of course, it was pretty much impossible to keep a secret from her mother. Alexis, thankfully, had understood her wish and had protected her secret ever since, and helped convince the Praetorians that initiating the princess in secret to the traditions of the Praetorian service was not a betrayal of their vows of absolute loyalty and servitude to their master.

"There is nothing common about this earthquake, Mriya..." Pamela warned after a moment of silence, and the princess looked at her with a mix of curiosity and anxiousness. She did not need to ask what she meant, because even though her parents and her family kept her safe back home, she knew all too well of the demonic assaults that had been plaguing the world for a long time. Immediately, she realized that she now was in the middle of one such attack. And a massive one at that.

She could see Pamela swallowing thickly and felt her stiffening at her side, her body tensed by readiness and by fear. That drove home with amazing strength the full extent of the danger they faced: Pamela had a proud history of service first with the Royal Marines of Glacial and then with the Special Intelligence Service, and she was a formidable fighter. The white tigress never missed a shot and could do wonders with any kind of blade, and courage and a cool mind were the key attributes that had gained her the role of captain of the Praetorians. Mriya had literally never before imagined that anything could scare her, because Pamela had always been the incarnation of courage, determination and cold efficiency even in the most stressful of situations... but there was one truth that couldn't be denied, however: Pamela and the other Praetorians were mortals. Exceptionally skilled and with superb physical qualities, but mortals. Demons were far more powerful than they could ever hope to become, and the Praetorians knew all too well that they had no weapons which could inflict enough damage to slow down, let alone kill, high tier demons.

Mriya had no idea that her mother and her father were divinities, and that her extraordinary power was the sigh of her own developing godhood, but she knew that she was stronger, by far, than the Praetorians, even combined. The five guardians and protectors had the upper hand in terms of skills and experience, but were no match for her in terms of raw strength, which meant that she often came out on top with ease despite her mistakes and imperfections. With demons, the outcome risked being exactly the same.

"We should head back to the palace, Dream." Nikita urged, looking at Mriya with concern and calling her with the same affectionate nickname that her father used. "We will need master's help to stop this assault, and-" The voice of the muscular mare was drowned completely out by a deafening crackle of energy that had the whole town screaming in terror and awe, all heads turning skywards as a lightning bolt of dark crimson energy exploded down from the clouds with a vengeance, striking the tallest of the skyscrapers in the middle of Kendrew with such violence that they were all blown backwards like plush toys, Mriya and the Praetorians grunting and stumbling backwards as they shielded themselves as best they could, while other people in the street literally flew to crash into the nearest wall or parked vehicle.

Mriya gaped in shock as she tried to spy through the fingers of her hand as ominous red light turned the night into day for a moment, while the bolt of demonic energy tore through the enormous building from roof to foundations, tearing it in half like it was made of butter and then disintegrating it in a massive blast that vaporized the concrete and sent tiny fragments smashing like shrapnel into the other buildings all around. Hundreds of people had been inside the tall tower, and nothing was left of them, Mriya realized in a fleeting, horrible instant, before her attention shifted to other tall buildings as they too exploded in flashes of crimson, the ground rattling with terrifying violence under their feet, so much so that the warehouses around them all crumbled down into piles of ruins and clouds of thick grey dust that covered their bodies and filled their airways, making them cough and cry painful tears.

Mriya made her way through the thick dust and felt, more than saw, the Praetorians taking positions all around her, Pamela gripping firmly into her arm and guiding her away from the parking lot, but the princess soon slowed down her pace and eventually stopped, shouting above the apocalyptic noise all around them: "I cannot flee like this, and leave everyone behind! A lot of people have died already, and I do not want all others to suffer the same fate without doing anything about it!"

Pamela and the Praetorians hesitated, trading uneasy glances between the spiraling clouds of dust, and they could not shut the screams and whines and howls of agony out of their ears. They wanted to help, but they were painfully aware that there was very little they could possibly do... but Mriya insisted, remarking: "They are my people!"

Around them, people cried and looked at the sky in terror and confusion, huddling in groups between the parked cars and trucks, keeping their heads low as chunks of concrete and other ruins from the buildings all around were chucked through the air like meteors, car alarms howling when a vehicle was smashed. Most people still hadn't understood that they were not witnessing a normal storm and a normal earthquake, but a large scale demonic invasion, so that in most cases they made no attempt to rush into the cars and escape... and that was a blessing for many reasons: for one, there wasn't any safe place to go to anyway, and for second, that meant no mass incidents and squashing of people caused by panicking drivers. Third, it eased things somewhat for the emergency services, as ambulances, police cars and troop carriers of the army rode into action.

"That's true, your majesty." Pamela finally agreed, trading a look with the other Praetorians, who nodded in silent agreement. "There is not much we can do, other than warn everyone to run towards the palace: the closer we get to Killer and Alexis, the safer we'll all be."

Nikita nodded and immediately climbed on the roof of a jeep parked right next to them, where she could be seen, hands up to the sides of her mouth as she shouted: "Make your way towards the royal palace! Stay in the middle of the street, and help out those who are wounded! We'll only get through this with order and discipline!"

She paused for a brief instant, then shouted her message again, right as Valery climbed on top of a car a bit further down the parking lot in the opposite direction, Crystal and Kate rushing forwards to corral the confused and terrified crowd as best they could while Mriya and Pamela ran to a nearby overturned pick-up truck that had crushed the leg of one young tiger boy. His girlfriend, on her knees right next to him, was desperately and uselessly pushing at the side of the large vehicle, tears rolling down her cheeks as she called for help with all her voice.

"How much time do you think we have...?" Mriya asked to the experienced captain while they reached the pick-up, gripping into its bodywork and easily lifting it clear off the ground, the princess holding it up singlehandedly and carefully pulling the wounded boy backwards with the other hand.

The white tigress made a grimace as they let go of the truck, sparing only a moment to wave a hand dismissively at the girl and at the boy as they cried their thanks, the male pale and weak due to the pain, the fear and all the blood he had lost through his crushed, maimed right leg. "I'm surprised we haven't seen them yet."

"Comforting." Mriya muttered, even as she squatted down over the small and terrified young tigress, who immediately clung to her muscular leg, crying and sobbing. "Thank you, your highness, thank you... nobody else would come, they were all too scared..."

Pamela, meanwhile, straddled the pale, barely conscious male and used her teeth to tear open a small bag containing one of the first aid kits that were part of her equipment, before swiftly applying a medication, ignoring the scream coming from the boy when she poured the sulfamic powder onto the wound and then worked to stop the bleeding, stick the leg and bandage it up.

Mriya looked up as she heard someone rushing in their direction, and her eyes widened as she saw buildings in the distance tilting over and falling, vanishing from sight as if swallowed into some kind of black hole... and sure enough, she could see the ground rippling and swirling away in a vortex like it was water, as an immense dark rift opened in the earth of the capital.

The hurried steps she had heard were Kate's, as the vixen ran towards them with her twin curved daggers unsheathed, her light leathery armor already stained with the blood of something she had taken down... and while her voice was drowned out by the noise, both Pamela and Mriya got the message loud and clear as they spotted the massive figures of demons leaping out of the expanding vortex. Mriya gritted her fangs with a grunt of shock and awe at the sight of an enormous Gigataur landing on top of a running family: she had a glimpse of a father, a crying mother and two small children, and then there was only a splatter of red as two enormous hooves landed upon them and screeched forwards over the crumbled asphalt as the beast ground to a halt and threw his arms out wide with a bellow of rage and bestial bloodlust, holding ominous twin axes in his strong hands.

The small female huddled up before her saw the same scene and gaped in sheer horror, screaming to the top of her lungs and yet unable to push a single sound out as she began to shake violently, before Mriya wrapped one arm around her waist and effortlessly hefted her high up into the air, gripping the pick-up's door with her other hand and ripping it right off the hinges, throwing it away without a thought.

She dropped the terrified female in the driver seat while Pamela carefully lifted the wounded boy and ran around the vehicle to drop him in the passenger site, while Kate tore open the tail gate and urged people to climb on it, hefting and pushing them up, cramming the vehicle full with people as many other survivors climbed up onto the roof, the bonnet, and grabbed onto the sides.

"Go to the royal palace, go, go, go!" Mriya urged, turning the keys and igniting the engine, slapping the terrified woman on the shoulder to awaken her from the trance she had fallen into, right as a wrecked car, kicked over by a demon, sailed above them and smashed like a meteor into the cars parked further down the lot, sending pieces of metal spinning everywhere.

That worked like a starter gun for the woman, who stomped on the gas and launched the pick-up forwards, smashing into a parked car but pushing it out of the way as she steered towards the street, pounding on the horn and rushing like crazy towards the royal palace. Everyone else who could stand and walk was now moving away from the growing black hole and the gigantic demons leaping out of it, and many were jumping into cars, the vehicles smashing into each other as the panicking drivers did all they could to gain the lead and squeeze through other abandoned, wrecked or just motionless cars, even when it was clearly impossible to fit the available spaces.

Chaos ruled supreme in the street, and Mriya made a grimace of horror as a police officer was smashed flying by a car which completely ignored his attempts to put some order in the terrible traffic jam that was forming between the burning wrecks and the mountains of rubble.

Another huge bull demon landed right in the middle of the chaos, his weight turning a crowded car into a pancake of twisted and broken metal and gore, before the massive beast bent down and speared his horns through the mass of bodies and vehicles ahead of him, arching his back with a roar and sending blood splattering high up into the air as a couple of bodies were gored and ripped in half like they were made of paper, the pieces raining down over the crowd as at least four more unfortunate souls were hurled dozens of feet into the air to crash bonelessly into cars, fleeting people and ruins. Mriya found herself staring in awe at three cars full of people flying up like toys, spinning through the air to crash down like meteors, while a fourth city car for a moment remained stuck on the curved, enormous horn that had effortlessly torn its way through the vehicle from side to side, ripping through the unfortunate men and women inside. The Gigataur straightened literally without noticing the heavy decoration skewered on his horn, steam rushing out of his nostrils as he let out a snarling laughter and stepped forwards through the traffic jam, crushing screaming mortals like gnats and smashing the vehicles out of his way like they were toys, punting a jeep forwards so hard that it crashed into the other vehicles ahead and flipped once, twice, thrice into the air, slamming into other cars and causing a series of explosions that threw pieces of burning-hot metal and maimed corpses in every direction.

"Cover the retreat!" Mriya and Pamela shouted in unison, running towards the back of the crowd and taking position between the panicking people and the advancing demons, swallowing nervously as another four of the gigantic beasts jumped out of the dark vortex and landed in front of them, holding up gigantic two-handed axes, halberds and cruel hammers with heads as large as pick-up cars.

The Praetorians took position on either side of Mriya, and the princess noticed with a bit of irritation that they made sure to advanced a little bit ahead of her, shielding her even through the was by far the strongest: one part of her, the rational side, was thankful for it and admired them for the courage they demonstrated in doing their job to the very end, even with odds stacked so high against them... but there was a part of her that hated it, at the same time. There was a primal, irrational, bloodthirsty side to her that craved the fight, that wanted no help and no interruptions, that admired the raw, devastating power of those hellish creatures and that demanded that she slay them, to prove that she was stronger than even them.

And right in that moment, things resumed moving like in a fast-forwards as the demons charged forwards, kicking up ruins and wrecked vehicles like they would droplets and splashes when running through shallow water. Pamela stepped forwards with a snarl and Mriya saw her arms crossing with the speed of lightning, her eyes barely having the time to blink as the tigress's hands dived for her hips, then came back up aiming her massive handguns: two armor-piercing cannons that fired special 14.5 mm bullets.

Her rounds slammed right into the face of the Gigataur in the lead, knocking some of his yellow, oversized and ragged fangs flying off his muzzle, dark blood spraying up from his face as the bullets tore through the steel mask covering his features, but the giant only howled in greater fury, dropping one hand to claw into the bonnet of a large jeep and slapping it flying towards the Praetorian.

Pamela rushed forwards immediately, arching her back and bending one leg to go into a slide, rushing under the heavy vehicle as it flipped in midair, and she released the empty clips of her guns before crossing her arms again, slamming the grips down with skilled accuracy so that the large magazines strapped on her chest armor slid right into the wells and locked into place.

She resumed firing with such speed that Mriya struggled to follow her movement, admiring Pamela as she twisted one foot to use it as a pivot, grinding to a stop and swinging elegantly back up to her feet in a smooth movement, fangs gritted as she continued hammering the Gigataur's face.

At the same time, Kate leapt forwards and stomped her way up the bonnet of the flying jeep, kicking off its roof to streak higher into the air, drawing out her curved, deadly daggers as she aimed for the head of the second taur demon. The beast swung its immense axe up against her, but an arrow with a fat head incorporating a grenade smashed into the blade and exploded with enough force to slam the heavy weapon backwards while pieces of it pelted the huge monster, sending him staggering with a bellow of pain and rage.

