OUTSIDE THE ETERNAL TOWER
EVERNIGHT, NAZENDEL - 9:25 PM
The Esperians’ flight battle continues as Damon chucks a flaming spear towards Elena. The spear misses as Elena dodges, exploding as it makes contact with the ground, engulfing an entire sector of Evernight in flames.
Elena responds with a flurry of light slashes, all perfectly deflected by the dictator. The deflected slashes instead dice several buildings and towers surrounding them as the capital city begins crumbling from the clash of these titans.
ETERNAL TOWER - 16TH FLOOR
EVERNIGHT, NAZENDEL - 9:29 PM
The monstrous Trent launches a startled Zack through the facility window, its large tendrils far too powerful for Zack to block. Zack lands on his feet, his arms bleeding from the shattered glass. The entire floor shakes as Trent forces his way out of the facility, roaring as he thrashes around.
Zack fires two lasers towards Trent’s heart, the latter unaffected as he regenerates from his wounds. Zack’s left hand begins radiating a mundane, rainbow aura as he slashes upward, severing Trent’s right tendrils off along with creating a thin hole that reaches all the way to the upper floors. Once again, it proves to be ineffective as Trent regenerates his lost tendrils.
It was at this point Zack realized that part of Jason’s serum was in the vial Trent was drenched in. During their battle, he could not foster a solution for Jason’s seemingly indestructible body and could only stall, hoping for someone to interfere.
Though Zack may deny it, he and Trent have something important in common. They are both prideful individuals, with Zack counting his stalemate with Jason in Neverglow as a defeat.
As he, Entro, Luke and Celeste gathered allies during Nick’s imprisonment, he simultaneously gathered information regarding what possible demon was harvested for Jason’s serum. In the end, he came up with two possible conclusions.
The first was a sort of plant-type demon. Having managed Neverglow for more than a decade, Zack was far too familiar with plants that grew tendrils. Unfortunately, this could not be the result as these plants are extremely vulnerable to heat, an attribute that Zack’s ineffective lasers possessed.
The second was the much more plausible cephalopod demon, perhaps an octopus or a squid. These animals could regenerate their tentacles without issue, and had only one glaring weakness as far as Zack was aware.
Salt.
Before Zack can take action, however, black tendrils appear from the ceiling, latching themselves onto Zack’s arms. A restrained Zack tries to burn the tendrils with lasers from his eyes, though he is successfully pulled upwards, disappearing into thin air.
30 MINUTES AGO
ETERNAL TOWER - 22ND FLOOR
EVERNIGHT, NAZENDEL - 9:01 PM
Having been transported to the 22nd floor, Nick engages Jason in combat with his daggers, slicing tendril after tendril that lunges after him. Just as he did with Zack’s lasers, however, Jason continuously regenerates as Nick’s swings begin to get sloppier having barely recovered from Trent’s torture.
Nick combines his daggers into a greatbow, shooting several bolts of electricity towards Jason. Nick’s effort ends up being fruitless as Jason vanishes in-and-out of thin air, dodging the lightning arrows. Jason’s tentacles proceed to wrap around one another and spiraling rapidly, creating a makeshift drill. The drill thrusts towards Nick, who blocks it after transforming his greatbow into a spinning chakram. The drill continues to thrust with enough force to push Nick back a few feet as he desperately tries to keep his chakram spinning in order to avoid his already battered chest being caved in.
Being pushed further back to the brink of being a few inches from a glass window, Nick teleports to the side as Jason’s drill pierces the glass window. Nick tosses his chakram, cutting the drill in half and forcing the tentacles to unwrap, though Jason once again instantly regenerates them.
The chakram returns to Nick, who transforms it into a greatbow. He and Jason both circle one another, anticipating the next move. Whilst circling around, Nick slowly charges electricity from his bow. After several seconds, Nick finally takes aim with a supercharged bolt of electricity awaiting at the center of his bow. Jason preemptively creates a shield by tightly wrapping his tentacles around similarly to the drill, though at a much wider shape. With his bow aimed at Jason’s shield, Nick’s fingers loosen up…
*ZZZZT*
…as he teleports behind Jason, completely letting go of the bowstring. The supercharged arrow makes direct contact with Jason, decimating the entire right side of his body as he turns around. The arrow dissipates after going through Jason and colliding with the wall.
A heavily wounded Jason briefly clutches the massive, grotesque space in his torso before promptly regenerating it to its entirety. Nick finds himself in both disbelief and lethargy, unwilling to comprehend the seemingly unkillable state of his opponent.
