“A few minutes more and the moon is up! Keep up the good work muscle brain!”, Nero cheered delighted that everything is going smoothly. He cackled and cackled that even Marcus is starting to feel the annoyed.
A moment later a sudden unpleasant feeling shut him and then he suddenly frowned.
“That bastard!”, his mood swung to anger as he eyed Anton carrying Lander to safety.
“Wake up Lander”, Anton said while distancing themselves to the giant. “I might die any second now for this, so wake the hell up”, he uttered shaking Lander’s head as they fled to the trees.
“How dare you disobey my master!”, the giant furiously yelled. Though his face is not visible, Alisa on the other side can tell.
His muscles contracting, veins showing all over his body, he’s turning red and that’s the proof how furious he is. He mindlessly threw boulders on the forest hoping to crush Anton and Lander with it.
“He lied so I figured I would do what I want for the last time!”, Anton replied but the echo made it hard to pin his location.
“You damn traitor!”, the giant exclaimed as he carried the biggest boulder he can find.
“Yes I am! And I’m glad I did not reveal everything to him!”, Anton revealed himself to become the sole target.
The boulder flew into the air and Anton did not show any intention to dodge. The traitor just waited for his demise, he knew he deserve it.
It was a sure hit. He’s the second victim and soon he’ll be tomato paste on the ground.
Only if not a red beam deleted the boulder out of existence leaving nothing even a single piece.
The giant turned around when he was caught on another beam. It came from Alisa, her eyes glowing fiery red, anger can be felt from her. The man was forced to kneel on the ground and take the shot.
“How’s that for a payback”, Alisa uttered focusing everything on the monster.
“That’s too farfetched from what I asked you to do Anton!”, Nero yelled from above losing his cool.
Anton could not help himself but laugh looking back at Nero.
“Die you double traitor!”
“I know that already!”, he yelled back, smirked, and returned to Lander while Alisa is enjoying herself.

“Sorry for this Lander but you need to wake up. Your comrades needs you and I know this will be the last thing I’ll do to try and make things right”, he whispered holding Lander on the forehead.
He closed his eyes, focused, and then forcefully shocked Lander back to the conscious world. Lander was about to open his eyes and Anton was fulfilled. He smiled for the last time before out of nowhere he fell lifeless to the wet foliage of the forest.
“Enough Alisa!, you’ll die if you keep that up!”, a familiar voice called her.
“Father!, you’re alive!”, Alisa replied as she watched her father emerge from the other side of the river, soaked but determined to fight.
“I’ll handle him!”
Alisa has found hope. She recalled her soul before falling to the ground.

“I knew I’d see you again”, Alvor said getting into position, his blade already on his hand.
“And who are you supposed to be?”, the giant replied clenching his fist despite his arms being severely burned from Alisa’s barrage.
He did not mind it and with all his strength, he punched the ground. It split open while at the same time sending shockwaves to his opponent.
Alvor countered by simply jumping to an extraordinary height. Hesitance cannot be found on his face as he slashed the man on his way down. Unlike the others, he dealt a wound to the enemy.
“You’re unlike the others”, the giant commended Alvor.
“Enough with the talk”, Alvor charged again, using the boulders as jumping platforms. He’s very agile. When he finally stopped, the giant is bleeding from different parts of his body, though the wounds are not too deep.
“You are indeed strong, but you can’t protect your comrades if you’re here”, the man laughed followed by a punch.
Alvor was distracted from what the giant said, so he took a look. Taking a direct hit as he watched the enemies they defeated earlier at the first hill emerged from the trees. He knows that those are heavily wounded, dead at most, but nonetheless they are walking as if nothing happened.

At the top of the waterfall, the night sky can be clearly seen as the clouds scattered. The moon is already in place.
Nero swallowed a week’s worth of saliva as he felt uneasy from what Alisa did.
“Marcus!”, he urgently called as he turned around. Extending his hands to Nicolas, the boy levitated and the water that’s giving life to the waterfall stopped flowing.
“Starting the ritual already?”, Marcus lazily replied watching Nicolas twist in pain.
“Kill that girl!”, Nero blurted. His expression was far from the merry man he was minutes ago. He’s furious and the sweat on his forehead suggests that he’s anxious or worried about something.
“Why?”, Marcus asked.