Kate landed on the thick mask of dark metal covering his face, and she straddled his thick muzzle as best she could while stabbing her blades down into his eyes, grunting as blood sprayed up all over her chest and face when she jerked on both swords to expand the wound and make the damage worse, thrusting the blades upwards and as deep as she could, trying to rip into the brain.

The beast stomped around in fury, blinded and eager to destroy the source of his pain, his axe thrown away and forgotten as he reached up to claw at his own face, missing as Kate tore her blades out and leapt off his nose, flipping elegantly in midair and dropping to the ground just as the monster howled its fury and lashed out a fearsome punch that seemed to rip the very air apart. Valery had meanwhile already nocked another of her special arrows and pulled on the string, and her dart flew swift and sure right into the beast's open jaws to sink into the back of his throat with a loud, wet smack, angled right up towards the brain. The beast stumbled with a breathless gargle, missing a step and clawing uselessly at the air, and then the arrow exploded, and pieces of his thick skull tore through the flesh and bulged his steel mask outwards, blood flooding out of his eye sockets and mouth.

Pamela threw herself to the side as the bleeding beast fell down, crashing face-first into the cracked and ruined road, and she went into a roll as her own target ferociously stomped a car-sized hoof in her direction, tearing open a deep crater in the ground and causing the cars all around to jump a couple feet into the air. The tigress continued to pour bullets up into his face, snarling as large chunks of dark metal splintered off his mask and blood dripped thickly down from his maimed flesh, but the beast seemed to only grow angrier and stronger after each blow, roaring as he cocked back his gigantic twin axe and then slashed it down with all his strength.

Mriya charged forwards before Valery could grab her, and her gloved hands shot up to meet the gigantic blade, seizing into its flat sides and pushing back against even as the gigataur's monstrous force left her reeling and gasping for breath, her bones creaking and her feet sinking through solid concrete as she spread her legs to resist, pitting her strength against his, biceps bulging explosively as she halted his assault... and then slammed him backwards hard enough to stumble him, the bull almost falling over and his head tilting back for a brief moment.

Pamela needed nothing more than that window of opportunity, fangs gritted as she aimed both guns at the beast's exposed chin and blasted bullet after bullet up through the vulnerable flesh and the hard bone, until the armor-piercing rounds tore their way into the skull and clanged against the thick helm covering his head.

The huge demon flopped backwards bonelessly, collapsing against his comrades coming up from behind, and they smashed the corpse to the side with no mercy, charging at Pamela as the tigress reloaded her guns and turned around to trade a look with Mriya.

The princess grinned apologetically, shrinking a bit in her shoulders at the reprimand evident in the captain's glare... but she did not retreat, and Pamela's expression rapidly changed into a little smile full of admiration for her strength and her courage. The princess should not have put herself in danger, but in that moment they needed Mriya's strength so desperately that she could only be thankful for her presence.

Mriya and Pamela immediately turned back towards the demons as one of the bulls bellowed his challenge and threat and slammed a kick into a large van, crumpling one side of the heavy vehicle like it was paper and sending the wreck shooting like a missile against the two females.

Pamela hit the deck immediately, taking careful aim with her massive handgun and smashing a sequence of rounds right into the eye of the enormous beast, making him howl in fury and agony, before her attention shifted to her side as she heard a grunt and the groan of crumpling metal. Her eyes widened as she saw Mriya skidding backwards a few feet but stopping the momentum of the van, her fingers tearing through the metal like they would through wet paper she gripped right into the chassis, crushing the steel like butter in her grip as she arched her back with a roar and hefted the large truck above her head, throwing it with all her tremendous strength, growling: "This is a game for two, bitch!"

The Gigataurs recoiled a bit in surprise at that display of power, but the half-blinded Gigataur did not react quickly enough, standing still until the van smashed into his chest and face, bursting into pieces and hurling the beast backwards through the street until he crashed ruinously into a pile of ruins.

Valery stared at the princess with a grunt of approval, amazed once more by her fearsome strength, and then an idea dawned in her mind as she looked at the damaged, half-collapsed building to her right. She eyed a path up the pile of ruins and up the walls, to a good high ground position, and she shouted towards Mriya: "Do that again!"

The princess looked over her shoulder and saw the lioness leaping against the cracked wall and stepping up along it until she grabbed the bottom of a window and easily jackknifed onto the sill, crouching there and nocking one of her explosive arrows. Her plan suddenly became clear in her mind, and Mriya rushed towards the nearest abandoned car, stomping her boot down on the bonnet to flip the vehicle up on its front, before slamming her open palm into the bottom of the car, sending it flying towards the Gigataurs.

The enormous bull at the front was ready to react, however, and he slashed his halberd upwards, chopping the car in two halves and sending the pieces spinning high up above their heads, and Valery's eyes shrunk to slits as the she waited for her moment, watching the gasoline spilling out and splashing down over the big beasts, until the wrecked car spun again, and she let her arrow go, grinning as it struck in the fuel tank and exploded, turning the cloud of petrol into a ball of fire that washed over the bull demons, mixed with metallic shrapnel. The demons bellowed in pain and rage as the burning fuel leaked under the heavy plates and chainmail of their armors, eating viciously into their flesh and burning their dirty, thick fur, but one of them, fueled by rage, charged forwards even as his mane burned and her shoulders smoldered, his enormous hammer spinning over his head before rushing down in a fearsome blow that annihilated an abandoned car and smashed three more flying, forcing Pamela and Kate to dive under the flying wreckage before one of the vehicles exploded and Kate let out a cry of agony, a large chunk of metal tearing into her hip.

Mriya ran towards her, slapping another wrecked car away like it was a fly and then going down to a crouch to pick up the injured female, the small vixen trembling hard and gritting her fangs in pain as she looked down at the ragged piece of blackened steel pierced deep into her flesh. "It... embarrasses me to ask, princess... but could you pull it out...? I don't think I can do it myself." The vixen said, her voice surprisingly firm and calm, leaving Mriya blinking in surprise, before she nodded and carefully seized the large piece of metal. "Stay still, Kate", Mriya urged, biting her lower lip as she slowly pulled the chunk of steel back, horrified by the blood spraying all over her arms and terrified at the thought of inflicting further pain on the vixen. Kate, however, gripped her wrist with surprising strength and looked up at her with a nod, urging her to make it fast as the demons approached.

The vixen pushed back up to her feet when the piece of metal still wasn't entirely out, and Mriya did her best to hurriedly wrap a large strip of cloth over the horrible wound, stemming the blood loss... before snarling in rage as a Gigataur ran towards them with a cruel laughter, pulling up one massive, bloodied hoof and casting both females in its shadow. "Puny mortals weak. Puny mortals easy to hurt..."

The dumb brute's laughter turned into a grunt of surprise and shock when his hood found an immovable force that held it aloft and even pushed it back up, Mriya straightening and shoving upwards with both hands, biceps bulging explosively as she snarled: "Are you sure...?"

Kate ran around the other hoof, even as blood streaked down one leg, and she spun her daggers point-down, stabbing into the back of the demon's back and pulling outwards to rip the thick leather straps and the chains holding in place the heavy, impenetrable plates of armor protecting his shins.

Crystal charged in with perfect timing, slashing her heavy cleaver against the leg just as the thick plates clanged on the asphalt, blood exploding out of the wound as the blade bit deep and hacked into the thick bone beyond with a loud, sick crack. The Drakkaren gritted her teeth and pushed with all her force, but the amazing power and toughness of the gigantic demon was such that the bone refused to give, and the beast howled in fury, glaring down at her and punting down hard with his halberd.

Crystal tore her blade free and threw her weight backwards, dropping one hand to the ground and using it to pivot to a backwards handspring, landing on her feet just as the massive dark blade pierced deep into the ground where she had stood a moment before, and Pamela leapt in from the left side, hammering her own huge cleaver down into the back of the already wounded leg, while Kate limped out of the way as best she could.

The bone finally broke with a loud, echoing snap, and the tigress's cleaver tore right through the flesh and the hard, powerful muscle, leaving the massive hoof planted on the ground but the leg ruined and leaking a torrent of dark blood as Mriya took the clue to shove his other hoof hard up into the air, toppling him like a domino and only grinning predatorily as the bull howled his fury and crashed onto his back. Immediately, an arrow from Valery's bow struck him in the exposed throat and exploded, tearing his head off his neck and sending the helm clanging loudly down the street.

"That is great teamwork, Mriya." Crystal said, looking to the side for a brief moment and flashing the princess a smile and a wink. "All the training paid off... you are going to be the most formidable of all Praetorians."

The ligeress smiled back and gave a slight nod of agreement, trying to hide the slight tremor in her arms. Her heart thrummed with a mix of excitement and fear: this was her first real battle, the first time her life was truly on the line, and she was both eager to go and terrified; determined to impress the Praetorians and full of fear at the idea of making a mistake and messing things up for everyone. And she was full of horror at the sight of Kate's reddened armor, the cloth soaked with blood, her face pale even as she held her daggers up and offered her what tried to be a reassuring smile.

Pamela rushed over to Kate, seizing the vixen by the shoulder and forcing her to bend sideways so she could take a good look at the wound, ignoring the protests of the smaller female. The tigress made a grimace and immediately gripped the first aid kit that the vixen carried at the tactical belt, before looking over her shoulder to see more demons rushing up the street towards them, their hooves rattling the ground. The earthquake had mostly stopped, they suddenly realized, but the immense Gigataurs still made the asphalt crack and tremble with their tremendous mass, as they kicked and slapped cars and trucks out of their way like they were toys.

"It's nothing, let it be! We have other things to worry about...!" Kate urged, but Pamela refused to be impressed, wrapping one arm around her waist and hefting the smaller female up. "You need a proper medication, or you'll bleed to death, and you know that." The captain briskly remarked, and Kate bit her lower lip, finding no counter to that simple truth. "Let's get the hell out of here!"

They ran down the street, moving around abandoned and wrecked vehicles or jumping up to run over them, while Valery covered them from above, her arrows hissing loudly through the air and the explosions following them, together with the furious bellows of the bulls. Mriya looked up at the lioness, admiring the way she easily leapt from crumbling building to crumbling building, going down to a crouch, taking aim, firing a couple of arrows and then changing position... but even her explosive darts could only really hurt the gigantic demons when they struck in unprotected areas. The princess turned slightly and gazed over her shoulder, wincing at the sight of the Gigataurs kicking cars flying like cans, as the one leading the group was hit by an arrow that had clearly been aimed at the joint between chest-plate and face-mask. Unfortunately, the beast had shifted just enough that the dart slammed into the mask and bounced wild, cracked in half, and its explosion did little more than ruffle the demon's thick, dirty fur. The bulls were fully clad in thick, overlapping plates of dark metal, thicker than the armor of mortal battle tanks, and decorated with skulls and bones. The few areas of unprotected flesh visible were covered in thick, ugly criss-crossing scars, and they sometimes had rotten, huge spears and arrows still sticking out of their bodies. Remains of old fights against other demons, or perhaps against angels: they hadn't even bothered with pulling them out.

"Ammo report!" Pamela urged, panting slightly as she helped Kate run over the debris clogging the street, the cracked and tormented ground making it hard to move, let along move quickly.

"Almost out of arrows." Valery announced from above, her voice surprisingly calm and sounding almost impersonal even as she gave them what was really bad news. She reached back behind her head to draw out another dart, and closed her hand for a second over the bundle, judging its consistency and thinking rapidly back to the shots she had taken. "Just 9 left."

Pamela cursed under her breath, shouldering her massive cleaver on the right and letting Kate hold on to her left. Her large handguns were back in the holsters, and filled with the last magazines left, both already partially emptied. Kate had carried with her a submachine gun, and Crystal had her own, but they had already discarded them: they had little hope to do any serious damage with them anyway. To the Gigataurs, those bullets were little more than balls of paper and spit.

"We are officially drowning in crap." Pamela said, and the calm, almost relaxed tone of her voice did nothing to make it less painful to absorb, but they weren't even granted the time to worry about it because a Gigataur on their tail found an abandoned bus and hefted it high above his head, roaring in triumph as he handled the huge vehicle like a toy, throwing it up in the air and then catching it as it fell, holding it horizontally out in front of himself, spanning the road from side to side with little spare space and laughing in cruel amusement as he ran forwards, using the bus as a shield and a weapon, steam-rolling everything ahead of himself.

The ground under the Praetorian's feet rattled violently as the immense beast stomped his way forwards, smashing cars and ruins and bodies flying in pieces and exploding as he used the bus like a bulldozer blade, clearing the street from side to side and rapidly gaining ground on the group of females, even as Mriya took the lead and began to kick and body-cheek abandoned vehicles out of the way.