“Quite the performance, I have to admit,” Jason comments as he stretches his newly regenerated arm, circling it around.
“It’s no wonder Omega came running to me with his tail between his legs,” he continues, insulting his colleague.
“You’re the asshole who saved him?” provokes Nick. Jason’s prideful stare instantly turns into a hateful glare upon hearing these words.
“I did not save him, I was merely following orders,” Jason clarifies.
“Yeah… that just makes you another one of Estreval’s subservient lapdogs.”
Jason’s tentacles lunge themselves towards Nick once more, who dices them into pieces.
“Yes, that’s called being indebted. Something you wouldn’t get since you throw away every opportunity at living a normal life after that traitor, Evergreen, gives you a second chance you never deserved!” Jason lashes out, continuing his assault on Nick. Nick continues to fend off the assault until a huge, mundane rainbow-colored laser fires from the ground, slicing Jason’s right tentacles off. Nick backs off, using the distraction to catch his breath. He was forcing himself to battle Damon Estreval’s hitman half-dead, and would have ended up tiring himself out had Jason’s assault continued further.
Jason peeks down the hole created by the laser, witnessing Zack attempting to fend off an abomination. A smile curls on Jason’s face as he sends several tentacles below, grabbing and pulling a startled Zack upwards. As Jason pulls, Nick tosses his chakram towards the hitman. Jason disappears, dodging the chakram. He instantly reappears as the chakram connects with the wall, tossing Zack onto Nick. He follows up by whipping the two with his tentacles, knocking them back and sending them flying across the lobby.
As the two recover, they share an awkward stare at each other, unsure of what to say.
“Nick-” “Zack-”
“...” “...”
Before the two can have their moment of reconciliation, Jason launches a fury of tentacles onto the two which Zack blocks with a glass dome.
“You okay?” Zack asks Nick.
“Yeah. I’m fine,” Nick answers.
“That eye doesn’t seem fine…” Zack points out, noticing Nick’s left eye, swelling yet simultaneously sunken.
“Forget about it. It’s just an eye,” Nick replies as Jason relentlessly tries to penetrate Zack’s dome with his tentacles.
“This guy’s unkillable. We need to-”
Nick is cut off as Zack suddenly embraces him with his left arm, catching the former off guard.
“I’m so glad…” mutters Zack as he tightens his embrace.
“...that you’re still alive.”
For fourteen long years Nick Altair grew up under Zack Evergreen’s guidance. He was raised as if he was Zack’s child; he was materially spoiled, taught how to survive the brutish nature of South Lavia and mentored to harness his demediom capabilities. He, along with Celeste and Luke, enjoyed a mythical life filled with fulfillment for the most part courtesy of Zack’s generosity.
It is no exaggeration to say Nick owes everything to Zack. After Palladium officer Rhyne Fortuna was suddenly called back to Valcove, Nick no longer had anyone to look after him. It is out of Zack’s pity and kindness that he opted to look after Raymond Altair’s only surviving family. He was stripped of his right to have his own family after Lily Winchester was mercilessly used as blackmail and eventually killed in front of his eyes.
Though it may seem Zack gave Nick a second chance at life, it actually goes both ways. Without Nick, Celeste and Luke, Zack would have lost his sanity long ago. His entire life after escaping the Eternal Tower was fueled by revenge. Hatred and rage motivated him, even going as far as to craft a nuclear missile capable of devastating all of Nazendel.
Fortunately, his motivation to collapse Eternal Drive underwent a newfound direction as he experienced the love he was robbed of through Neverglow. Though he was still a rebel at heart, he could never truly commit to the cause as he could not dare leave behind the fairly peaceful life he found.
Unfortunately, not everyone gets to experience a peaceful life, especially under the jurisdiction of Damon Estreval. For every peaceful household in South Lavia, millions of others cry out in anguish, unable to take action in their horrible situations. Zack Evergreen was one of the very few with the intellect, power, influence and motivation to make a seemingly impossible change.
Fifteen years ago the Eternal Tower fell under his effort alongside the now-subservient Jason Diaz. Fifteen years later, with an army comprising people all over Lavia, Zack once again looks to bring down the tower and Eternal Drive once and for all.
As he lets go of his embrace, two ethereal beings fly by the window, leaving trails of gold and crimson. Without needing to share any words, Zack nods at Nick, giving him his approval. Nick nods back in gratefulness before embracing Zack again.
“Thank you for everything,” Nick whispers once more before letting go, sprinting upwards as Zack retracts his dome. Jason redirects his tentacle towards Nick, though Zack intercepts them and severs them with a horizontal laser. Zack stands back up as Jason regenerates his tentacles. Zack’s eyes drift around the vicinity for a bit before provoking his former friend.
