3.80: Allexus vs The Lost and the Damned Clan: Round 2

It turns out that my demonic side has a bit of an anger problem.

The second round of my duel against my clan started out normally; I analyzed each of my opponents quickly while I formulated an effective strategy. This team consisted of Nialla, Jade, Tifa, Tesrif, Ikelos, and Hana. Given that Nialla was still the second highest leveled player in the game, and the other team members were power-houses on their own, I knew this fight was going to be significantly more difficult.

I sprang into action the second the loud buzzer that signified the start of the round sounded, and teleported a few steps behind Hana. I was just about to grab her from behind when I had to suddenly throw myself to the ground to avoid a huge surge of lightning. I focused all my energy on getting back to my feet and readied myself for another attack. Even with my insanely heightened speed, my eyes could barely track Nialla as she closed the distance between us. She struck me with blow after blow, her razor-sharp claws easily rending through the armor I had hastily summoned. Her movements were wild, unpredictable, and steadily growing stronger with each successive hit. Every time she landed a solid strike on me, her body shifted and changed, becoming more bestial. Her arms lengthened, white fur with blue stripes covered her skin, and her facial features adopted more feline qualities. Her grunts of exertion rapidly morphed into animalistic growls as Nialla continued to shift into her giant tiger form.

Time seemed to have stopped for the rest of the room as I continued to do my best to fend off Nialla’s savage attacks. As she shifted more and more into her tiger form, each of her blows struck harder and harder. Fortunately, her added mass also had the drawback of making her much slower. She still moved like the element her body was imbued with, but I was at least able to keep up with her well enough to mount a semblance of a counterattack. Just as I was starting to overwhelm her with my far superior strength, I had to roll to the side to avoid a blast of lightning that erupted out of her mouth. I used the momentum of my roll to get some distance between us, while channeling more MP into my [Corrupted Regeneration] to regain some health.

Once I made it to my feet, I used [Power of the Spoken Word] to instacast a barrage of [Corrupting Fire] and [Coldfire] spells. I was forced to end my assault on Nialla when a giant claymore impacted the ground where I had been standing only a second before. Before I could react to the massive warrior woman on my left, a kaiju-sized Armor Demon’s fist crashed against me with a meteoric impact. Ignoring the spike of panic rising in my stomach, I used my teleport ability at the absolute last second to avoid getting completely crushed by Tifa. I was just about to launch myself up into the air when a pair of hands with long slender fingers grabbed onto my head. The last thing I saw before my vision went completely black was a pair of jet black eyes with glowing orange irises.

I felt wind whipping past my face and body and a feeling of weightlessness. As the haze that had settled over my mind started to clear, I realized that I was falling. When I attempted to spread my wings to control my freefall, I came to the startling realization that I was no longer in my demon form. A spike of fear crept up my spine as I realized that I was now plummeting rapidly through the air as a very vulnerable, very naked human. It was only when I caught sight of what I was falling towards did I truly begin to panic; spread out below me as far as I could see was a massive body of pitch black water.

“Fuuuuuuuck! No no no no no no! Fuck you Ikelos! I will fucking kill you! FUUUUUU–”

Pain coursed through my body as I struck the surface hard and nearly lost consciousness from the intensity of it. I wanted to scream in pure terror as the blackness of the water seemed to pull me deeper. I kicked as hard as I could, trying desperately to make it to the surface. Just before my strength gave out and I died in the one way that terrified me the most, I finally felt air against my skin. My breathing was ragged and coming out in small gasps as I sucked in lungfuls of air while doing my best to tread water. It was only when I felt like I wasn’t going to pass out did I truly take stock of my surroundings. Despite the relative warmth of the water, I was shivering from head to toe. Despite the water being completely calm, I felt like I was being swept underneath the dark surface with every movement. I slowly rotated in place, searching the area desperately for the solid ground that I knew wasn’t there.