Valery attempted to spot the bull demons past the edge of the bus, but the constant explosions and the inferno of flying wreckage and gore made it impossible to see anything... other than a bull that, proceeding behind his comrade, picked up the blackened, burning wreck of a large car and threw it like a missile against the lioness.

The Praetorian winced and immediately threw herself to the side, down from the forlorn segment of cracked wall she was perched upon, and she seized into a window-sill as she fell, twisting her body to slam her boots against the bricks and running along the tilted, fragile structure to leapt off it and onto the ruined façade of the following building.

The car smashed into the wall behind her and disintegrated in an explosion of metal shrapnel that slammed into her back and almost knocked her down, a hiss escaping her gritted teeth as multiple sharp, incandescent slivers tore into her flesh and made it sizzle agonizingly. She still had the strength to sprint vertically up the wall and jackknife into the first window she found, landing in a crouch into what had been a bedroom, occupied until mere minutes before. The bed was messy, the sheets dragged halfway through the room by the couple that had occupied it when the apocalypse had suddenly broken loose.

The building creaked and trembled with each step of the demons, books and photographs falling off the shelves and plaster and dust raining down from the cracks in the ceiling, but the structure still felt reasonably solid. The lioness thought about it for a second, biting her lower lip while trying to normalize her breathing, and then she leapt to her feet and leaned out of the window, looking down at the building's entrance and seeing it still practicable, before she gazed towards the others. "Bring Kate inside! Come in!"

"We won't be any safer inside a building. They'll smash through walls like they were biscuits." Nikita cautioned, but when Pamela turned to gaze at her with an urgent prayer in her eyes, the mare bit her lip and wished she had said nothing. Kate needed a break, and medications, and she could have neither while they struggled to make their way up the street. Stating the truth, for once, was not helpful at all.

"Go inside and take care of Kate. We'll hold them." The muscular mare urged, and Pamela nodded and charged up the few steps leading to the door of the building, and then up the cracked, damaged stairs to reach Valery's position.

Mriya, Crystal and Nikita traded a gaze and a silent nod, turning around to face the horde, the two Praetorians holding their heavy cleaver swords up and Mriya balling her fists, the leather of her gloves groaning slightly as her musculature flexed with power and eagerness, legs spread in an easy ready position. "How do we stop that thing...?" Crystal asked, her eyes narrowing as she stared at the bus rushing towards them: it was flattened and crumpled completely out of shape, but its sturdy chassis still worked as a bulldozer blade, and it pushed forwards a whole mountain of other ruined vehicles.

"I'll do it." Mriya calmly announced, taking a step forwards, and the two Praetorians traded a worried look: it was their task to keep the princess safe, and letting her do it went against every rule in the book, but on the other hand they knew they had no alternative. And they were also well aware that denying her would have come across as terribly offensive: they knew their princess and she was their friend. She did not like her strength being questioned.

"You show them, girl." Nikita encouraged, grinning slightly and standing to her side, half a step behind. Crystal pulled up on the other side, assuring: "We are right behind you."

Mriya smiled at them with a nod of silent gratitude, and took a deep breath before charging forwards, slapping a wrecked car out of the way and sending it crashing into the second floor of a building to her left, before she raked another two blackened hulks and sent them skidding out of her path, tearing her way through the mountain of scrap and roaring when she finally managed to climb over the ruins of a pick-up that screeched against the asphalt as it was pushed forwards, stuck half-way under the bus.

The enormous Gigataur on the other side of the bus chassis looked through one of the many holes in the wrecked vehicle, and he grinned toothily as he caught side of the princess, laughing cruelly as Mriya seized into the steel beams of the chassis and gritted her fangs, flexing her potent muscles.

"Eager to die, kitty...?" The bull cackled, and Mriya's eyes glowed with rage and predatory hunger as the steel loudly groaned in her grip, crumpling like paper as she leaned forwards and shoved with all her strength, her boots crushing the pick-up wreck flat into the ground, its steel structure sinking through asphalt and dirt, becoming lodged in place like an anchor.

The bull grunted in shock as he suddenly stumbled and almost slammed his face into the remains of the bus, his arms bending and the chassis not moving forwards anymore as the much smaller female shoved back against him, before he snorted steam from his nostrils with a bellow of rage as Mriya flashed him a grin through the breach and taunted: "What's up, big boy...? I expected more. Do you even lift...?"

The Gigataur pushed with all his power, roaring in fury as the female arched her back and dug her boots in, resisting and then suddenly slamming him backwards when she gave a sudden shove. Immediately, he dropped his shoulder and threw his weight into the equation, ramming into the chassis with a growl and grinning as Mriya skidded backwards several meters... before his eyes bulged in shock as he realized his mistake, hearing the steel groaning loudly as the ligeress spread her arms and pushed to bend the chassis around the demon, clamping him into the vice-like embrace of steel beams.

Mriya grinned as her biceps bulged with power and the steel meekly bent to her will, the wreckage forming a sarcophagus around the Gigataur even as he howled in fury and struggled against it, before her eyes flashed with the satisfaction of retribution as blood sprayed thickly through the breaches in the metal and the sound of breaking bones echoed in the street, audible even through the howl of agony coming from the monster.

A second bull, slightly smaller but armed with a cruel spiked mace that had skulls skewered onto each spike, lowered his horns and ran against her, steam blowing out of his nostrils and eyes glowing with fury through the slits of his heavy armour mask as he swung his enormous weapon in a wide arc. Immediately, Mriya spun to face the new threat and stepped back out of range, letting the deformed, unrecognizable bus lean towards her shoulder before she punted the bloody wreckage and the agonizing demon trapped inside against the charging bull. The mace rose again, mercilessly smashing into the bus, with no care at all for the fate of the demon inside, blood and gore and pieces of metal exploding in every direction as the wrecked vehicle all but disintegrated, while Mriya dropped her back onto the bonnet of an abandoned car and flipped past it, landing on her feet and kicking the car flying against the Gigataur.

The enormous beast snorted in contempt and raised a bloodied hoof to crush the puny vehicle into a pancake, but his eyes bulged in surprise as Nikita came out almost from nowhere and went into a slide under him. Before he could stomp down against her, her cleaver had already chopped into the back of his leg, cutting the straps of his shin armor and piercing deep down to the bone, before the mare slammed the palm of one hand into the flat of her huge sword and sent it rocketing upwards, making him bellow in agony as the blade scraped upwards along the thick, solid bone and tore muscles and flesh off, right up through the thigh, before she used her momentum to tilt the sword tip up and stabbed it into his groin, gritting her teeth as blood exploded over her in a cascade.

The Gigataur howled in agony and blindly stomped down his hoof, rattling the earth and causing the vehicles in the street to jump three feet into the air before crashing ruinously back down, but Nikita had already gone into a roll, reaching a safe distance before kicking up into a crouch and immediately springing towards the damaged bull's leg, one hand gripping a can-sized cylinder at her belt and bringing it up so she could snag a small ring off with her teeth.

"Fire in the hole!" Nikita announced as she slapped the High-Explosive, Incendiary grenade right into the maimed flesh of the ruined leg, and the beast glared down at her in confused rage and pain, roaring as he punted his mace hard forwards, aiming for her back as she moved away.

Mriya rushed in from the side, and the bull grunted in frustration and shock as the ligeress took the thick pole of his mace between her arms, and dragged it out to the side, making him stumble before she roared and shoved hard upwards, sending the pommel of his mace smashing into his throat, violently chocking him and sending blood exploding out of his nostrils and mouth. The grenade in his leg exploded in the same moment, disintegrating his knee and pouring incandescent white phosphorous over and into his flesh, the flames bursting instantaneously high and filling the air with a sizzling noise and a stench of carbonized meat as the demon let out a gargling howl of agony and bestial rage.

Two more enormous bulls rushed to the aid of their comrade, but Mriya wrestled the oversized mace out of the falling demon's hands and spun it in midair, catching the pole when it fell and roaring as she slashed the enormous spiked head in a rising cut that caught the first bull into the groin, hefting him into the air before the weapon smashed his thick, overlapping abs and chest plates off, the spikes digging bloody trenches in his flesh before tearing free and finding the second bull on their path, slamming into the side of his head and disintegrating the skull in a thousand small pieces.

The broken plates of armor clanged on the ground near her feet while the headless body of the second bull moved a couple more uncertain, stumbling steps forwards before collapsing on top of a wrecked truck, and Mriya grinned as an arrow immediately pierced into the now exposed chest of the first beast, exploding and ripping a bloody cave through flesh, bone and organs. Valery, as always, had them well covered.

Mriya seized into the mace's handle with both hands and panted, blinking for a moment to get the sweat out of her eyes as her muscles flexed in a mix of eagerness and fatigue, her chest heaving and heart thrumming as adrenaline rushed through her veins: it was a mix of emotions and feelings unlike anything she had felt before. Fighting in the cage, against mortals, had never given her a comparable thrill, even though her rivals were free to employ any weapon they wanted, and try to kill her in whichever way they desired. They had never scared her, never tested her... she was too much stronger than them. All of it had been child play. But this, in the good and in the bad, was a real fight... and when her eye absently gazed down at the watch on her wrist, she realized with surprise that only a few minutes had passed since she was in the cage, easily winning yet another tournament.

She pushed the amazement out of her thoughts, telling herself that there would be better times for reflection and reminiscences, and she gazed at the enemies still charging at them, gritting her teeth as she saw Nikita and Crystal slamming their huge cleavers into the bull's thick armor, only to recoil backwards in pain and frustration, unable to pierce such massive protections and forced to evade the vicious blows of the beasts.

Mriya rushed towards them, swallowing a bit as she admired, almost disbelieving, the cold perfection of the teamwork of the two warriors, as Nikita ducked under the swing of a giant axe, going down to one knee and then pivoting around to slash her cleaver right into the joint between the plates covering thigh and knee of the Gigataur looming over her.

The blade sunk with amazing accuracy in that narrow space, biting into flesh and muscle, and Crystal immediately leaped onto the flat of the huge sword, using it as a ramp to jump higher up, one hand gripping into the pole of the bull's axe when he shoved it hard up against her. Mriya stared as Crystal jackknifed over the pole and kicked into the bull's muzzle with both feet, but the gigantic beast barely flinched, his head tilting only slightly. The drakkaren's cleaver spun tip-down, however, and she stabbed it right down the neck of the demon's armor, blood spraying upwards as the blade tore into his flesh, before Crystal hopped over the bull's shoulder and dragged her sword behind her in a full upwards swing. The chest armor of the demon came undone and crashed down to the ground, and the Gigataur hesitated a moment too long, unable to decide which female to strike first and ending up stabbed right in the abs by Nikita's large cleaver.

Even that wasn't enough to stop the goliath beast, however, who angrily lashed out a kick out, slamming his hoof into the mare and sending her crashing with fearsome violence into a wrecked police car, the female letting out a howl of agony as she tore through glass and metal, sinking into the vehicle as it skidded several feet backwards, almost toppling over.

Mriya found herself screaming in horror, even through the sound of her voice was suddenly alien to her ears, and seemed to come from an immense distance away, her eyes following the thick splatter of blood that arched up from the impact, before Crystal was hit too, like in some sort of terrible nightmare: the reptile was able to avoid the wild swing of the bull's huge arm, but to do so she ended up falling towards three more giant monsters, and while she avoided the first swing of axe, she could do nothing to escape the tremendous impact with the flat of a colossal hammer that slapped her flying through the street and into a wall, her back loudly snapping as she crashed into the concrete hard enough to crack and break it. Mriya's eyes bulged and a lump formed in her throat as she saw Crystal slumping bonelessly down to the base of the wall, leaving a thick streak of crimson along it and yet somehow finding the strength to shield herself with the cleaver from the rain of plaster and ruins.

The enormous bull cackled triumphantly and charged towards her, bent forwards and with his huge horns ready to gore her, and Mriya suddenly threw the mace up into the air, seizing it like it was a javelin and leaning into the throw with all her tremendous strength, roaring her rage and despair as tears flew from her eyes.

The mace hit the Gigataur with all the force of a meteor, his torso almost exploding into a splash of blood and gore as he was blow off his hooves and sent crashing two hundred feet away down the street, pelted with pieces of the heavy weapon which had all but disintegrated on impact.

Mriya slapped a car out of her way with such violence that it flipped over a three storey building and out of sight, but all she could see was the wrecked car from which Nikita was not standing up, and the bloodied huddle that Crystal was, the reptile doing her best to hold up a sword suddenly way too heavy for the lone arm she managed to tremblingly control, the rest of her body numb and irresponsive.

The ligeress leapt onto the bonnet of the ruined car, and her eyes darted down into the torn apart cabin, seeing Nikita coughing up blood, blood that seemed to pain everything red, whenever her gaze wandered. The mare's eyes had already lost much of their brilliance even as they sparkled with something like gratitude, sorrow and admiration combined when they met Mriya's... and the princess howled her rage and pain as the bulls rushed forth with cruel cackles that had her flexing with indescribable fury.