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“Just like old times, eh?” he blurts out as an aggravated Jason grits his crooked teeth.
“You reminisce too much… You should learn to let go!” Jason yells out in response as he launches his tentacles towards Zack. Instead of severing them with his lasers, however, Zack instead reaches for his pockets and grabs two tentacles with his hands covered in a spectral, gooey substance. Jason recoils in pain as Zack pulls back his arms, yanking Jason inward as he gives a mighty headbutt, cracking the both of their skulls.
“Heh… I’m never letting go,” Zack growls as they bleed from their foreheads. Jason visibly panics, his extra tentacles flopping around, thrashing the vicinity around them as he writhes in pain from the concentrated saltwater generated from Entro’s spectral beluga.
ETERNAL TOWER - 4TH FLOOR
EVERNIGHT, NAZENDEL - 9:30 PM
Luke rushes towards Brian as the latter hurls several orbs at him, all of which he successfully bats away. Upon reaching the enforcer, Luke is blasted away by a wave of violet energy. Celeste catches him midair as she hurls debris towards Brian, who blocks them with a barrier. Brian retaliates by blasting a huge beam towards the two which Luke blocks using his bar. To avoid the continual blasting, Celeste tosses a ring towards Brian which sticks to his stomach. The enforcer levitates midair before being pulled towards Luke. Luke, while defending, was energizing his bar to prepare for a counterattack. Before Luke makes contact, however, Brian creates a barrier at the very last second, defending himself from the detonized bar.
With Luke and Celeste’s synchronized attack failing, the three combatants contemplate their next move as monstrous roars and footsteps can be heard above them. Brian looks up to see the abomination on the sixteenth floor thrashing about, eventually falling through the hole he and Zack created, The monster crashes before them, with Luke and Celeste particularly stunned. This was their very first experience with a demonic entity, leaving fear to overtake them as their heartbeats pace.
“Omega…?” Brian calls out, able to identify Trent from the strands of his signature, teal hair nearly detaching from the skull. Trent looks back, seemingly conscious before whipping Brian away with his tentacles. Brian collides with the wall, being caught off-guard by Trent’s sudden attack. The former renowned scientist roars, his goals now become clear to the three that stand before him. Before them lay a threat bigger than their conflict, and it needed to be taken care of as soon as possible.
Trent launches his tentacles towards Luke, which the latter dodges. Celeste attempts to lift the monstrosity but fails as it proves too heavy, possessing Brock Allister’s abilities of superhuman strength. Trent lets out another roar as he regurgitates a huge wave of water that begins flooding the entire floor.
Brian blasts the demon from behind, prompting it to cease its liquid generation. Trent roars at Brian before firing a purple blast from his mouth. Brian blocks the blast with his barrier as Luke rushes Trent’s side. With his bar fully energized, Luke detonates it, creating an explosion that devastates the monstrosity’s midsection.
Before Trent can regenerate, Brian hurls a disc that splits the abomination in two. Trent’s upper half falls to the ground, crawling towards Brian who blasts him with a beam, disintegrating his former colleague.
OUTSIDE THE ETERNAL TOWER
EVERNIGHT, NAZENDEL - 9:33 PM
The two Esperians evenly clash blades with neither unable to gain the upper hand. Locking blades midair, Damon chooses the still moment to antagonize Elena.
“Isn’t it poetic?!” Damon yells out as he flares his sword. Elena grits her teeth in response,
“Two halfbloods fighting for the nations they represent!” he continues as twin flame pillars erupt from the ground below, heading towards Elena. She draws her sword back, reflecting the flames back to the ground with a golden barrier.
“You and I both know that isn’t true. I fight for Lavia, you fight for yourself. You couldn’t care less if Esper or Lavia went under; all you care about is being a self-serving bastard,” she retorts as she sends a huge golden wave of light towards him. Damon flies along the top of the wave, which reveals several spears of light awaiting him. Damon waves his blade in anticipation of the incoming barrage, but finds himself in a predicament as the spears suddenly illuminate, lighting up the night sky.
Before he knew it, the spears surrounding him detonated, scattering rays of light in the air. Elena watches attentively for movements, fully aware that her attack would not be enough to put down the prince.
