Chapter 185: The War of Fates
War was a vortex. The earth trembled under the gargantuan shock of conflicting powers, battle cries of beasts and fighters pealing and shredding through thick air. Death Army advanced phantom-like and implacable into the monstrous abominations of Ariadne.
Sitting on the coven's tallest watchtower, hand on the distended belly, Reika looked down upon the battle being waged beneath her. Her heart thudded in her chest like a drum.
Lleus stood at the middle of it all, his golden aura burning like holy fire as he sliced through enemy ranks. His claws, softened by exile even though they still remained, now resumed their old sheen, slicing through infected werewolf ranks like a cloud.
Kael and Athena fought back-to-back, one being. Pyromancy tore across the field at Athena's feet, walls of flame burning to hold Ariadne's forces back, and Kael carved through whatever dared get in his way with sword.
The desert wolves, commanded by Lleus, assaulted like a sandstorm, hurling brute power and precision against the enemy. Viktor and Alfonso commanded them with abandon, their battle cries echoing across the field.
Ariadne was inviolate.
She battled with her army, her presence a absence of strength. Her beautiful face had twisted into something grotesque, her eyes empty nothing, her hands aflame with raw darkness. She was not just fighting. She was clinging on.
With each death of one of her monsters, the darkness that surrounded her was more powerful. With each drop of blood that seeped into the ground, she grew more powerful.
Reika gritted her teeth. She could feel it—the balance shifting, the power gathering around Ariadne. The Army of Death was strong, but they couldn't kill a monster that lived to feed on chaos.
Elira appeared beside her. "Reika, we have a problem."
Reika spun to her, her belly clenching. "What is it?"
Elira's face was white as a ghost. "Ariadne. she's opening a void. She's going to engulf the battlefield whole."
Reika held her breath. "We need to stop her."
Elira paused. "Reika… the warning of the entity. If Ariadne cannot be killed by human means…"
Reika's eyebrow went up. She knew what Elira was suggesting.
The Army of Death was bound by rules. Ariadne wasn't.
Reika herself and herself alone could command life and death.
She looked out over the battlefield, at Lleus fighting with all his might, at her friends who were dying to put an end to Ariadne's rule of terror.
And made her choice.
The Final Gambit
Reika descended from the tower with resolve burning in her heart. The witches parted for her as she passed among them, sensing the shift in her presence.
Athena, bruised and battered but still standing, spotted her. "Reika, what on earth do you think you're doing?"
Reika was undeterred. "Stopping it."
Kael grabbed her arm. "Reika, no. You're pregnant. You can't—"
She pushed him away, her eyes ablaze. "I have no choice."
Lleus, sensing her proximity, spun about midst-fight. "Reika! Back off!"
But she would not be stopped.
She walked through the warriors, through blood and fire, out onto the field.
Ariadne saw her at once. A sly, slow smile spread across her face.
"Ah, ah," Ariadne purred. "Look who finally came to the party."
Reika clenched her jaw. "You're running low on darkness, Ariadne. No matter how much you take, you'll never have enough."
Ariadne shook her head. "But I already have more than enough. And soon, I'll have everything."
The earth shook as the Void started to open at her back. Shadows twisted, stretching out into a chasm that appeared to consume all light.
Reika inhaled deeply. She could feel it now. The connection to something more. Something more than living. Something more than dying.
The child inside her moved.
She placed her hand on her belly, and suddenly. she realized.
The Moon Goddess did not bless her with a child.
She blessed her with a tool.
Reika's form glowed, a soft, pulsing silver light from her skin. Shadows that existed in the area spat and flinched from the sudden sanctity in the air.
Ariadne's sneer failed. "What… are you doing?"
Reika shut her eyes. She dove deep within herself, into the power that had been growing within her all along.
Life and death.
Two powers never to be combined.
And yet, she was the bridge between them.
The Moon Goddess had chosen her for exactly that reason.
With a gasp of shock, Reika opened her eyes. The light intensified, washing across the battlefield like a wave of moonlight.
The Army of Death bowed their heads. The witches whispered. The desert wolves felt something stir within them.
And Ariadne… screamed.
The light encircled her in chains, tightening, burning through her flesh. She struggled, hammering against the power that imprisoned her.
"No!" she bellowed. "YOU CAN'T DO THIS!"
Reika moved forward, voice calm, steady. "You have consumed enough of this world, Ariadne. Now the balance must be returned."
Ariadne's body began to dissolve.
The darkness parted, flaking away, to reveal the woman she once was beneath the corruption.
For the first time, there was fear in her eyes.
"Please…," Ariadne whispered, shaking. "I don't want to—
The voiding at her back began to fracture. Reika closed her eyes one more time. And in a final blast of radiance, Ariadne was gone.
The battlefield was still.
The darkness retreated. The war… was over. Lleus rushed to Reika, catching her as she fell on her legs.
"Reika!" His voice was panicked, his arms embracing her all the tighter.
She opened her eyes, exhaustion pulling her under. "It's. done."
Lleus rested his forehead against hers. "You scared me." She smiled weakly, with exhaustion. "You're not done with me yet."
Kael, Athena, Viktor, and the other warriors gathered in slow motion. They gazed out across the grass, where Ariadne had just disappeared. Viktor breathed out. "Did we. win?" Alfonso swallowed, his throat dry with emotion. "Yes. We won."
The witches cheered. The wolves howled. Reika fell against Lleus's shoulder, still trembling with fear. She'd done it. She'd won the war. But when she put her hand on her belly, feeling the gentle kick of her baby… She knew this was just the start.