Mriya stepped off the car and walked forwards fearlessly, shielding Nikita with her body and clenching her fists with such power and rage that the leather gloves groaned and her own claws dug into her palm until droplets of blood leaked down her wrist. It did not matter, and she paid it no attention as the first bull slammed a giant hammer down against her, only to strike solid ground as she slipped past the falling head and ducked under the pole, arching her back with all the elegance of a dancer but snarling in fury as she straightened and charged through the beast's legs, slamming her fist into his armored knee with such violence that the dark metal splintered and shattered, her hand tearing through his leg from side to side, sending the massive beast crashing backwards into his comrades.

She caught him by the ankle as he collapsed, and before his back could reach the ground she roared in fury and swung his body like a bat, using his great weight as a weapon and crushing another taur against a cracked brick wall and then right through it, fragments of concrete and pieces of armor flying in every direction as the two beasts tore through several successive walls and then were buried under a mountain of rubble as the damaged, ruined building collapsed. Mriya ducked another massive axe, but it was becoming harder to keep up as several of the enormous demons all charged at her, and her eyes continued to dart towards Crystal and Nikita, to search a hint of movement, a sign of life, and to make sure that none of the goliath demons would dare go near them to strike a finisher blow. The princess grunted as a ragged, rusty cleaver slammed into the asphalt behind her back, a metallic spike catching into her shirt and ripping it while it cut into her powerful back, blood spilling from the wound as she turned around with a vicious hook kick, but immediately another demon rushed in from the opposite side, and her open palm hammered down into the flat of an axe to keep it away from her.

She recoiled backwards and stumbled, gazing over her shoulder as she bumped into the blackened hulk of a car, cursing under her breath as the ground rattled with the stops of a giant rushing forth with a massive halberd. She gripped the top of the wreck with both hands and hefted herself in a somersault, landing on the other side of the vehicle and kicking it up into the demon's face just as the colossal blade swung down against her: the car was cleaved in two halves like little more than a toy, and Mriya moved a step back to avoid the falling pieces, watching as they slammed into the pavement and bounced up with the violence of the impact.

In her rage, she suddenly saw those two heavy pieces of metal under a new light, and as the Gigataur cocked his axe up to lead another strike, she ran forwards and seized first one half, then the other, grinning predatorily as she easily lifted both and slammed them together like they were just boxing gloves she had just put on. "Come on, then! Come and get it!" The young female snarled, and the bulls were dumb enough to undervalue her once more, rushing forwards with their weapons poised to strike, even as the princess his the beast looming over her, the first punch sending his halberd spinning wildly into the sky and the second catching him right in the chest, pieces of metal exploding in every direction together with dark blood and shreds of flesh and muscle as the demon stumbled backwards with a bellow of agony. Mriya ferociously followed up on her opening move, leaping onto his abs as he began to fall and stomping him down into the ground, raising her car-armoured fist and striking once, twice, thrice at his muzzle, destroying the heavy helm and then crumpling his skull into a crimson paste, ignoring the splatters that landed on her face.

She had never killed before that night, and now she had done so several times... but it was too early to realize that, and too early to think anything about it. She only knew that Crystal and Nikita were dying, that Kate was very badly wounded, that Pamela and Valery were out of ammo and that the demons wanted them all dead. She was in no mood for mercy, and each blow she landed was comforting. Each enemy down gave them a bit more of a chance to survive the night.

Mriya leapt to her feet as the other beasts reached her, and she leapt over the swings of two axes to slam the wrecked, unrecognizable halves of the car down into the back of the legs of two bulls, one on either side of her, sending both crashing onto their knees. Her boots tore deep scratches in the asphalt when she landed, gritting her fangs and turning to strike the finishing blows against the enemies she had crippled... but she was denied that joy as a huge hammer swung hard against her, and she had to punch hard against it, knocking it recoiling away but losing her special boxing glove as the wreckage simply disintegrated in a hailstorm of fragments.

The Gigataur grinned ferociously at the sight of her empty hand, tightening the grip on the pole of his gigantic hammer and swinging it back down against her, but Mriya tensed and leapt off the ground just as its massive head slammed into the asphalt, stomping her feet down on it and causing the bull to lose balance and tilt forwards, in the perfect position to take the other half of the car right on the nose, his head exploding into pieces together with the wreck.

The bull crashed dozens of feet away in a lake of blood, and Mriya seized the heavy hammer as it fell, planting one foot solidly on the ground and going into a spin, slamming the colossal mallet of dark metal into the two wounded Gigataurs, nearly tearing them in half in an explosion of blood and shreds of maimed meat, before a third beast fell over as the hammer made mincemeat of his legs.

Mriya panted and hurriedly wiped her eyes clean with the back of one wrist, trying to remove the blood and gore and sweat and dust that made it almost impossible to see, and she glared from side to side, senses alert, to see from where the next attack would come.

The fourth Gigataur, however, had widely retreated away from her and was charging at Crystal instead, grinning viciously as he easily kicked the cleaver out of the female's hand, ripping her arm off with a splatter of blood and a weak, breathless scream from her throat. Mriya stared at the scene in horror, eyes bulging and following in despair and disbelief the ruined limb and the broken sword as they spun wildly through the air, her feet guiding her towards the trembling drakkaren as if in a nightmare.

Everything went black almost in the same instant, a cry of pain coming out of her throat in a gargle, her mouth filling with the taste of her blood and of vomit as her bones creaked audibly with the tremendous impact of something hard and massive crashing into her side. Mriya dazedly realized that she was flying, her feet no longer touching the ground, and then she smashed into a wall, tearing through bricks and concrete like they were paper and then slamming into a pile of ruins, bouncing off it once and crashing into a roll.

Somehow, she found the strength to slam a hand into the ground, clawing into the asphalt like it was sand and abruptly stopping her movement, hefting herself up to a crouch even as the world around her continued to spin wildly, her vision filled with red and white flashes of pain and confusion. She coughed up a thick gout of blood, hugging herself for an instant as her mind focused on the tremendous pain that burned in every inch of her form... and then her training shouted angrily at her and she shook her head wildly, trying to clear her mind, her senses, her sight.

The first thing she saw was the wall ahead of her exploding in a thousand fragments as a triumphant Gigataur barreled through the building to pursue her, a truck lifted high over his head, ready to fall upon her to squish her and serve as her tombstone.

She scrambled backwards in confusion and fear, trying to think of a countermove, her inexperience laid bare. She bitterly realized that she had just received another lesson for the night, and that it risked being the last ever for her: never let anything distract you from the enemies surrounding you.

The gigantic bull cackled cruelly and hefted the truck even higher, already tasting his victory, and Mriya could only push her arms up and prepare to wrestle the might blow back... but a thunderous shot echoed down the street, and then another, and another, as the demon suddenly stumbled sideways and the metallic visor covering his eyes dented deeply, then finally burst open, revealing a large brown eye that immediately exploded into a splatter of gore as another massive bullet darted through the breach.

Mriya immediately leapt to her feet and charged against the stumbling bull, dropping her shoulder and slamming into his groin as hard as she could, knocking him flying backwards into the street, crashing ruinously into the asphalt before the truck fell onto his chest.

Mriya panted hard, trying to stop the tremors in her legs and arms as she swallowed hard, attempting to ignore the disgusting taste of vomit mixed with blood, looking out in confusion to discover who her savior was... and her eyes widened when she saw Nikita collapsed on her knees, back against the destroyed car, one arm raised and extended, still aiming her massive, heavily customized revolver, the thick square barrel smoldering quietly and the drum turning uselessly as the gun clicked dry again and again as she attempted to let loose another shot against the demon.

The mare opened her mouth, attempting to speak, but only blood leaked out. Mriya, however, still understood the message, walking up to the pinned, dazed bull and stomping his skull into a crimson pulp.

Nikita let the heavy revolver fall onto the asphalt, but somehow managed to find the strength to raise her thumb in approval, smiling towards the princess with the last of her life force.

"No. No, no, no..." Mriya howled, begging unknown entities and the universe itself to spare Nikita's life, but she knew it was useless even as she ran through the street as quickly as she could... before her eyes went wide with horror as a angry black-furred Gigataur pulled up over to the mare and hefted his tremendous hoof with a snort of fury and hate and contempt.

The world seemed to freeze as Mriya watched the immense hoof slam down on the blonde mare's head, crushing her skull flat and leaving behind only an ugly red stain mixed with splotches of her long, golden hair.

Crystal was gone, Nikita was gone, and Mriya closed her eyes with a howl of disbelieving agony, trying to force the image of those blonde locks stuck into ugly red paste but continuing to see them, as if they had been branded with fire inside her eyelids. Her mind exploded with pain and her chest heaven almost uncontrollably as she saw Nikita's smiling face turning into a red stain, again and again, hearing her voice and feeling her brain pounding against her skull with the awareness that she was never going to talk to her again.

And then a tremendous rumble, the noise of a building exploding into pieces and collapsing, and her eyes flashed open to see a new and even bigger demon standing on top of the damaged building where Kate, Pamela and Valery had found refuge. It was clear at first glance that he was no common demon, no normal Gigataur. He was at least four feet taller than the biggest of the other beasts seen thus far, and he seemed to be one thing with the heavy, thick plates of his black armor. It took Mriya a moment to understand that the plates weren't even entirely solid: they seemed made of a shifting, rippling, slowly flowing jelly, like liquefied rubber, and there was no telling where they touched his body... indeed, they probably grew directly out of him. He was completely covered by the black goo, which was perfectly shaped in thick, enormous muscles and a large bull head topped by twin pair of large, curved horns. Dancing tendrils of black goo ran up from his forehead and then down the back of his neck, forming a sort of mane that was alive and whipped slowly at the air. Even his nose was covered by the black stuff, which formed a couple of tubes that ran over his shoulders and connected into some sort of bulge on his back, as if he was using a respirator plant of some kind, filling his lungs not with air, but with something else entirely. He held a massive falx in his left hand, even the blade leaking with the black, shifting goo that every now and then exploded outwards forming rows of cruel spikes and viciously sharp tendrils, but it was the right side of his body that caught Mriya's attention the most, because his arm there was grotesquely massive, much longer than normal, bulging with massive, impossible musculature and ending in a triple talon that almost touched the ground. It was a mutation of some sort, or maybe a mechanical limb: the black rubber made it impossible to guess as it rippled and shifted violently, flowing outwards into long, thick tentacles that whipped at the air with impatience, even the smaller of them stretching thirty feet into the air, arching up above him.

Had Mriya received training into the supernatural, she would have been able to easily identify the general as a hybrid creature of Wrath and Lust, the latter evidenced by the liquid latex covering him and by the tentacles rising out of his form. To her eyes, it was just another demon, although particularly hideous and clearly much stronger and far more dangerous than the others. He was a general among his kind, that much was clear, and the other bulls were but his pawns... and there were even more of them, unfortunately: bulky, massive warriors tore through the damaged buildings, ignoring the falling walls and the chunks of concrete raining down upon their bodies as they walked across houses like they were brushing aside mere curtains. "The child... bring me the child, you useless pelts!" The black general roared, and his eyes, as black as a starless night, glowed maliciously into the slits of the heavy mask protecting his face. There could be no doubt in Mriya's mind that he was talking of her, as his eyes bore down on her with cruel craving, but being called a child made her snort in irritation.

"I'm no defenseless child, demon!" Mriya exclaimed, managing to make her voice firm and full of confidence despite the way her body was still rattled by violent shivers every now and then: some of fear, some of horror, some of eagerness and awakening battle lust. "I'll crush you and all your henchmen into the dust."

"No, you won't, child. But seeing you trying will be interesting." The general coldly replied, before grinning toothily as his troops advanced towards her, the cracked street trembling and shifting under their hooves. "Come on then, show us that you are the worthy daughter of your accursed parents. I'm sure that mommy and daddy will love the sight of your raped, ruined body skewered on a pike."

Mriya's eyes bulged in fury at the mention of her parents, and her muscles bulged with power, as if her rage was fueling her strength, her step suddenly heavy enough to crack the ground beneath, energy crackling around her beautiful form, before she sprinted towards the wreckage of a nearby truck, hefting it easily up above her head and throwing it with a roar, aiming straight at the general's face. "Don't you ever dare mentioning my parents again, you disgusting cesspit spawn!"

The latex bull only snickered at that, grinning widely as one of his tentacles whip-lashed hard forwards and tore the truck in halves, before two more of his massive appendages slashed down into the two heavy wrecks, sending them falling like meteors against the princess.

Mriya winced in surprise at that, and threw herself forwards into a roll to avoid the massive parts of the vehicle, hearing - and feeling - them crashing into the ground behind her, shutting her eyes with a low growl as fragments of metal bounced hard into her back and legs.

