Danse wore a broad grin as he cut down another beetle. His greatsword rose and fell, crashing into the face of one climbing up to meet him. Its head shattered under the blow, and a second echoed strike sent it flying backwards.
As another beetle approached, Danse cast a glance toward his allies. Katrina was holding her own – her mace proving an effective counter to the beetles' tough chitin. At some point, Lucky had followed her lead, swapping his buckler and shortsword for a hammer, which he now used to crush any beetle that leapt at him.
Mele and Sansa maintained a steady barrage of arrows, raining death down upon the swarm. Their usual banter had long since fallen silent as the number of beetles only seemed to grow.
Vick, however, had tallied the most kills. Threads lashed from her fingertips, lancing into the beetles and tearing them apart from within.
Cutting down another beetle, something occurred to Danse.
'I could have sworn there weren't this many beetles when the fight started. Where could they possibly be coming from?
Between strikes, Danse raised his gaze, glancing into the darkness.
The Nightmare Gate pulsed ominously in the distance. Though the Rhino's headlights did not reach the insidious stain on the world, Danse could still make out its edges – as if the Gate had been laid over reality and then carved into its fabric.
Tearing through another beetle, Danse cut his eyes toward the Gate.
No beetles were emerging from the tear in the world.
Which left him at a loss.
'If they aren't coming from the Gate… where are these things coming from?'
That was when he saw it.
Something stood in the darkness – near the Gate, but just beyond the reach of the Rhino's light. At first, Danse had missed it entirely. Only when the Nightmare Gate pulsed again did its outline reveal itself, flickering into view for the briefest moment. The figure struck the ground with its staff, the impact echoing faintly through the darkness.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then the shadows beneath its vast, flowing cloak began to stir. The fabric shifted – not with the wind, but from something moving beneath it. Shapes pressed outward, writhing against the cloth before forcing their way free.
More beetles crawled out from under the cloak, one after another,
Danse's eyes narrowed.
Pinning a beetle to the ground, Danse drove his blade through it before raising a hand and pointing toward the Gate.
"Get me a light!"
Mele reacted instantly. An arrow glowing a deep red streaked through the air, cutting across the darkness.
As it reached the Gate, the arrow fractured – splitting apart mid-flight. A torrent of flames cascaded down in a wide area, flooding the area with light.
The figure was revealed.
Caught in the sudden blaze, it recoiled – letting out a sharp, unnatural shriek.
A cold feeling ran through the Irregulars as they each laid eyes on the figure; what it was went without saying. The Gate Guardian had emerged from the Gate at some point during the fight. Hiding in the darkness, it created more of the beetles to try to overwhelm the Awakened.
Danse grit his teeth, barely deflecting a beetle as it snapped its jaws at his arm.
'If this thing is a Tyrant…'
But as he thought this, Mele shouted over the sounds of battle.
"The Gate Guardian, it's an Awakened Devil!"
Adjusting his grip, Danse backed up; the other Irregulars followed his lead. Closing their formation.
Reaching Danse's side, Lucky smacked a beetle away.
"A Devil, I guess things could be worse."
Twisting her hand, Vick pierced three separate beetles.
"How can it be a Devil? Surely, Mele is wrong. It must be a Tyrant, how else can you explain all of these beetles?"
The group fell silent as the swarm threatened to overwhelm them.
Only when Katrina stepped forward did something change. Raising her mace, she brought it down with all her strength. The ground shattered as she activated her Aspect – a shockwave tearing outward, hurling beetles into the air and crushing the rest.
Turning to her, Lucky let out a breath.
"Couldn't you have done that sooner?"
Katrina shot him a glare.
"You know that takes a lot of essence. I couldn't do it again even if I wanted to."
Stabbing his greatsword into the snow, Danse stretched his neck.
"To answer your question, Vick, I'm assuming the Gate Guardian is only a Devil because it doesn't have any control over the beetle-looking creatures it makes. The beetles may only be Awakened Beasts, but directed by a Tyrant, this would be a very different battle."
Rubbing her hands, Vick winced.
"We're going to have to do something soon. I don't know if I'll be able to keep using my Aspect for long at this rate."
As the Irregulars turned their gaze back to the Devil, they froze.
It wasn't there.
"Behind you!"