“Just kill her!”
“Well, I am asking why”, he calmly asked again.
“Don’t do it!, Ahh!”, Nicolas squealed in pain as Nero got even more furious.
“Just head down there and do what I ordered!”, Nero exclaimed staring sharply at Marcus.
“Help!”, Nicolas begged as he felt being forced out of his body while at the same time being pulled in half.
“I will not go down there unless you tell me why”, Marcus said not bothered by Nicolas’s cries.
“Just move you son of bitch!”
“Parent insult?”, Marcus sighed. “Let me change the question then. Is Martin still in there Nero?”.
“What? Who’s Martin?”, Nero asked back while the ritual wavered. The water almost continued flowing again and Nicolas was flipped from his initial posture.
“Uh huh, I felt that, you wavered… he’s still there”, Marcus smirked as if he was celebrating while pointing his finger at Nero.
“I don’t care about your nonsense, kill that girl now!”.
“Say Nero, have you already found your third piece?”, Marcus smiled.
“What are you doing Marcus!”, Nicolas said in pain.
“Shut up Nicolas!”, Marcus yelled back at him, his calm demeanor starting to slide off.
“You both shut the hell up and do what I want!”, Nero exclaimed clenching even tighter and tormenting Nicolas even more.
“I will not go down there and kill the girl”, Marcus blurted.
“What did you say?!”
“I said no!”, Marcus called his scythe and slashed Nero who’s not on guard.
The ritual was interrupted, the water flowed, and Nicolas fell to the ground. A dark being and a rotting white soul came out of Martin’s body.
Marcus freed Nicolas from the rope before tending to his father’s soul.
“Why did you do that”, Nicolas asked unsure what is happening. “I thought you are siding with him?”
“Would you prefer it that way?”
“No, I’m glad we’re in this together”, Nicolas stood up walked towards his twin.
“Good”
“But you could have acted sooner. I almost died”
“That’s fine, I enjoyed watching you suffer for a bit”, Marcus sarcastically replied.
“So what do we do now?”
Marcus gave no reply to that. He just tended to his father. Martin’s soul is already rotting as if he had several pieces bitten off by an insect or rat.
“His soul is already beyond repair, I’m sorry”, Nicolas whispered shaking his shoulder trying to comfort him.
“I know, I just wanted to set him free, it must have been painful for him having Nero as a body mate”, Marcus replied trying to contain his tears.
“Of course it did, but we have a problem at hand, better send him to the next one now”
“Yeah”, Marcus knew exactly what to do and closed his eyes.
The soul grew bright as it slowly turned to dust gracefully floating into the air like a small patch of aurora borealis. It was a beautiful sight as he sent Martin back to the flow of life.
Nero on the other hand possessed the empty vessel back. It was like watching a smoke entering a body and it did not look entertaining, not one bit. The body started to have a seizure, stopped moving, had a seizure again then it came standing back up.
“You stubborn child of this useless body, what have you done!”
On the fight down below, Alvor is starting to have second thoughts.
“Let’s see how long they will last without your help!”, the giant exclaimed sending crushed boulders his way flying through the air like bullets.
“They can do it! No matter how many times those living corpse stand back up, I know they will!”
The giant just laughed at him, “You’re too confident!”
“He’s right, they won’t”, a voice exclaimed before the giant was displaced to the side. It was Lander.
“They won’t have a chance unless I’m there”, although he’s head is bleeding he rushed to Alvor. “This might sound impossible, but can you throw me to the other side?”.
Alvor looked at him. He wanted to check if the boy was fine but just the look on Landers eyes shows that he’s determined.
“Very well…”, he said as he held Lander by the hands, spun, then threw him to the other side. “Survive and win for me!”
He went down with a thud, crushing five unfortunate enemies upon impact.
“You’re alive!”, Alisa rejoiced for a bit.
“Bad grass do not die that easily”, Lander sarcastically said barricading themselves from the remaining enemies.
“How about Anton?”.
“He’s dead, after he forcefully woke me up”
“How?”.
“We can talk about that later but we have a problem at hand, let’s focus on them first”
The remaining mobile enemies kept hammering the shield like zombies desperate for a brain. The protection is now starting to break and Lander is not in shape to conjure a stronger one.
“Would you hold the fort for a minute?”, Lander asked while struggling to keep it up much longer.