She slammed one gloved hand into the ground and used it to spring back up to her feet, grunting as she looked up at the demons looming over her, but her eyes inexorably attracted by one in particular, a cackling titan with a bloodied hoof stained with splotches of blonde hair. She ran straight towards him, trying to ignore the tears flying out of her eyes and trying to keep her gaze away from Nikita's headless corpse, but she couldn't help herself: the mare's splendid body, now dirty and stained crimson with blood and gore, continued to enter her vision and she struggled to focus on the enemies surrounding her, barely feeling them moving, sensing their lethal, enormous mass but unable to track their moves properly.

Focus, Mriya. Nikita wouldn't want you to mess it up. You must do as she taught you... focus... focus!

Her eyes suddenly fixed upon Nikita's cleaver, the heavy sword laying on the ground ahead of her, and she charged towards it, leaning down to grab the handle and swing it hard upwards into a powerful cut just as a heavy sword was slammed down against her. The two blades clanged violently together, sparkles flying from the impact as the female grunted and recoiled slightly while the bull demon was violently slammed backwards. Mriya immediately followed up on her first move, seizing the handle of the huge sword with both hands and swinging it back towards the gigataur's legs, putting all of her strength into the blow. The blade splintered and lost its edge as it smashed into the heavy plates of armor, but her biceps bulged with such power that the sword tore right through, chopping the legs out from under the beast, sending his torso crashing to the ground in a lake of blood.

Nikita's murderer charged forwards with a roar, his massive horns ready to rip into her and tear her body to shreds, but Mriya spun the cleaver point-down and almost squatted, leaning forwards and tensing her muscles with a snort, steam blowing out of her nostrils as she ducked just under the deadly tips of the horns and gripped into them with her hands, digging her boots into the ground as she wrestled the massive beast backwards. The bull flailed violently, howling in outrage as she stopped his momentum and almost hefted him off his hooves as she wrestled him sideways, snarling as she slammed him down into the asphalt, his temple painfully crashing into the solid ground and blood bursting out of her nostrils.

"You'll pay for what you did to her..." Mriya snarled, her fury vibrating in her tone as she shoved one hand skywards and tilted the bull onto his other side, wrestling him down again, smashing his face into the sidewalk once, twice, thrice, gritting her fangs as the concrete shattered into gravel and the bone loudly broke. The bull swung his fists angrily against her, but his own blood blinded him and the female easily avoided his blows, swinging her body just out of his reach and taunting him with savage, cruel vengeance, snapping his head hard upwards and then smashing it down into the ground hard enough to shatter his muzzle completely, teeth and pieces of bone flying everywhere.

Another demon pulled up behind her, but before he could grab her, Mriya backstepped and dragged the wounded Gigataur on his belly, the beast half-crawling with a howl of agony, until she hefted his massive horns above her shoulders and ducked under him, stabbing him forwards like a weapon until she heard the horns piercing through metal and flesh, and blood rained down on her back.

Before the two bulls could understand what had just happened, Mriya lunged forwards and tackled Nikita's killer, seizing him by the waist and slamming him hard down on his back, with such violence that he skidded painfully over the asphalt and smashed into several wrecked vehicles before grinding to a stop, while the second Gigataur howled in agony and surprise as the horns tore upwards through his chest and ripped out of his shoulders, blood and innards exploding in a thick splatter as his eyes first bulged, then lost their color as he collapsed in a broken, useless heap.

Mriya saw a shadow leaping out of the building ahead and rushing towards her, and she also had a flash of Valery attempting to chop one of the general's tentacles, and she could sense the other bulls rushing against her from all sides, but her mind was fixed on finishing Nikita's murderer. On making him suffer.

She landed on his chest, stomping down as hard as she could and snarling in appreciation of the sick sounds his ribs made as they shattered and pierced into his organs, but she was not done yet, dropping her knees hard down onto his throat as she straddled his neck , glaring down at his damaged, bloody face.

She hesitated for the briefest of seconds as a single brown eye stared up at her through all the blood, the beast's spluttering and gargling and whining filling her ears... but then the image in her mind changed, and she was staring at Nikita again, and then she was seeing her ruined body, the pulp that had been her head. Every hint of mercy was immediately erased, and she roared in fury as she balled her fists and began to strike with all her fearsome strength, screaming out all of her rage and despair as dark blood spurted up onto her chest and face, soaking her shirt, staining her hair, as the bull first howled, then gargled, then fell silent, as the ground beneath them cracked and caved in with each mighty blow, as the demon's head exploded into nothing but pulp and the body sunk into a crater that became larger and deeper with each punch.

"Stop it! Stop it, he's dead, don't waste your time, don't let your guard down!" Pamela harshly barked, and her voice somehow managed to get past all the other sounds that crowded Mriya's mind, making her stir and recoil back a little, her fist still raised even through it dripped with blood and gore. The demon's upper body was reduced to crimson mush, and she found herself kneeling over the rough, cracked ground.

She panted hard, then turned around as her mind registered the sound of metal clashing and banging violently, and she found Pamela standing guard behind her, cleaver sword swinging back and forth through the air to beat back the gigataurs' assaults. Pamela must have been the shadow that had charged out of the building: the captain of the Praetorians was determined to keep faith to her promise and carry out her mission to the very end, keeping her safe.

The tigress stumbled backwards as she parried a mighty hammer blow, but she stubbornly refused to go down, and Mriya immediately sprung to her feet and charged forwards, chopping the leg out from under the bull and then stabbing Nikita's clever down into his chest as he fell, twisting the thick blade into his flesh and then ripping it free through his hip, disemboweling the bull like a small fish.

"Sorry, Mriya, but you... you were losing control. They will kill you, if you allow your emotions to... to..." Pamela urgently reassured, but her voice was far weaker than usual and it trembled a bit, until she broke down and fell silent without being able to complete the phrase, swallowing thickly instead and then clearing her throat, shutting her eyes as she turned towards where Nikita's and Crystal's corpses rested.

Mriya only nodded, knowing that she was right and knowing all too well and sharing her shock and disbelief and sorrow at having lost two great friends, so suddenly, so cruelly... before both females turned back towards the building that had been their shelter as a tremendous crashing sound reached their hears.

The enormous general of the Gigataurs bellowed in fury and stepped forwards, the damaged building cracking and groaning weakly under his mass before his colossal hooves crushed the roof and caused it to cave in and collapse inwards together with the two top floors, his legs tearing through walls like they were biscuits, before he growled as his tentacles whip-lashed down into the structure, smashing through the concrete floors and through the façade to rip deep inside the apartments.

Mriya stared in horror at the clouds of dust and fragments coming from the building as it was ravaged, the enormous appendages swinging through it from side to side like it was made of paper, before they began to spiral violently, literally grinding the whole block of flats into gravel and powder.

"No!" Pamela and Mriya shouted almost in unison, running back towards the building... and then Mriya spotted two shadows through the clouds of dust: two figures leapt out of a first floor window, and both landed into the street, even though one fell to her knees as she did so.

Valery helped Kate back to her feet and half-carried her away from the hurricane of rubble behind them, the building completely dissolved as the black tentacles spun and whip-lashed, the general looming above them all, held aloft by his massive appendages even as the structure beneath his hooves became nothing more than dust in the wind.

Mriya rushed towards the two females, her heart racing with relief at seeing them alive and standing on their feet, even though Kate was pale and had a very evident medication over her tremendous wound, but her attention shifted to the side as she heard the roar of a massive engine and the crashes of cars being brushed out of the way by a much larger vehicle. She immediately spotted it, an 8-wheeled armoured personnel carrier topped by a remotely operated turret armed with a fast-firing cannon and a couple of anti-tank missiles in a pod at the left side.

"I managed to get on the radio and call in a team from the town's garrison." Pamela explained, looking nervously up towards the enormous demon as he noticed the newcomers and turned to face them. "Kate needs casevac, as soon as possible." Casevac, for Casualty Evacuation, was the military term for getting an injured soldier away from the frontline and towards an aid station or a proper medical vehicle for treatment or Medevac, Medical Evacuation, with initial treatment and the rush towards the closest hospital.

The large armored vehicle trailed its gun upwards and began firing against the colossal demon, a cloud of smoke hiding the turret as the cannon began to bark, spitting out round after round and sending large, smoldering bullet cases clanging on the ground, before the pod angled upwards as well and the two missiles rushed out, one after the other, covering Valery and Kate as they attempted to sprint to the APC.

The gigantic demon chased them down without mercy, sliding forth upon the coils of his tentacles and throwing his arms out with a mocking laughter as the anti-tank missiles struck his chest and exploded, causing no other harm than the splattering of the liquid goo covering him, which also sucked in the shells of the cannon and crushed them like cheap tin cans, to the despair of the crew closed inside the vehicle.

The APC began to retreat, the engine roaring and the wheels skidding on the cracked asphalt, but there was no escaping, as a black tentacle shot down towards the vehicle and wrapped its mighty coils all around it. Valery and Kate both charged forwards and hacked into the appendage with their blades, but it was almost like striking water, the liquid latex shifting and rippling and then closing in on the blades, attempting to suck them in. A second tentacle whip-lashed downwards and slammed into both females, slapping them away like gnats while the first appendage hefted the APC high into the sky, the wheels still desperately, uselessly turning and the cannon firing until all ammo ran out. "You pathetic little mortals are all going to learn your place: under the hoof of your betters!" The general snarled, grinning predatorily as the second tentacle wrapped over the front of the APC and pulled it closer to him, enough that he could seize the turret in his hand and crush it into a crumpled, unrecognizable wreck, his enormous bicep barely flexing. Screams could be heard from inside, and one soldier was foolish enough to throw open the door in the back and leap out, crashing to his death many meters down below.

The bull cruelly laughed, shaking his head slowly and contemptibly observing: "If this is the best your warriors can do, teaching you will be a swift little game." He flexed his mighty body and tensed his tentacles, and the steel groaned desperately as the armoured vehicle was crumpled and crushed like a rag, wrung like a cloth to send blood and fuel leaking down to the ground in a sick rain before he dismissively whip-lashed his tentacles in the opposite directions and tore the wreckage in halves, hurling the pieces into the buildings on either side of the road, where they disintegrated with the tremendous force of the impact, tearing through wall after wall and sending fragments falling like meteors into the parallel streets beyond.

"There goes our casevac." Pamela muttered, trying to hold her nerve, but her eyes were fixed on the deadly tentacles as the demon lowered himself to his hooves and walked towards Valery and Kate, grinning cruelly as one of his appendages morphed to sport a long, sharp spike end that he immediately stabbed towards the two girls.

Valery stepped forwards and swung her cleaver into the attack, but the impact sent her crashing backwards into Kate, who couldn't move quickly enough. The vixen hissed and gritted her teeth in agony but refused to let out a shriek, pushing to her feet instead and stabbing both of her daggers upwards into the tentacle as it rushed towards them once more. The mass of black goo only sucked her weapons in, however, and slapped her almost playfully, throwing her spinning in the air like a ragdoll, even as Valery slashed her cleaver upwards again, doing all she could to stop that cruel torture.

Two more of the tentacles shot towards Valery and Mriya, and the princess discarded the sword, knowing it useless, to grip into the massive, potent appendages instead, wrestling back against them and attempting to restrain their movements, trading an urgent gaze with Pamela and giving her a nod. Pamela hesitated only for the briefest of instants, knowing that her task was keeping the princess safe... but then she rushed to the aid of her comrades, as the rasping, chocking breathing of Kate filled their ears and flooded their minds with sorrow. The vixen was still courageously trying to push back up to her feet, but her medication was ripped open and her guts were literally spilling out of the wound, blood leaking thickly out of her mouth and nostrils as she chocked on her own life fluids.

The other Gigataurs were now forming a ring of steel and muscles around them, clanging their weapons against their heavy armor and cheering and growling and catcalling as they watched their leader and master playing with the exhausted mortals, and Mriya couldn't believe the unfairness of it all, as her rage swelled and crashed in huge waves within her while she wrestled the massive tentacles as best she could. She gritted her fangs as she pushed the appendages, as thick as large tree trunks, one against the other, bundling them between her strong arms as she arched her back and slammed them down into the asphalt, using all of her strength to drag on them, trying to bring the seventy feet tall demon down to the ground, but the tentacles merely grew longer, and the general turned to grin mockingly at her. "You see, child...? You are doomed. And after you fall, your dear parents will be dealt with as well. And once they are gone, your puny little world will be our playground."

"Keep... dreaming..." Mriya snarled, attempting to snap the tentacles off his shoulder, but the demon merely tilted his head to the side, smiling patronizingly... and the appendages seemed to explode into a shapeless mass of black goo that splashed onto her and encased her whole body, clamping down on her with enough force to crush all air out of her lungs, her legs trembling and bending forwards as her bones creaked, before she let out a cry of pain as the goo solidified into spikes that tore into her flesh, inflicting a thousand wounds all over her form.