I knew that what I was looking at wasn’t real, that it was an ability Ikelos had that trapped someone in a nightmare realm of his own creation. But no matter how much I told myself that what I was seeing wasn’t actually happening, my brain refused to believe it. I could feel the weight of the water as it pressed against me from all sides. My arms and legs felt heavy as I continued to tread water, and I knew it wouldn’t be long before I ran out of strength to keep myself above the surface. Instead of wasting any more energy, I leaned back, closed my eyes, focused on my breathing, and just let myself float. My breathing was still unsteady and I could feel my pulse pounding in my head as my heart raced in terror.

I have no idea how long I drifted in the still water. I tried distracting myself from the mind-numbing terror I was feeling by counting the seconds, but I quickly lost count as my brain continued to fight against my deepest fear. I was finally starting to calm down the smallest amount when I felt something slimy brush against my leg. I screamed in abject terror and began flailing around in the water. My thrashing only served to make me slip beneath the surface and I began to panic even more as I felt myself sinking quickly. I pumped my legs as hard as they would go and clawed at the water around me in an attempt to rise back to the surface, but the harder I struggled the faster I seemed to sink. Just as I felt the last of my air leaving my lungs, I was able to make out a massive dark silhouette floating a few dozen feet away. I watched as it drew closer and closer as my vision faded completely.

I woke with a start and felt every nerve in my body fire at once in preparation for an attack. My strength and speed surged as my vision cleared and I started to rise to my feet. A strong pair of hands held me tightly and I turned my head to see Gehenna staring down at me.

“Calm yourself, Allie! It’s OK! You’re safe, I’m here, Allie! Nothing will harm you, my love! You’re safe.”

I allowed my body to slowly relax as I focused all my attention on Gehenna and her piercing golden eyes. It took only a moment for me to realize I was no longer drowning and about to be eaten by some fearsome underwater creature, and the emotional toll of what I had just experienced slammed into me with full force. I burst into tears and clutched onto my demon lover tightly. I let the terror I had been feeling slowly drain out of me as I allowed Gehenna’s soothing presence to calm my frayed nerves and my near-shattered psyche. When I finally felt like I was able to speak without my voice trembling, I lifted my head off of my blonde lover’s chest and let out a long contented sigh as Gehenna stroked my cheek softly. I looked around me, noticing for the first time that we were in Gehenna’s bedroom in her castle. I was about to ask about it when my lover turned my face towards her gently and spoke in a calm voice.

“Are you alright, my love?”

I shook my head slowly and took a deep breath.

“No, not really. The place Ikelos trapped me was all of my deepest fears manifested at once. Despite knowing that it wasn’t real, nothing I did could change how real it felt. I have never been so scared in my entire life, Gehenna. I felt so helpless, so pathetic. And as I’m laying here telling you about it, I feel so mad at myself for being so utterly terrified. It’s one thing to lose the fight against my clan members because they were able to overpower me. But to lose against them because I was trapped by my own fears? That’s… that’s not something that should happen to someone who is aspiring to be the empress.”

Gehenna let out a long sigh and shook her head.

“You’re wrong on two counts, Allie.”

She held up one of her fingers as I looked at her with curiosity.

“First, being completely overwhelmed by your greatest fear doesn’t make you any less worthy to be the empress. From what I was told, Ikelos’s ability becomes stronger the harder you fight against it. The fact it was so overwhelming means that you were fighting as hard as you were able to resist the effects.”

I nodded slowly and exhaled loudly out of my nose.

“OK. I guess that makes sense… and it does make me feel a little better. What’s the second thing I was wrong about?”

Gehenna smirked at me and let out a dry laugh.

“You didn’t lose.”

“Huh? But… I don’t understand. How is that possible? I–”

Gehenna interrupted me by pointing to something attached to my chest and her eyes met mine.

“May I?”

I nodded and unfastened the object before handing it to her. She quickly fastened it to her chest and gave me a warm smile.

==

I studied Allie’s face carefully as she looked down at the clan members in front of her. I could tell she was rapidly devising some strategy, and could see the look of fierce determination on her face as she mentally prepared herself for the fight. Once the match started, I barely had time to blink before she teleported off the central platform and became a blur of motion. As a bolt of lightning illuminated the entire area, it took a few seconds for my eyes to adjust to the absurd speed that both Allie and Nialla were suddenly moving. I bit my lip slightly as I watched my lover go on the defensive, doing her best to avoid the savage onslaught of attacks. By the time a full minute had passed, Nialla had shifted into her massive Storm Tiger form and several of the other clan members had maneuvered into a more advantageous position.