An immense heat overtakes the temperature below her as she witnesses a humongous serpent made of pure flame approaching her. She manifests a barrier to block the dragon’s flame, before looking back as an even hotter entity approaches her from behind. Above her, Damon had created a massive orb of pure fire, which he hurls towards Elena. Elena manages to manifest a barrier at the very last second before the orb makes contact. The orb overwhelms the barrier’s size, however, pushing it and Elena downwards. Elena is sent crashing to the ground as the orb picks up speed, the barrier being the only thing keeping Elena from becoming ashen remains. The orb melts the ground as Elena panics. With barely any room to move, she could not risk escaping without dissipating the barrier and burning her entire body.
ETERNAL TOWER - 22ND FLOOR
EVERNIGHT, NAZENDEL - 9:42 PM
Jason shoves Zack, pushing himself back and ripping off two tentacles. He tries to regenerate them to no avail as Zack laughs.
“Salt don’t feel too good, huh?”
Jason glares at Zack in resentment before teleporting beside him. He sends a roundhouse kick which Zack blocks with his arms. Zack splashes the saltwater onto Jason, who flinches in pain. He covers his right fist in glass, aiming to shatter Jason’s jaw as he did with Trent. Jason, however, throws a quick right uppercut to Zack’s stomach, stopping the blow before it could connect. He follows up with a left elbow to the face, breaking Zack’s nose and leaving the former scientist bleeding on his knees.
As Jason approaches, Zack touches the ground, summoning shards of glass that fly towards his opponent. Jason protects himself with his remaining tentacles as Zack fires a huge laser. Jason teleports out of the way, with the two finding themselves at a stalemate once more.
OUTSIDE THE ETERNAL TOWER
EVERNIGHT, NAZENDEL - 9:45 PM
In a desperate attempt to escape, Elena sends out a tiny ray of light inside the flaming orb. The ray detonates, exploding along with the orb. Elena closes her eyes to avoid being blinded as flames spew in every direction, melting the ground around her. A huge crater is formed on the ground as Elena rises, witnessing the battle of Evernight in all its glory. Missiles rain from above, smoke from gunfire obscures the streets. Elena flies upward, searching desperately for Damon amongst the chaos. She flies towards the tower, dodging the lasers and missiles that are fired at her.
As she flies towards the tower, she witnesses a soldier being launched through a glass window, plummeting to his death. Elena approaches the scene to see Nick Altair fending off a wave of Eternal Drive officers.
ETERNAL TOWER - 36TH FLOOR
EVERNIGHT, NAZENDEL - 9:45 PM
Nick shoots out several electric arrows towards the elite soldiers that charge him, all the while dodging bullets from the regular soldiers. A ray of light illuminates the entire floor as a golden wave pushes the soldiers away from Nick.
Nick smiles upon realizing who arrived to back him up as Elena sets down a golden dome, protecting the two.
“Are you okay?!” Elena concernedly asks.
“I’ve had worse days,” Nick jokingly replies as Elena summons pillars of light from the ceiling, instantly incinerating the remaining soldiers on their floor.
“You’re half-dead fighting your way up this tower!” she exclaims, dissipating her dome.
“Adrenaline’s a hell of a drug. Besides, this is the moment I’ve been waiting for my entire life. Tonight’s the night they go down, and I’m making damn sure I get front row seats,” replies Nick to a visibly anxious Elena. After Nick gives a slight smile, however, Elena drops her anxious look and runs up to hug him. Nick hugs her back, the two unaware if they were to ever see each other again.
“How about you? Did they do anything to you?” he asks as they let go of their embrace. Elena shakes her head.
“They didn’t, but I wasn’t going to let them to either way,” she replies as Nick sighs in relief. He looks around for a bit before speaking up again.
“Where’s Estreval? You were battling him, weren’t you?”
“I don’t know. He threw this huge flaming orb that buried me underground. By the time I got to the surface, I had already lost him,” Elena answers.
“C’mon. Let’s go get this son of a bitch,” Nick comments as Elena grabs his arm.
“Wait. You mustn't underestimate him,” she says as a new horde of soldiers come storming down from the thirty-seventh floor.
“I’m don't. But he shouldn’t underestimate me either,” Nick says, drawing his greatbow as he and Elena prepare to fight their way up.
ETERNAL TOWER - 50TH FLOOR
EVERNIGHT, NAZENDEL - 9:45 PM
Damon flies through the window Jason and Nick had broken earlier. He retracts his wings, desperately searching for something in his drawer. Upon noticing it missing, the sound of an object being repeatedly tossed and caught can be heard in the background.
Leaning against the corner of his office is Entro Gruff, holding a strange round artifact covered by tiny, white bones in his hands. A perplexed Damon stares at him before reaching his hand out.