"The only one who is dreaming here is you, child. But I'm about to show you that the reality is your worst nightmare." The general growled, before a Gigataur in the outer circle cackled and threw something against her. Mriya's eyes closed, trying to escape the horrendous sight, but it was all useless, and she let out a scream of horror as Kate's lifeless body crashed on the asphalt, horrendously disfigured and torn open from groin to chin. Someone in the group of bulls had tormented her in her last moments, and Mriya couldn't accept the cruel reality, her eyes burning with terrible fury as she glared at the crowd of demons, craving the death of each and every one of them.

She flexed against the prison of black goo with all her forces, pushing and kicking and punching to break free, and Pamela and Valery pushed back against the tentacles battering them and rushed towards her: Mriya could only stare as more of the terrible, spiked appendages shot down from above and stabbed viciously towards the two females.

"No, stay back, stay back! Defend yourselves!" Mriya shouted, but the light in Valery's and Pamela's eyes made it all too obvious that their loyalty would have always, always brought them to her.

The two expert warriors ducked and dodged the tentacles that stabbed down like otherworldly spears, piercing through the asphalt and deep into the ground before whip-lashing back up to strike again, and they reached Mriya, Pamela rushing behind her and Valery standing right in front of her.

"Stay still!" Pamela urged, and Valery flashed Mriya a smile, even through tears streaked her cheeks. "We'll get you out, Mriya." The two females carefully stabbed their cleavers into the thick black goo, and the ligeress stood as firm and stiff as she could, even holding her breath as the two blades carefully hacked the prison of black latex with two clean, almost surgical cuts.

Mriya flexed her muscles and charged forwards with all her force as soon as the two cleavers were pulled back, before the goo had the time to regroup and seal the two "wounds" closed, and her strength this time won, ripping the tentacle apart.

Mriya seized the hand that Valery offered, giving the lioness a smile of gratitude that the amazon reciprocated... but then blood splattered over Mriya's chest and face and the lioness's eyes bulged in shock and pain, red fluids leaking from her mouth as a spike-tentacle shot through into her back and tore through her, emerging out of her chest.

"We have played enough..." The demonic general coldly commented, using his tentacle to lift the agonizing lioness high up into the air, before flicking her body dismissively away, sending it crashing dozens of feet away, were it laid still and lifeless. "Now is time to take care of you, little princess."

Mriya glared back at him, pulling her fists up and shifting into a ready position, trying not to look in the direction of Valery's corpse, trying to keep her mind cold and focused even as pain, rage and despair hammered against her skull from inside, the pain numbing her senses and confusing her reactions even as she did her best to identify some kind of weakness in her enemy, some kind of weak spot she could hit. There was a voice in her mind that, horribly, kept repeating that he was flawless, and that her physical strength was not only insufficient, but completely useless against the thick goo protecting him, or perhaps making up the whole of his body. The voice perhaps was created by fear. Maybe, it was the expression of the sudden tiredness, the exhaustion that had rolled over her with crushing force at having lost so much in mere, chaotic minutes. She only wanted it all to end.

Pamela, as if guessing her distress, bumped lightly into her side, flashing her a smile that urged her to go on, to keep pushing, as the two females prepared to make their last stand together: the tigress was smaller and weaker, but far more experienced. The princess was incredibly strong and very well trained, but at her very first real battlefield experience.

The enormous demon grinned down at them and then stomped forwards, cackling as he slashed out his falx, the enormous curved blade cutting through even the ground before shooting upwards, forcing the two females to leap in the opposite directions to avoid the blow. Immediately, tentacle-spikes shot against either of them, but Mriya arched her spine and bent backwards just as the deadly-sharp pike shot against her chest, letting it sail just above her, cutting a deep gash in one of her breasts, before her arms clamped around the tentacle and she threw herself backwards, stabbing the spike through the chest of a Gigataur in the circle surrounding them.

The beast was caught completely by surprise and skewered upon the tentacle mid-laughter, his eyes going wide with disbelief and agony while his body was hefted off the ground like a toy, and tossed away with a snarl of fury from the general. "That's disloyal, princess... I am your rival now! Fight me!" The demon barked, before another of his appendages slashed outwards and struck her in the hip, sending her crashing ruinously back into a wall, a grunt of pain escaping her lips before it became a loud cry as a spike of black goo shot through her thigh, nailing her to the wall and sending pain exploding in her system, blinding her with flashes of crimson.

Mriya reeled with pain and shock, staring at the blood cascading out of her torn-apart thigh as if it wasn't hers, seeing it as from an immense distance away, her head spinning and heart thrumming as she almost fell unconscious, snarling in pain as the tentacle cruelly twisted and ground into the wound. Her survival instinct guided her actions more than anything else as other tentacles stabbed down towards her and she desperately slammed them wild off to the sides, hammering her open palm into them with all of her force.

She felt her hand sink deep into the semi-liquid goo after a particularly hard strike, and her arm became imprisoned in the dark appendage, a grunt escaping her lips as her limb was violently jerked out to the side and nailed to the wall.

She still had her left hand, balled into a fist and ready to strike, but the general loomed over her, walking closer and grinning toothily as he cocked back his falx, time seeing to slow down as her ears echoed confusedly with a thousand different noises.

She head Pamela's voice, but couldn't understand the words. She heard a steel-hard tentacle clashing against the tigress's cleaver. She heard Pamela stumbling, cursing, but continuing to run. She saw the demonic general stabbing his falx against her.

And then Pamela filled her vision, the tigress badly wounded and covered in her own blood but still standing and fighting like a fury, her cleaver smashing into the demon's falx and knocking it wide off the mark.

Mriya somehow found the strength to grip the falx in her hand as it clanged into the wall just by her side, and she even managed to pull her feet up, slamming them back into the damaged wall and causing it to explode into chunks, freeing her, even if the tentacle-spikes dragged with vicious force on her leg and her arm. She wrestled to rip the falx out of his hand, and the blade loudly snapped in half with the force of her grip, but the demon only reacted with a howl of frustration and bestial rage, lashing out with the three enormous talons at the end of his mutated arm.

Mriya saw them coming, but they were too close. Too fast. She heard them cut through flesh and muscle and break through bone... and Pamela crashed into her chest, gargling in agony but smiling at her, even as the general's claws pierced into her back and out of her sternum.

"Pam..."

"Shhh, Mriya. You... you'll make a fine Praetorian. The best of all..." The tigress hissed, gritting her fangs in agony but flexing her musculature with all her strength still as she used her body to shield the princess, as she wrapped her arms around Mriya's shoulders, hugging her tightly.

"Pam, no... no... no... please, don't go..."

Mriya tried to wrestle her way out of Pamela's protective embrace, reaching beyond the tigress's figure to ferociously stab the broken tip of the falx through the bull's wrist, but the general only roared and leaned down further, spreading his talon-fingers and dragging them upwards through Pamela's body, ripping her chest into literal shreds.

And then Mriya heard two loud crackles, and felt electricity and tremendous energy exploding through the air around her. She heard bones shattering, and blood sprayed in from the side, together with gore and broken limbs. The general turned sideways in shock and tore his arm back, turning to face some newly arrived threat that had his face contorted by sheer terror... and Mriya fell down to the ground as the tentacles pierced through her thigh and arm were severed by a massive crimson blade. She landed on her back with a grunt of pain, blood spurting out of her wounds as the chunks of tentacles left pierced through her limbs writhed and whip-lashed in agony and shock, but Mriya paid no attention to the pain, tightly holding Pamela's body in her arms instead, squeezing around her waist with affection and in a show of support and closeness, pushing head to head with her and listening to her irregular, pained, chocking breaths.

"Stay with me, Pam... stay with me..."

"A... always." The tigress whispered, and somehow her voice was louder and clearer than all other noises.

Strong, massive arms wrapped gently and protectively over both females, and they looked up to see Killer gazing down at them with love and concern, relief and despair at once. Mriya could find no word other than "daddy...", a word that came out in a whisper that was both a sign of love, a breath of relief and a prayer at once. But Pamela was too far gone, too badly wounded, and a Reaper, unseen, was already jerking her soul out of her body. The awareness of it was something that Killer continued to find terribly unnerving, especially since the Reapers were known to work in Hell's favor, dragging all souls down into the Underworld.

Pamela tremblingly worked a smile on her lips as she gazed up at the huge male, and she gargled: "T-the... princess is safe. The... the Praetorians have... kept faith to their promise... Master."

"You all have." Killer assured, nuzzling her lovingly and hugging both females to his chest, one hand gently seizing Mriya's head and guiding it against his neck, so that he could adoringly, reassuringly kiss her hair while they both, father and daughter, watched Pamela smile one last time.

"This is no farewell." Killer promised, to Pamela and Mriya both. They couldn't understand quite how literally he meant it, but they needed his reassurance, his comfort, his promise that the separation was not going to be irreversible. They would understand and learn of Hell, Heaven, souls and Reapers in good time. Now they only needed to hear a word of hope. "I'll come for you, Pam. For you and for all the others. I'll come for you all."

Pamela reached up with a trembling, bloody hand, caressing his cheek lightly, and he kissed her fingers with love, repeating it again and again: "I'll come for you."

The tigress nodded weakly, but her eyes glowed with firm faith, and her last breath came out almost like a sigh of relief, her gaze shifting to Mriya with a last, tiny tilt of the head in sign of approval and salute before her body slumped, emptied of its essence.

"I'll come for you..." Killer whispered, feeling tears rolling down his cheeks as Mriya sunk her face against his chest, her tears soaking his bloodied shirt as he hugged her tightly and ever so delicately and respectfully laid Pamela's corpse down on the floor, closing her eyes with a caress full of affection.

Killer closed his eyes and leaned his head over Mriya's, swallowing thickly and trying to restrain his tears while she let hers loose, her face buried against his neck and her hands gripping almost painfully into his back, holding him close, even as his own arms wrapped protectively around her form. The relief he felt in hearing her breathing was indescribable: even her sobs, in a way, gave him joy. He had been separated from her all too soon, and kept away from her for many centuries, even though she could not know it yet.

Having her in his arms was such a wonderful feeling that even the great pain and sorrow at the loss of the Praetorians was somewhat muffled, pushed back almost in an imaginary second row. That made him feel horribly guilty, but he couldn't help it: having his daughter back was just too important.

Keeping her safe was just too important, also. She needed protection, but also comfort and support: she had been exposed to a literal hellish nightmare in the space of mere minutes, and many minds older and better prepared than hers had shattered by much less. He wanted to make sure that she would get through the night, in every sense, not just physically but also psychologically.

"It is no farewell, my Dream..." He gently whispered, nuzzling her lovingly and pushing her muzzle up enough for their eyes to meet. "Demons come from Hell, angels from Heaven. Even as this war rages on, souls still make their travel to one of the two supernatural planes... and I promise you, as I promised Pamela, that I will find them, whenever they end up. We will meet again, this I promise."

He carefully avoided telling her about the Reapers, and how they were working in favor of Hell, making it pretty much certain that, unseen to their eyes and senses, the grim harvesters had already dragged the Praetorians's souls into the Underworld. He wanted to let Mriya think that the way to Heaven was still open.

The young ligeress looked at him with a small gape, sniffing as she intently listened to his words, her eyes betraying a moment of uncertainty, almost disbelief as he promised to retrieve the Praetorians into the supernatural planes... but it was merely an instant, before a new light sparkled in her teary eyes. One of hope and trust. She had no reason to doubt of her daddy's word: he had never let her down, and she couldn't imagine him beginning to do so.

That flame of hope and confidence burning brightly inside her eyes was like a beautiful star to Killer, because it proved that Mriya was not lost in sorrow and regret and fear. She was still there, she was still herself, her wonderful self, even if badly shaken. But that flame was also painful, like an incandescent rod of metal stabbing into his heart, because he inexorably felt responsible for everything that had happened. He could have stopped it, had he arrived just a few minutes earlier. Could he have done things differently? He wasn't sure, and he knew that what was done was done and could not be changed in any case... but the sense of guilt and the regret were never going to vanish away.

Mriya was clearly dealing with her own sense of guilt, however, and Killer's attention shifted immediately on her as she spoke between sobs, shaking her head from side to side in denial of that cruel fate. "I... it is all my fault... they were out here to protect me... If... if only I had never left my bed... I disobeyed you, and this is the result..."