After dodging a fully charged blast of lightning from Nialla's open maw, Allie used her momentum to put some distance between her and her opponent. She used the instant casting ability to unleash a salvo of spells, but had to quickly dodge away again as Tesrif swung her oversized blade in a powerful downward slash. At the same time, Tifa's body was rapidly expanding and changing into that of a colossal Armor Demon. Tesrif’s enormous sword shattered the stone as it struck the spot where Allie had been less than a second prior, and with her transformation complete, Tifa slammed one of her giant fists down in an attempt to crush her clan leader.

I drew in a sharp breath and narrowed my eyes as I saw the tremendous strike crash down, but let out a small sigh of relief when I saw that Allie had teleported a short distance away at the last second. I could tell that the massive blow had left her momentarily dazed, as she took a stumbling step backwards, right where Ikelos was waiting with his hands outstretched. I let out a long sigh of disappointment as I watched him place a hand on either side of Allie’s face and use some ability to make her entire body go limp. As soon as her eyes rolled back in her head, I realized the match was over.

Or… so I thought.

Every muscle in her entire body tensed and released all at once, and she stood up to her full height with Ikelos’s hands still on either side of her head. At first I thought that maybe she had resisted the effects of whatever skill Ikelos used on her, but when I saw that her eyes were still rolled back, I realized something wasn’t right. With a movement so quick even I had trouble tracking it, Allie reached up and grabbed both of Ikelos’s hands. With a single strong yanking motion, she used every ounce of her considerable strength to yank his arms forward and tear them completely out of their sockets with a wet ripping sound. White and blue flames suddenly engulfed his body as a tiny purple form suddenly appeared at his side. The wounds on both of his shoulders immediately closed and were just starting to heal when Allie suddenly disappeared and then reappeared a few feet above Ikelos and Lucifer, a fully charged spell glowing in both of her hands.

A plume of white fire erupted as she hurled both of the spells downwards. She used the explosion to propel herself higher into the air, spreading her wings when she was about 30 feet off the ground. It was at that moment I was able to get a clear view of her face. My blood felt as if ice had been injected into my veins as I saw the look of utter hatred on her face and the way she was studying everything with seemingly dead eyes. Before I had a chance to consider the implications of anything, Allie disappeared again, her body shimmering into view directly behind Tesrif.  A column of purple energy blasted through the tall woman’s back and exploded out the front of her chest before striking the half-shifted form of Tifa. As Tesrif’s body began to fall from the critical injury, Allie grabbed the handle of the giant claymore and with a wide sweeping arc she cleaved the much taller woman’s head from her body. As her body turned with the momentum of the swing, she grabbed onto the sword with her other hand and then spun quickly on her heel. She built up speed with the weapon in her outstretched hands before releasing her grip and letting it soar through the air. For a moment it seemed like the massive blade wasn’t going to hit anyone, but with a gout of blood and a loud thud the weapon struck something that had been previously invisible. The lower half of Shadow’s body fell to the ground while the upper portion rolled a few times before coming to a stop a few dozen feet away.

Spears of bone and blood, a huge surge of electricity, a burst of purple energy, and a pair of flaming axes all hurtled towards the woman who was literally tearing them apart. Instead of making any attempts to move out of the way, Allie simply waved her hand. The air in front of her shimmered and Tifa’s human-sized Dark Pixie form appeared in front of her. The shapeshifter made a move to try and get out of the way of the incoming projectiles, but when Allie impaled her with a large spear she had just summoned, she closed her eyes in silent defeat.

Stepping over Tifa's lifeless body like a discarded piece of trash, Allie began walking towards her remaining opponents. A cruel smile that sent a cold shiver up my spine crept across her face as she stopped and held out one of her hands. Speaking in a voice that sounded like Allie's, only warped and full of malice, she locked eyes with Jade.

“My little Corrupted Blood-slut… come here, and have a taste!”

