I yelped and dodged the stab attack.

Aidoneus skillfully swung the blade down towards my neck. It was in a position for a clean shot to my Adam's apple.

Clink-c.h.i.n.k!

Lita's glinting short sword stopped his blade's momentum inches away from my throat.

I rolled out of their path. And into the clear line of sight of the BHT banshee redback spider gang.

My hands grabbed a fist full of shrill marbles. I pelleted advancing banshee to make them implode. Glitter filled the air.

Meanwhile, I spied Lita still locked in a spar with Aidoneus. Her short sword was blocking his blade's long-range attacks. He surprised her when his claymore instantly transformed into a pair of sais. They continued their fight on an even level.

She danced around his swipe attacks to skillfully apply her own. Only to be blocked by his low angle swings or other unorthodox stab attacks. His sparring was rapidly exhausting her arms. He attacked ferociously.

Maniacal brown eyes were fixed on hers with purpose. She gasped when his eye color gradually filled to an evil red the harder they fought. He moved faster, stronger and more brutal.

Her voice involuntarily cried out with pain when a sai attack slashed across her arm. It knocked her swords out of her hands. She slumped to the ground, gripping her bleeding arm tight.

Aidoneus's attacking form was raised with the pair of silver sais—held in sinew black-gloved fingers— about slice off her head.

"Ihes egin ezazu orain!" Wilfred shouted. "b.a.s.t.a.r.d!"

Aidoneus went flying away from Lita before he could land the killing blow.

"KILL THEM ALL!" He vehemently spat out. Picking himself up for another attack.

The chamber became a fierce battle arena.

Redback spiders shot web threads at moving targets and hitting dead air. They leapt for heads only to implode and fill the air with dirty silver glitter. Slas.h.i.+ng leg attacks were blocked with razor sharp steel.

c.h.i.n.king of steel on steel charged the atmosphere. The chamber stank of iron fillers, astringent spider guts, blood and sweat. Heat and pain were felt all around.

"FAMINE! DON'T YOU DARE RUN FROM ME!" Aidoneus shouted, pus.h.i.+ng spittle out of his mouth.

He rushed at me with his claymore. Intent on jousting me to the wall.

I stood firm as I replaced the shrills with the portspell pocket mirror.

"Famine! What the heavens are you doing?! Move out of the way!" Death's frantic yelling in my head stirred p.r.i.c.kly pain to my temples.

"Shuddup." I answered back. I focused on the pointed tip of X-man freak's claymore.

My hands opened the portspell. I positioned the mirrored top to the claymore's pointed tip and turned the bottom half toward Homburg Banshee's spider stomach.

"Not yet." I steadied myself as the tip raced closer toward the portspell.

My heart beats slowed as my mind became a single point of focus.

"Utz nazazu!" Words resounded about the charged air; carried on the back of a determined shout.

Aidoneus's claymore went piercing into Homburg's exposed stomach as he was rearing for a slash attack to Brystagg's head.

"UGH!" Aidoneus snarled. Annoyance and hatred contorted is face to form an uglier expression.

"Famine," he hissed.

Brystagg recovered from his fallen position to take advantage. He raised a short sword and pierced Homburg's opened wound to finish the job. The banshee reeled with pain.

"Your fault Sire... you did this... to... us... curse...yo..." Homburg spat out his curse with his final breath before going still.

Lyra threw a gla.s.s water ball at his body. It shattered on its still form and made it melt to the ground to confirm his end.

Aidoneaus grabbed Brystagg's waist with extraordinary long hands similar to a skrit. His abnormal strength raised the struggling high prince into the air.

"How admirable of you Sire to put the BHT spider freaks out of their misery." Aidoneaus's smooth voice dripped with bitter sarcasm.

He slammed Brystagg to the ground. Once. Twice. Thrice. Letting him go when he was certain the man felt pain. He coolly dodged every attack we could muster against him.

My heart thumped with a realization that he had barely been making an effort to attack us. Now that he was freer to move around the chamber, he could go all out.

Our side wasn't in good shape for an all-out attack.

Colin was unconscious on the ground next to Buru. It seemed he was knocked out cold by using too much of his bidea power to protect us earlier. As a result, the bull-man was heavily impacted with poisonous stab wounds all over his torso and limbs when he was protecting him from banshees.

Wilfred's right arm and his left wrist had gash wounds. He had been able to stop himself from bleeding out completely, but it left him weak to move.

Lita's strength was almost spent. She had suffered a wound to her leg, which prevented her from standing upright.

Now Brystagg had become unmovable from Aidoneaus's thrush attack.

Lyra threw every remaining gla.s.s ball at the black-suited freak. And was forced to dodge her own attacks from the force magic he used to repel them back on her. The near misses exhausted all her strength.

"Look at your pitiful selves. Homburg and the BHT's lack of skill was disappointing, but not surprising." He smugly stood before me, meeting my eyes with his c.o.c.ky challenge.

"I had high hopes you were skilled fighters determined to save the world. Especially you Sire. Pitiful. You deserve to lie there and revert to null." He turned his attention to Brystagg.

"Look at you! Being this bada.s.s demon. Seems like some boy never grew up." I c.o.c.kily clapped my hands at his villainous chitchat.

"Why's your issues Sire's fault? He didn't turn you into a freak, did he? No, you're a kid looking for someone else to blame for your stupidity. What made you this thing." I tested for a sore spot.

He rushed at me with the tip of his newly formed claymore a hair's breadth away from the side of my neck. Looks like I had hit it.

"You play cute. Wiggling your piece of tail about like a trollop. I'd rather be a freak than a disgusting, useless, piece of s.e.xual diseased trash." He maniacally laughed as his sword swung up with momentum for a killing blow.

I was able to miss its attack from cutting my neck open. My arm received the blow. I stumbled backwards. Acutely feeling the searing sharp pain. I heaved painful breaths and braced myself for the nullifying blow.

"Revert to null, Famine." Aidoneaus raised his claymore blade high above his head to end my life.

"No!" He cried out with disbelief at the longsword retracting from the fresh stab hole in his mid-section.

The claymore fell out of his hands. It disappeared upon impact to the floor. He stumbled about with shock, turned and gurgled with laughter at the sight of War.

"Yah talkin s.h.i.+t 'bout meh Baby Bro," War coolly said as he raised his light blue longsword and skillfully stab-attacked Aidoneaus's stomach again.

"Jainkoaren eskuetan!" Aidoneaus's gurgling voice managed to spit out a spell.

He disappeared into a cloud of silver light that triggered a traumatic blast. The walls began to dissemble.

"Lita!" I heard Ryoko cry out.

I turned my head and saw her attending to her.

"Saku, how weh gonna get 'em out of 'ere?!" War called out.

Saku came up behind him. I noticed a key crystal in his hands.

"No one is in a position to walk." He began to panic as he glanced about the shaking walls that were dissembling at a fast rate.

"Weh just 'ave to protect 'em." War said.

Saku, Ryoko and War carefully grouped everyone together on the ground near the stillest wall. They stood over us to deflect flying bricks straying our way.

We held tight for a location change.