"Shhh, my beautiful Dream..." Killer lovingly said, gently taking her cheeks in his hands and whipping her tears away with his thumbs as their eyes met, the female doing her best to rein in her sobbing, not wanting to appear weak to her father's gaze. "You could not imagine that this would happen. No one expected such an assault. Not here, not tonight... had you been back home, you would have been assaulted in your bed, and there is no guarantee that mom and I would have been able to intervene any faster. Pamela and Nikita and Kate and Crystal and Valery would have rushed to your aid in any case. Always. Friends do that. And loyal guards do that. They were both things. Here with you is where they wanted to be, and they gave their everything to save you and protect your life. They wouldn't want you to blame yourself. They wouldn't want you crying like this. If you think about it, you'll realize that you are not honoring their lives and their sacrifice by letting sorrow crush you down. Self-pity is not what they want for the life they have protected."

Mriya sniffed at that, but nodded in agreement, bowing her head forwards with a sob that she attempted to restrain. He hugged her against his chest and kissed her hair, rocking her gently in his hold and moving one hand slowly down her back, soothingly caressing her and giving her a few long moments to come to terms with everything that had happened, to let the waves of adrenaline subside a bit, to let relief settle upon her in the comfort of contact and affection.

"Daddy... I... you are right." She sniffed and trembled, but made an evident effort to control herself as she tilted her head first to one side, then the other, drying her tears into his shirt as she clung to his chest. "Pamela did not allow the pain to dominate her, even as she... as she lost her friends." The young female nodded a bit at that, and then looked up at her father with an expression that spoke of newfound determination. "I should let the grief have the best of me, either... She... she wouldn't want to see me behaving like this..."

"You are not responsible for what happened, Mriya. Don't flog yourself about things that are outside of your control." The huge male quietly added, before falling silent again to give her time to adjust. He knew that the sense of guilt would never, never go away entirely, no matter what he might say or do. And he even felt somewhat hypocritical, giving her a good suggestion that he had never been able to follow himself: he still poisoned his blood all the time with regret, doubts, second thoughts about each and every decision he had taken over the years that had affected his life and that of so many others. It was the burden of leadership, he told himself. It never would go away, but he had to make sure it would not crush him into indecision and hesitation. He knew well that, in many critical circumstances, even a bad decision was far better than a non decision.

"You were right to disobey me, too, you know...?" The huge male added after a long moment of silence, and Mriya blinked in surprise at that, staring at him in sincere confusion, bringing a smile to his lips as he drank of her beauty, of her innocence, of her reactions that, at times, were so very childlike still. "I cannot keep you in a golden cage, Mriya, nor I should. If we always live in fear of what could go wrong, we end up never doing anything. And even if we never left our beds, the danger of having something nasty happening to us would not go away. It is a part of life." He paused for a brief moment, seeking the right words, and Mriya sniffed a bit, trying to normalize her breathing while waiting patiently, knowing that he was putting order in his thoughts and would soon speak again. "Especially of our life, Mriya. We are not a family like the others, Dream... many look at us for guidance. They expect us to take the lead. Many would love to kill us and take our place. Many love us, many others hate us. And now that demons roam the earth we are, effectively, the only real defenders of this world. No army is ready to face the demons, my sweet... we are the only ones with the power to stand up to their hordes." He gazed around himself, seeing the corpses of the Gigataurs that Mriya and the Praetorians had taken down, and his instinct was somehow able to read the lingering energies in the air, showing him ghost images and hints of what had happened, of how the fight had gone. Over time, he was beginning to develop the same kind of energy vision that came so natural to Alexis. He couldn't yet see the future with any clarity, unlike her, but he was able to visualize past events with surprising accuracy, when roaming places where great energies had clashed and affected the world.

And there, where his daughter and some of his best friends had fought so valiantly, he was impressed to no end by what he saw and guessed, and by the sheer number of bulls broken and dead on the ground. Gigataurs were massive and powerful, the real shock infantry of Hell, the heavy-hitters that were used to smash holes in the most resistant fortresses and through the most stubborn of armies; and yet Mriya had managed to take down so many. Young and inexperienced as she was, it was nothing short of astonishing. "What you and Pamela and the others did here is extraordinary, Dream... this commando of bulls was sent specifically to capture or kill you, and had you been in your bed, they would have assaulted you there. And believe me when I say that they could have crushed an entire army with ease. But you resisted."

Mriya merely nodded a bit, listening to every word but finding no strength for replying or for raising questions, much as doubts and curiosities swarmed her mind with everything her dad was revealing. Questions could wait, now they were not important. All what mattered in that moment was daddy's presence, his love, his comprehension, his support, his words of comfort and explanation. They gave a sense to everything that had happened that terrible night, and Mriya felt a desperate craving for a good explanation for all what had happened, for all that she had lost. It was somewhat comforting to realize that Pamela and the others hadn't fought to the death just to save her, but to protect their whole world as well. It was, at least, the noblest of causes, even though it left Mriya wondering about what the future would bring, now that Hell was so determined on conquering the world of mortals once and for all.

"We cannot escape danger, Dream, like we cannot and should not try to eliminate fear. It all comes down to prudence and control: we cannot allow fear to dominate us, and we cannot let danger deter us from living our lives to the full. At the same time, we should never ignore fear and we should never deliberately leap into dangers greater than ourselves. I know it well, and yet I allowed my fears to distort my judgment: I want to keep you safe, always, but to think that anyone in these tournaments would be able to seriously hurt you is an insult to your strength." He smiled lovingly at her, nuzzling her gently, and Mriya found the strength to smile slightly back, even if her lips still trembled. "If anything, I should have warned your rivals, huh...? I would have spared them many weeks of hospital care." The huge male playfully added, and Mriya couldn't help but let out a little snort-laughter, closing her eyes for a moment as her lips attempted to crest into a smirk, even as she sniffed. He nuzzled her lovingly, and then softly asked: "Will you pardon me for being so dumb...? I did it out of love for you, Dream. I only want the best for you."

"There is nothing to forgive, dad..." Mriya lovingly replied, kissing his cheek, before a smile managed to conquer her lips as he countered: "Oh, but there is! Like mom said to me before, what I've done was treating you like you weren't our daughter. Mom and I were just like you when we had your age." He paused thoughtfully for a brief moment, then he gave a wise, deep nod, mumbling: "Actually, we were much worse."

Mriya chuckled a bit at that, and Killer closed his eyes in relief, savoring every note of that sound, finding it more beautiful than even the most elaborate and perfected of music.

"I'm told that they call you the queen of the ring, and I have no difficulties imagining why. I would have loved to see you fight in the cage, Dream... but you are way too strong for them. It is an unfair fight, and we'll have to find some rivals who actually stand a chance, don't you agree?" Killer continued, even as he carefully seized the still wiggling chunks of tentacle and pulled them out of her flesh, the female biting her lower lip and trying to hide her pain, only a small hiss coming through her teeth. He crushed the dark appendages in his hand, reducing them to nothing but droplets of dark goo that dissolved into vapor when they fell on the ground.

"Yes, daddy..." The young female quietly replied, smiling softly and wiping at her eyes with the back of her wrist, before she tried to let humor filter into her voice as she added: "I will be all too glad to step into the ring again, now that I can have both you and mom watching and cheering."

Mriya looked down at her wounds with surprising calm and relax. The physical pain felt distant and muffled, unimportant compared to the grief of losing her friends, so much so that she could look at her damaged muscle and pulped flesh almost as if they were someone else's. She could literally see _through_her thigh and arm, and that should have horrified her, but it didn't. She also failed to register the fact that wounds of such gravity should have made her unconscious and rapidly killed her, but they hadn't due to a quick, prodigious regeneration that was already rebuilding what had been destroyed. The bleeding had almost completely stopped, and her leg was already trying to piece itself back together, but she had too much on her mind to notice and ask yourself how it could be.

She did gape in surprise, however, when the huge male gently pushed one hand over the terrible wound that pierced her thigh from side to side, his fingers glowing with bright golden energy and a delicious, soothing warmth spreading from them and into her injury, suffocating the pain as her flesh and bone and solid muscles began to regenerate far more quickly and decisively, sealing the vast, bloody hole within mere moments. She gazed at him in disbelief and confusion, studying him and realizing, with much delay, that he was even taller and bigger than he had been the previous evening, his massive musculature greater and even more developed, his shoulders broader, his whole form expanded by what she had to guess were a good five feet of extra height. "Daddy... you are... different. Bigger..."

"I am, Dream... this has been an extraordinarily long and eventful night for mom and me." The huge male quietly replied, moving over to heal her arm as well, giving her a smile of reassurance and love. "But I'm still your daddy, and nothing will ever change that. Nothing will ever change my love for you."

"I know, dad... I love you too, and I can feel you..." She took his cheek in one hand and caressed his muzzle with affection, making him smile softly, soothed and thankful once more for her existence. And then he was left tilting his head to the side in pleased surprise as the young female once more gave proof of how smart and receptive she was, adding: "I never doubted, not even for a second, that someone else might be posturing as you and mom. I _know_you, and no shapeshifter or other demonic trickster would ever get close without me sensing all of the difference." She leaned forwards and wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly, almost making him wince such was the strength she squeezed him with. Her affection made him feel the richest and most fortunate of all beings, and he hugged her back with the very same need, before he frowned in alarm as she winced, almost jumping.

"What is it, Dream?"

Mriya's eyes widened at the realization that they had been in the middle of a fight until moments before; that her beloved mother and brother were out there somewhere as well, that they were in danger, that they needed to move, to act, to reach them and make sure they were okay. Now that her mind had cleared somewhat and her breathing had normalized, she could hear clearly the sounds of battle around them, immense, thundering impacts rattling the ground under the both of them, and she urgently asked: "And mom...? And Anubis? And the demon, where is he...?"

She sprung to her feet, but Killer lovingly restrained her, shushing her reassuringly and holding her safe in his arms, allowing her to turn around but pulling her back against his chest, leaning his muzzle over her shoulder and speaking softly into her ear. "Anubis is safe, Dream. And mom is not going to have any trouble with the demon: he has no idea what he got himself into."

The young female blinked in surprise at the sight of Alexis, standing no less than two hundred feet tall, the goddess radiating burning energy and her body thrumming with fearsome physical power, her muscles bulging as she held the demon's tentacles in one hand, bundled together as easily as if they were blades of grass. The Gigataurs that had once surrounded Mriya and Pamela were now nothing more than ugly splotches of gore and crimson pulp smeared on the bottom of the deep footprints torn by Alexis's boots into the asphalt and concrete. The general himself no longer looked scary or even impressive while being hammered face-first into the ground as the furious goddess slashed him hard down, again and again and again, holding him by the tentacles and swinging him with savage force, easily turning the feared commander into nothing more than a cheap, defenceless toy in her hand.

Alexis's eyes glowed a deep, bright sapphire as she loomed over the bloody, terrified demon, her arm barely flexing as she pulled on his tentacles once more and hefted him in front of her, like a mice by the tail, grinning viciously as she taunted: "Come on, bitch! Try and scare me. Try it with me, you blowhard!" She dangled the terrified male with a vengeance, drinking of the terror in his eyes as the bull attempted to plea for his life but only managed to let out a strangled squeak of agony and complete terror. She lashed out one powerful, mighty fist and struck him in the middle of the chest, sending black goo splattering away in every direction and nearly breaking him in half, most bones in his body crumbling like biscuits as his body recoiled wildly through the sky, before swinging back towards her like a pendulum, only to be smashed again, this time straight into the head, his face exploding in a burst of blood, bone, cartilage and semi-liquid latex. Alexis used him like nothing more than a punching ball, and there was nothing the demon could do to react, her power wildly out of scale above his.

Killer and Mriya watched it happen, not without a great degree of pleasure. Killer studied his daughter's reaction, trying to gauge it, and he was relieved by the apparent calm that the young female displayed: flames of rage and vengeance burned in her eyes and she clearly enjoyed every scream that came from the demon, but at the same time she showed no particular, insane love or craving for the bloody spectacle. She wanted to avenge her lost friends, and Killer had expected nothing less, but he was relieved to see that she had not lost her sense and her compassion.

"You and mom always were incredibly strong... but now... now it is a whole different thing." Mriya quietly mused after a few long moments, her eyes still fixed on Alexis's mighty fist as it pounded the demonic general into a broken pulp even though the thick goo covering his form continued to try and regain its shape after each strike. "What happened to you two, in this crazy, crazy night...?"

Killer smiled a bit to himself and closed his eyes with a bit of an amused snort, wondering if he would be able to tell the whole story at all, and realizing that that was not the time or place for trying. "It is a truly long story, Dream... it'll take time to try and tell it, and it'll have to be another time. But know this: we are not alone in this struggle. We have friends and allies that will come to our aid."

"Heaven...?" Mriya asked, unable to restrain her curiosity and interrupting him as she turned to gaze up into his eyes from over her shoulder.

"Yes, Dream... and we have friends even from and into Hell." The huge male softly replied, thinking of Ira and determined to make sure that Mriya's current hate for all demons would never blindly and unfairly extend to the cobra, or to the ones in Hell who were working, at great risk, together with Kimera to aid Killer's efforts and prepare his coming. Mriya looked surprised at his affirmation, staring at him for a long moment as she digested the fact, before nodding with a slight smile. "I... I did not expect that, daddy. But I'm glad to hear it."