“Go ahead…”, Alisa gave him permission before turning to their shaking comrades. “Prepare to fight everyone! Don’t hesitate to cut their feet so they can no longer stand up again”
“But that’s too cruel”, the others complained.
“It’s do or die it’s your choice!”, Alvor came shouting from the other side getting everyone’s attention. “I have my trust on you, so trust yourselves!”, he exclaimed while fending off the continues punch from his opponent.
“Your commander Alvor is giving his all handling that monster!”, Alisa said in follow up.
“We can’t mess this up!”, Lander and Alisa exclaimed in chorus.
“One… Two… Three!”, Lander counted and the shield went down. By the time it went back back, they had another casualty. He was lying lifeless outside the barrier. All in trade for 6 additional enemies immobilized.
It was going smoothly, when suddenly everyone including the trees and the river felt a sudden surge of force drawing their attention above.
“Nicolas”, Alisa thought seeing the boy fighting the head of the chaos.
Nero did not even bother containing his soul’s undesirable stench. He let its force and his bloodlust mix into the air. Anyone who can sense it feels like they are inhaling a thick fog and it’s suffocating.
“Looks like he convinced his brother back!”, Lander uttered feeling hope and his spirit up.
“I’ve had enough of this façade!”, Nero shouted echoing down the valley below.
“Someone’s cranky”, Nicolas teased.
“And pissed off”, Marcus added. “Probably because he’s too focused on getting the second piece…”
“That he did not notice the third one by his side all along”, they both smirked before guarding themselves with their scythes making Nero more furious than he already is.
“As if you would be a match for me!”, Nero replied with his own fashioned scythe. “I’ll force you out of that meat shields till I claim what’s mine!”
“Make us!”, both of them started the offense with a coordinated swing.
Nero did not even sweat countering each of their attacks while the water around them ripples with each blow, even the trees are dancing from the force they exert.
“Why did you betray me Marcus!”, he exclaimed.
“Doing what’s right of course”, the boy replied after switching with Nicolas for the attacks.
“I was even prepared to let you live!”
“Not until you find out you need him to be whole!”, Nicolas interrupted the conversation as Marcus had backed away.
“Who are you to tell!”, Nero yelled back at him initiating a powerful slash that sent Nicolas flying. “You can still join me my son”, he then turned to Marcus.
“I’m not your son and you will never be my father. You just stole that body”. Marcus regrouped with his twin.
“Did the lord of darkness just said that?”, Nicolas found the statement peculiar.
“I think he just did”
Both of them laughed before starting the counter.
“We can’t let them do all the fighting do we?”, Alisa said focusing back to their own problem.
“We can fight too!”, the others shouted as they finally got back the courage that they had loss earlier. “We can do this! Lander! Let the shield down!”
The shield went down and they all felt the courage to fight. Arrows rained down from Alisa, some were smashed by Lander. The others fell but most of the enemies are wiped. They lost three more from that fight but they won, unlike Alvor who’s struggling on the other side.
He’s head is bleeding and his left arm is broken.
“Lander, can you provide support to father. I need to tend to the wounded”, Alisa pleaded.
“No need to ask, I’m already thinking the same thing”, he replied before jumping to the river.
He is already on the other side and enclosed Alvor with a shield absorbing the punch that the man certainly failed to dodge when Nero shouted from above.
“Finish the girl!”, it again echoed down.
The giant man quickly wiped Alvor and Lander to his side, grabbed a boulder the size of his hand and threw it to Alisa like a pro pitcher on a baseball game.
“Dodge Alisa!”, Nicolas also yelled from above.
He paused on the spot leaving Marcus with the offense and defense, and then focused everything he has to cover Alisa with a sphere shield from meters away.
“Watch out Nicolas!”, Marcus shouted in urgency as Nero suddenly got off from their grappling, suddenly appeared next to Nicolas and sliced his soul out.
“Fool!”, Nero exclaimed.
“Nicolas!”, Marcus exclaimed, and everyone heard it.
The shield that caught the stone for Alisa fuzzed out. She was drawn a top of the waterfall as he heard Marcus’s distressed scream.
Nicolas’s body fell to the river.
His soul held captive by Nero and is now starting the synthesis. None can be heard but the screams from his every soul.