Sansa loosed an arrow. For a split second, it looked as though it would strike Danse – then it flew past his shoulder. The Gate Guardian burst from the shadows, leaping into the light. Its staff snapped upward, batting the arrow aside as it surged toward him.
Danse met it head-on.
His greatsword swung in a wide arc, fast and heavy – strong enough to easily cleave through stone.
The Devil didn't attempt to dodge.
The folds of its cloak twisted as the blade passed through them, as though the fabric itself had moved aside. For a moment, it looked like the attack had landed – until the cloak settled, and there was nothing there to cut.
Then the Devil shifted, its arm raised, and the staff lashed out in a blur. Danse barely blocked it, the impact sending a jolt up his arms as he was forced back.
"Watch it!"
Katrina moved in, her mace crashing down toward the figure's side – but once again, the cloak obscured everything. The weapon passed through layers of dark fabric that offered no resistance, only for the Devil to emerge untouched a half-step away.
It moved with unnatural grace.
Each motion flowed into the next without pause, as if it were performing some kind of forgotten dance. Its cloak never settled, constantly shifting, folding, hiding its true form even in the middle of combat.
From the backline, Mele and Sansa fired in quick succession. Arrows tore through the air – and missed.
Each time the arrows hit their mark, they simply passed through – the Devil never quite where it appeared.
Even Vick's threads snapped forward, wrapping around the figure – only to slip through the folds in the fabric and tighten around empty space as the cloak twisted free.
For a brief moment, it stood still.
Then the staff struck the ground.
And the shadows surged.
Seven Beetles emerged from under its cloak.
Lucky stepped in to meet them, raising his hammer – but the Devil moved faster.
The moment the Devil rounded on him, Lucky already knew he couldn't match it in strength or speed.
His Aspect offered neither, but it offered something else. Something that, in the right moment… could be a far greater boon.
Closing his eyes, Lucky let go.
He didn't think, didn't plan, he ignored the instinct screaming within him to move. Lucky surrendered himself entirely – to chance, to the unseen thread of luck that had carried him this far.
There was no precision in his movement. It was undirected, just a simple step to the side. Lucky twisted, his body moving in a way he couldn't have replicated even if he tried. The staff cut past him, grazing nothing but air as the Devil's staff struck the ground.
The Gate Guardian missed by a margin so small it shouldn't have mattered.
Lucky's eyes snapped open, and without hesitation, he swung. His hammer arced wildly and found its mark, slipping through a gap in the shifting cloak, striking something solid beneath.
The Devil howled – a harsh, distorted sound – as it reeled from Lucky's attack. Its reaction to the pain only lasted a second before it fell back into motion with eerie grace, the folds of its cloak twisting as it slipped past the Awakened's subsequent strikes. Blades cut through empty space, arrows passed where it had been a heartbeat before. It seemed they were unable to recreate Lucky's chance blow.
Katrina barely had time to turn before the blow struck. The impact was brutal, the jingle of the staff ringing out as it smashed into Katrina's body, sending her crashing to the ground, where she lay motionless.
"Kat!"
But the Devil didn't pause; it turned its head. Then it began to move, not toward them but toward the source of the light.
Danse's eyes narrowed as he realised what direction the Devil was moving in.
"It's going for the Rhino!"
The realisation hit just as hard as any blow. The Devil, like its creations, had been weakened in the light – only slightly, but enough that it wasn't able to exert its full power.
But if it reached the Rhino and destroyed the lights… They would be fighting it in the dark, and in the dark, they wouldn't stand a chance.
Sansa and Mele moved to intercept, stepping into the Devil's path as it advanced on the Rhino.
The Devil flowed between them. Its leg snapped out from beneath its cloak, striking Sansa and sending her tumbling aside. In the same motion, its staff flicked toward Mele, forcing her back as a faint jingle rang through the air.
Reaching the Rhino, the Devil leapt into the air, cloak billowing as its staff rose high – poised to shatter the headlights.
Then a burst of light tore through the darkness.
The staff stopped, caught mid-strike.
Held at bay by something it could not push through.
To the Awakened, for a heartbeat, it was as if the world seemed to slow down. A pressure lifted from their hearts, as the darkness seemed to weaken, shadows thinning as the light grew brighter in his presence.
Lauri had returned from the Dream Realm.