"Not even demons are all one and the same, Dream." Killed cautioned, giving her a little, affectionate squeeze as he saw the doubts lingering in her expression. "Not all demons want this war. Not all demons are our enemies. And soon enough you will discover that not all demons are "evil" and not all angels are "good". And you will meet a special someone, a friend of mine, someone I love, who is a demoness who settled into Heaven and was able to gain angel wings."

Mriya looked amazed by that hint and immediately gazed at him with impatient eagerness, clearly looking forwards to the full story, but he nuzzled her gently and remarked: "Later, Dream. You'll have to be patient... but I'll make sure to tell the story well, I promise."

"Thank you, daddy." Mriya beamed, and then she put up a smart, inquisitive expression as she poked his muscular, powerful chest and remarked: "But you haven't answered me yet... You and mom are far, far stronger than before. How do you do it?"

Killer smiled, loving her for how sharp her mind was and for how much she already reminded him of Alexis not just in the looks, but in the way she acted. "Well, the friends we've made have been training us, and revealing us things that we did not know, and unlocking a potential that was always within ourselves, but sealed away with powerful restraints. It... is hard to explain."

Mriya gave a little sound of acceptance, but it was all too clear that her curiosity was far from satisfied, and she began to pose another question, before she and Killer both first froze in place, then turned in shock towards Pamela's corpse as it stirred and began to push back up to its feet.

Mriya gaped in awe at that, and then a smile spread over her features as the tigress pushed back up to her feet, and she immediately sprinted forwards to hug her.

Killer, however, immediately tackled his daughter and wrapped his powerful arms around her, holding her in place even as she turned back with a look of rage and incomprehension on her features. "It is not what you think it is, Dream..." Killer urgently explained, his voice and gaze filled with sadness, and right on clue Pamela's corpse spun to face them with a squeak of inhuman hunger and hate, her fingers turned into bony, sharp talons and her lifeless eyes somehow fixed on Mriya.

The young ligeress could only stare at the mortal remains of her dear friend as they assaulted her with savage, unthinking fury, before Killer sighed, tiredly and sadly, and flames exploded over Pamela's corpse, rapidly consuming it down to the ashes.

"What happened to her...? What happened...?" Mriya desperately cried, and she shook her head in denial as she saw even Nikita's headless body slowly standing up to stalk its way against her. Killer quickly set the mare's corpse ablaze as well, and he closed his eyes with a growl of rage and pain and frustration as he did the same with Crystal, with Kate, with Valery, and with every other corpse he sensed or saw around them.

"You will lose this war! You will lose!" The demonic general spat, his voice reduced to a choking gargle as blood leaked thickly out of his broken jaws. "Even your dear and loved ones climb out of their graves to attack you! Hell's corruption will turn every corpse into a weapon, and you pathetic mortals won't even be left the mercy of crying over your lost friends...!" The broken demon cackled cruelly even as his arms desperately hugged his own shattered torso, his bones reduced to crumbles and only the semi-liquid latex covering him left to keep him alive and in one piece. Alexis, who had dropped him to the ground to turn back when Mriya had screamed, immediately brought her glare back on him, snarling in fury and making a ripping gesture with her hands, causing the bull to howl in despair, agony and disbelief as her psychic force peeled him open like a banana, ripping the thick layer of morphing, flowing latex off him and revealing his broken bones and pulped flash beneath.

The goddess leaned down over him and seized his ruined body in her hands, crushing him like a piece of paper, crumpling his body into a shapeless, bloody heap of flesh and pulverized bones and drinking of his bellows of agony as she coldly snarled: "Don't speak of a future that you will never get to see, bitch... You are in for an eternity of torment and slavery. You'll beg for the mercy of death, craving nothing but liberation from the pain, and you will never get it. You'll pay for every single one of your crimes, and we'll make sure to make it last."

The muscular goddess let the demolished demon fall down to the ground, and then she slowly raised one boot, letting it loom over him for a few long moments, grinning in vicious satisfaction as the demon howled and begged and prayed, before she settled her foot down, almost playfully, crushing him flat into the cratered asphalt. The demon attempted to resist, pushing back against her foot, but the goddess only laughed, taunting: "Is that all, already...?"

She shifted her weight and her massive thigh flexed with power, and there was a last howl from beneath her boot before a sick, loud wet squelch echoed into the street, followed by a crackle of energy: she had teleported her plaything away at the last moment, just before crushing the life out of him. When she lifted her foot out of the crater, only blood and unrecognizable pulp was left... but the demon, still alive, crashed into a dark, bloody cell in the dungeon beneath the castle of Eaglenest. His real punishment was just beginning.

Alexis sized down, resuming her normal height of almost 20 feet, and Killer let Mriya go, so that the two females ran towards each other and hugged tightly, the jubilant mother lifting her daughter up and taking a long, loving look at her.

Killer watched them with a soft smile, giving them some alone time, content with just watching Alexis's relief and happiness, tears of bliss rolling down her cheeks as she tightly squeezed Mriya against her chest. He made his way towards them only when their hug began to break, and he wrapped his arms around both, squeezing them close to his chest. "It is so good to be back together..."

"You can't know it, Mriya, but we have missed you for literally centuries. Many centuries... time flows very differently in Heaven, and that's where we were summoned earlier tonight." Alexis quietly explained, taking her daughter's hand and squeezing it gently in hers, looking touched as she saw that the young female was wearing the gloves she had gifted her. "For us, it is a true relief to see you again."

"I'm so glad you are back, mom..." Mriya lovingly said, and she hugged her mother tightly, pushing her head against her chest for a few long moments, before pulling back with a bit of a blush on her cheeks, mumbling: "You... you look spectacular, truly. And what you did with the bastard... wow..."

"That was nothing, Dream." Alexis replied, grinning a bit and waving a hand dismissively. "And you will soon learn of it. I'm sure you have the same juice within yourself, Mriya... it'll only take some patience, some training and some learning to bring it out."

Mriya looked awed and delighted by her words, but after a moment her smile became a stiff-lip grimace as she gazed towards the swirling black hole that had swallowed most of town and that now continued to spread a thick, poisonous black fog over the world, as demons continued to rush out of the portal. "And we'll need it, won't we...?" Mriya finally asked, without really needing or expecting an answer. "Is it true? Will the dead - all dead - raise against the living...?"

"Yes, Mriya... and that is actually the last of our problems. The Undead are relatively easy to stop. Hell's armies and the Princes are another story entirely. And the corruption - that black fog coming out of the portals like this - will have many others nasty effects over the mortal world. Awakening the dead is perhaps the least worrying." Alexis replied, making no attempt to coat the pill with sugar. Mriya had matured a lot in the space of mere minutes, although neither by choice nor in the way her parents had wanted for her... and there was no point in pretending that nothing had happened.

"We should get going, then..." Mriya firmly said, swallowing tickly and sniffing one last time before hardening her expression and tilting her head upwards as she listened to the many screams and cries that seemed to come from every corner of town, as demons rampaged in the streets and the town's garrison attempted to put up lines of defence that were regularly crushed and swept aside by the overwhelming might of the supernatural monstrosities. "A lot of people need our help."

Killer and Alexis traded a hesitant look: they would have preferred escorting Mriya back home, or even send her to Heaven to know her safe, but they were hesitant in sending her away. She had seen a lot, and she was clearly upset. She needed to feel that she was useful, and sending her away then would have demolished her morale.

The young female left them no real time to decide, as she turned around to listen to the weak cries of agony coming from a pile of rubble and wreckage nearby. Someone was desperately calling for help, with a gargling, weak voice that was barely audible... but they all heard it clearly enough when the voice called: "Princess! Please...! Help...! I... I can't... move!"

Alexis frowned and made a bit of a grimace, her vision of the flows of energy showing no clear danger yet her instinct telling her that something was wrong as Mriya rushed towards the wreckage, where a small wolf could be seen weakly moving one arm. There was another casualty as well, a bloodied fox, and both seemed to be trapped into the crumpled metallic wreckage of several vehicles smashed together, with what looked like a long streetlamp pole stuck between then like a spear.

The goddess bit her lower lip slightly, and then jerked her head to the side to urge Killer to step in. Prudence, she decided, was never a bad approach. She trusted her instincts enough to act even through her sixth sense was not picking up any clear threat.

The huge male nodded, understanding the issue, and he immediately caught up to Mriya, smiling down at her as he took the lead: "Let me handle the wreckage, Dream."

She nodded in agreement, letting him step ahead... and in that very moment, before his massive body could shield hers, the two injured males grinned maniacally and a crackle of electricity exploded down the streetlamp's pole, revealing its true nature as a well camouflaged rail gun, just as a heavy, thick rod blasted out of its end.

Killer's eyes went wide as the dart ripped the air asunder with a loud, deafening crackle, and he turned around with a howl of shock and denial as blood exploded from Mriya's hip, the young female crashing backwards as she was hit in the side and slammed flying a good dozen feet away.

There was another deafening crackle, and a second dart struck Killer in the right shoulder, making him stumble as he ran towards his daughter, pain exploding into his system as his arm was thrown wide off his side, almost ripped off his torso... and immediately, Killer began to feel tired, his energies suddenly dropping sharply.

The two males pushed out of the wreckage, revealing how most of their wounds were actually faked as they attempted to trail the railgun better against him while shouting: "We are warriors of the New World Order! We shall end your tyrannical rule! We shall-"

Two enormous black tentacles shot through their chests and hefted both high into the air, the same massive appendages twisting around their forms and then squeezing their coils to crush them into nothing but crimson rain. Killer roared his fury and his eyes glowed an icy, murderous sapphire as his massive tentacles literally crushed both males out of existence, but his attention went immediately back to Mriya, Alexis falling to her knees on the other side of their beloved daughter as terror etched in their features at the sight of her body trembling with terrible violence.

Blood and drool bubbled out of her mouth, and her eyes lost their luster and beauty and even their color, her irises turning white and dead, before even her golden hair began to lose color, turning ancient white.

"What is this... what is this...? Stay with me, Dream, stay with me!" Killed shouted, as he and Alexis pushed their hands over the devastating wound in her hip, using their energies to try and remedy to the damage, before the goddess urgently, desperately howled: "Diana!"

A white portal opened near them, and the black-furred tigress stepped out of it, her eyes wide with shock and horror at the sight of Mriya's trembling body as her toned musculature visibly shrunk and dissolved.

"D-dad... daddy... mom... please... s-stay with me..." Mriya begged, and even her voice changed tone while she spoke, leaving Killer sobbing brokenly as he hugged her tightly, promising: "Always, always, always. We are here, Dream, we are here..."

"Stay strong, Mriya! Don't let go!" Alexis urged between tears, hugging her daughter and holding on to her hand. "We won't let go. Never. But you have to do the same!"

"It is some kind of poison. Never seen anything like it before. It is erasing her DNA entirely... it will destroy her godhood at molecular level, and make her mortal. If we don't stop it somehow, she...she'll..." Diana stopped short of saying it, but it was all too clear what she meant.

"We won't let it happen." Killer and Alexis growled in unison, and they immediately began to pump their own energies into their daughter, rebuilding her DNA while the poison destroyed it. Killer had no real idea what he was doing, but he trusted his instinct, using his energies in the same way he had when turning Ira and the others into his Disciples. He did not try to change, but he focused on rebuilding and sustaining, even as he felt his energies being consumed at a dramatic pace.

"We should bring her to Eaglenest; we can't treat her properly here!" Diana urged, and she enlarged the portal with a wave of her hand while Killer and Alexis immediately and lovingly pulled Mriya up off the ground, carrying her towards the white vortex.

Right in that moment, the distant whoosh of turbojet engines filled the sky, and Killer and Alexis looked upwards to see dozens of cruise missiles flying just above the rooftops, rushing towards the royal palace and the military installations in and around town.

Those were not the demon's doing, but the result of the aggression of mortals. Mortals, like the bugs that had hit Mriya so viciously and disloyally. Idiots that had jumped at the chance of hitting an already struggling Northern Empire. Arrogant bugs who didn't realize their position in the order of things. Traitors that turned against their protectors. Mortals that dared challenging and offending gods. Bastards that used sneaky tactics and terror and murder attempts against young Mriya.

And Alexis roared her tremendous, murderous fury, a ripple of her monstrous power exploding through the sky and slapping the missiles back like they were flies, causing them all to explode uselessly high up above them, turning the night into day for a long moment as fire and wreckages rained down over the devastated town.

"You traitorous microbes, you will pay for it all!" Alexis's roar echoed over seemingly the whole world, condemning it, just before the white vortex closed, hiding from sight two crying parents carrying an agonizing daughter.