With that, Allie used the claws on her other hand to slice open the vein on her outstretched wrist. The effect on Jade was immediate. Although she could resist the urge to drink blood during battle, when it was freely offered to her, especially from the person she was literally addicted to, she had absolutely no chance of holding herself back. Moving at a speed that almost matched Nialla, Jade ran at full-speed towards Allie. Nialla moved to intercept her, but Jade suddenly turned on the electrified tiger and glared at her as she channeled a spell and held up her fist.

“STAY BACK!!! THAT BLOOD IS MINE!!”

A column of bone erupted from the ground and swirled around Nialla, before completely enveloping her. With the threat to “her blood” successfully dealt with, she turned back to Allie who was still holding her bleeding arm out. She closed the distance between them in less than a second and lunged at the smaller woman with a look of crazed desperation. As she latched onto Allie's wrist and sank her teeth deep into her arm, Jade’s eyes rolled back into her head and a look of utter bliss spread across her face. Allie stroked the Vampire Demon's hair and wrapped her arm around Jade's head and neck. With a sudden rush of motion, Allie ripped her wrist free from Jade's lips with a spray of crimson, grabbed tightly onto the other woman’s blood-soaked lower jaw, and used both hands to snap the ebony blood mage's neck.

I heard the clatter of a chair hitting the stone floor, followed by the sound of someone rapidly exiting the large viewing area that was connected to all the PvP rooms. After forcing myself to turn away from the scene of brutal carnage, I quickly realized that Emelia had left and was likely on her way to Allie’s throne room in an attempt to bring her to her senses. I swore loudly and flicked my wrist in front of me. A portal snapped open and I hurled myself through it before it had even finished forming. As soon as I stepped out, Emelia barreled into me at full speed. As she started to drift backwards in the air I grabbed onto her shoulders tightly and held her in place.

“Gehenna! What the fuck?! Let me go! I need to help Allie!”

She made an attempt to pull out of my tight grasp, but I held onto her firmly as we locked eyes.

“Emelia, stop! I know that what’s happening isn’t normal and it should be stopped, but think logically before you act. The closer you get to her, the stronger she gets. Right now, Allie is so out of it that a fight between the two of you could quickly spiral out of control and possibly spill out of the PvP rooms. The consequences of that could be dire and possibly permanent. Why do you think I haven’t interfered yet? I want her to expend as much energy as possible before I attempt to bring her back to her senses.”

“But… I… That’s not… How am I… FUCK!!”

Emelia slammed her fist against a nearby wall and the small explosion of ice coated everything around us in a layer of frost. She took several deep breaths before looking back up at me with a determined expression.

“What do you need me to do?”

“I can open a portal to send you to my castle. Being so far away from you will weaken her some. When she’s finished… doing what she’s doing… I’ll do my best to calm her… even if I have to use more extreme methods to do it. When I’ve subdued her as best I can I will teleport both of us to my castle and stay with her until she wakes up. Once I’ve determined she is back to normal, I will open a portal for you.”

The petite ice mage let out a long drawn out sigh and then nodded her head. I held my hand out to the side and focused my thoughts on the massive library in my castle. I felt the pull from the closest of my Realmstones as I channeled the magic and released it, allowing the portal to form a short distance from my outstretched hand. I gave Emelia a tight reassuring squeeze with the hand that was still on her shoulder before releasing her. She nodded once and stepped through the portal wordlessly.

“Hana, are you able to communicate with me?”

A disembodied voice spoke from somewhere around me and I heard the sounds of labored breathing.

“...Yes. It’s… a bit… difficult… though. My… body… is recovering… slowly. What’s… happening… to… Allexus?”

“I believe that when Ikelos used his ability to trap Allie within her own mind, he only managed to lock away the human part of her. What you all are facing out there is Allie without the restraints of her humanity.”

“Battle’s… over. Now… she’s just… torturing… Ikelos.”

It was my turn to let out a long sigh and I turned towards the huge double doors behind me. I steeled myself for what was to come and let myself fall into the familiar facade of Empress Infernos. If Allexus wouldn’t come quietly, I was prepared to do whatever was necessary to bring her under control.

No one, not even her demonic side, would take away my Allie.