“...Hand it over,” he says as Entro tosses it once more in the air, catching it as it falls.
“This? What do I gain in return?” asks Entro.
“Hand. It. OVER!” an impatient Damon yells. Entro tosses the artifact once more in the air before manifesting his scythe, slicing the artifact into two as he brings his scythe down. A shocked Damon shakes in anger as Entro quits leaning, assuming a battle stance.
“I don’t appreciate your tone.”
“Do you… have any idea what you’ve done?!” screams Damon, who rushes Entro with his blade. Entro parries Damon with his scythe, sending him towards the exit of the room. Damon rushes him once more, his sword flaring, as Entro summons spectral nails from the ground. Damon stops himself midair and flies backwards as the nails pop up, soaring towards him. Damon spins his blade to deflect the nails as Entro rushes behind him. With the scythe in one hand and a chain in the other, Entro wraps Damon in the chains, rendering his arms immobile.
Entro pulls on the chains with both hands as he drops his scythe with Damon struggling to move. As he continues to pull, even more nails prop up from the ground. Before they can fly towards the immobile Damon, however, Damon grabs the chains around his wrist, setting them aflame. The flames traverse through Damon’s body, all the way to Entro’s palms. Entro grunts in pain as his hands are scorched by the flame, dropping the chains that hold Damon. Damon rushes at the stunned Entro, raising his blade. As he brings his flaming sword down, Entro quickly picks up his scythe, swinging it around to avoid being struck. He successfully parries several of Damon’s attacks, eventually forcing Damon to be on the defensive to keep up with his relentless swings.
The countless swings result in Entro wounding Damon’s cheek, the massive arc of his scythe curving through the prince’s sword. Upon realizing this, Entro pushes Damon away with the end of his scythe. Damon takes the time to catch his breath as Entro gently caresses the blade of his scythe.
Upon reaching the edge of the scythe, Entro douses his fingers in the blood of the prince. A perplexed Damon continues to be on standby, preparing for another assault. Entro, meanwhile, uses his bloodied fingers to draw a symbol on the ground - a crimson ouroboros. Damon recognizes the symbol, yelling as he rushes towards Entro before he can commence the blood ritual.
???
??? - ???
The two find themselves chained to wooden crosses transported to a different dimension resembling a grey, barren wasteland in the middle of nowhere. Above them, the clouds form crimson, grotesque human faces in pain. To their side lies a towering scythe with an hourglass attached to the blade, the bottom half nearly filled up with sand. Damon panics, struggling to free himself as Entro gives a psychotic smile.
“There’s no use in trying to escape. Once that hourglass runs out, that scythe will cull us both,” says Entro as Damon squirms in his cross.
“No… I REFUSE!” Damon yells out as he sets his cross ablaze. The wood stays unburnt, however, as Damon panics even further. He summons a huge, flaming orb, directing it towards the hourglass. The orb phases through and explodes midair as flames spew in every direction. If one were to describe their vision of hell, it would be the scenery surrounding Entro Gruff and Damon Estreval.
“How?! How did you get hold of this serum?!” Damon desperately screams, unable to accept his death. Entro smiles once more before uttering chilling words that shake Damon to the core.
“...From my dearest uncle, Brian Mathers,” Entro replies as Damon comes to a sudden realization.
“You… Rage! Do you have any idea who I am?!” Damon agitatedly yells as even more sand drops.
“...The bastard prince,” declares Entro as the final grain of sand hits the bottom pile. With these words, the scythe drops, piercing both of them.
ETERNAL TOWER - 50TH FLOOR
EVERNIGHT, NAZENDEL - 9:58 PM
A bloodied Damon struggles to get to his feet, limping as he stands up. He finds a similarly bloodied Entro sprawled out onto the ground. With his dying breath, Entro laughs once more upon seeing Damon’s state. Damon approaches Entro, drawing his blade.
“Hah… I’ll see you in hell, Estreval,” he growls as Damon brings his blade down, putting an end to the life of Entro Gruff. As Damon pulls back his blade, several footsteps approach him from behind.
Damon turns around to find Nick Altair and Elena Mordegarde standing at the door of his office. He stares at the two before looking down at the massive wound in his chest. He diverts his eyes to the windows outside. Evernight is in ruin; his empire was crumbling before his very eyes, his century-long plan was coming to an end.
But he refused to surrender.
Damon’s sword flares as he sprouts his wings, ready to rid himself of the two massive thorns in his side. Elena and Nick draw their respective weapons, ready to overthrow the tyrant of South Lavia. The future of the nation lies in the hands of these ordinary people.
To Be Continued…
