James took Venice's sword on his forearm, feeling it bite into the bone before she ripped it out. A wide slash appeared up her arm in response, making her hiss in pain.

"Damn you!"

Chuckling, James touched his wound as it healed over. "Starting to get tired? You're getting sloppy."

"Fuck you!"

"Nah, not my type," he taunted. "Besides, I already have a nekorian. She's far better than you."

Snarling, she thrust at his chest, scratching his armor as he twisted. A single feather was sheered from the leather. With a grunt, James swung his sword up from underneath, knocking her weapon free in the hopes to disarm her.

Spinning with the attack, Venice brought her blade around, aiming for his legs. Jumping back, he watched as a crescent of red energy extended from the sword, crackling with power before it dissipated.

"You should be dead already!" she growled.

Cocking his head to the side, James regarded her. "You've never fought a Valiant as strong as me, have you?"

Baring her teeth, she hissed at him. A deep guttural sound that she had made a few times.

"Good answer." Holding his sword up, he gripped it with two hands. "I bet my ancestors didn't rightly train in the blade, nor did they kill millions to reach my level."

"There's not even a million monsters anywhere near here!"

Frowning, James thought of Running River. "That's where you're wrong. One of the humans turned their city into mindless zombies. He was hoping to send them at the rent."

For the first time, Venice showed an emotion that wasn't anger, her sword dipped the slightest amount. Sweeping in, he knocked it away before punching her in the jaw, sending her back down the street with a broken jaw.

Rolling out his shoulders, he felt the exhaustion from the fight settling in. He had fought for hours before, but had always been pulling in energy. This time, he didn't have that luxury. Scanning the city, he found two of the elves with Jamie and Mender who were fighting together. Amber didn't have an elf with her, but she was racing toward Jamie with all speed, while a third elf did the same. They were all going to collide shortly.

Come on, Amber. Save them.

Turning his attention back to Venice, he found her getting back to her feet and activating her healing. It didn't seem as potent as before, taking several seconds longer to work.

"Running out of energy?" he asked.

Stalking toward him, she spun her blade. "My skills don't work on energy like yours. I have plenty of charges left to kill you, Valiant."

"Give up, Venice. Call off your men and I promise I won't grind your bones into the mud. I'll even let you leave alive."

"Ha!" Snorting, she shook her head. "It's not very often that I kill a god that is that full of himself."

Smirking, he pushed his soul against her and found the flickering fire within her. It was massive compared to many he had seen, yet when he tried to touch it, he was repelled.

"What did you do?" she demanded.

"Just checking on your soul." Walking forward, he prepared his sword. "I'll enjoy devouring it when this is over."

A flicker of fear passed through her gaze before she charged. Swinging her sword, she knocked his aside before kicking his ribs, or at least trying.

Dismissing his sword the moment they connected, he wrapped his arm around her leg, taking the blow in order to twist and throw her into the last standing building near them. Just before he let go, he felt the pop of her knee and raced after her to finish breaking her leg.

***

Mender focused all of his energy on keeping his Consecration Field in place as Jamie danced between the two elves with her daggers. Wounds littered her body that were healing faster than the two bastards could inflict them.

I have you, Jamie. Finish them.

The elves were starting to wear out, their variety of skills lessening as the fight stretched. Minutes had turned to an hour of attrition and in the distance, Mender could see buildings coming down and large plumes of dust filling the sky.

You can do this, James. Kill that bitch and come back to us.

Snapping his focus back to his sister, he watched her take off the hand of one of the elves, making him scream in pain and back away. His partner moved in more ferociously, stabbing with spear rapidly. Each strike seemed to come faster and faster, punching holes in Jamie repeatedly.

Coughing up blood, Jamie smirked. As the man stopped, all of her wounds healed and she started to laugh. "Is that all you've got, bitch!"

If the situation wasn't so dire, Mender would have laughed. Instead, his energy was running low as he didn't have any souls to absorb. If Jamie didn't finish the fight soon, it wouldn't matter. They would both be dead.

In the periphery of his vision, he felt despair. A third elf swooped into view, having leapt off the roof of a building and slammed into Jamie, cutting off her arm before throwing her across the ground.

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Screaming in pain, his sister writhed on the ground as whatever energy the elf used seared the wound shut, preventing him from regrowing the limb.

"You two should have finished them by now," the elf snapped.

The one holding his missing hand snarled. "You try and kill them when they heal every wound!"

Jamie fought her way back to her feet and settled a glare onto the newcomer. "That was my favorite arm, you bastard!"

Scoffing, the elf kicked the limb. "I'll make sure your other joins it." Lifting his spear, he started building energy on the end. Jamie tried to dodge, but when the beam of energy burst forward, it curved and struck her down, punching through her chest.

"Jamie!" Mender screamed. Pushing more energy into his healing, he watched the wound start to close, but her soul was already weakening.

Mender was about to race over to her and use his ultimate healing skill when a head rolled across the ground. Frowning, he joined the elf in looking down. One of his attacker's bodies collapsed, hitting the ground as it still spurted blood.

"I'll fucking kill you," Amber growled before disappearing.

"Find her!" the elf barked.

Mender turned his attention back to his sister and started walking toward her. His Consecration Field started to flicker and give out before he could reach her. Hours seemed to pass before he knelt by her side, touching her ashy skin. She turned her gaze to him and smirked.

"We'll be together again soon. I'm heading for James now."

"Jamie," he whispered.

Her eyes closed a moment later and he felt the tears flow. Grabbing his staff, he tried to stand when a burning pain filled his chest. Snorting a laugh, he touched the pronged spear head jutting from his body as veins of red energy spread through his body.

"I guess I'll see you at James," he murmured.

Blood trickled from his mouth before he had the great joy of watching a second head tumble across the ground.

Kill the fucker, Amber.

Lifting his hand with the last of his energy, he activated his ultimate healing skill. A wave of energy filled the space, wrapping around her hidden soul and securing her fate.

The spear was ripped from his chest, and he fell next to his sister. Grabbing her hand, he felt the last of his energy leave him.

***

James had just knocked Venice away when the world hazed over with a white mist. Sinking to his knees, he waited for the latest of his friends to reach him.

"Hey brother!" Jamie chirped. "I was hoping Luna's skill still worked!"

"Seems it did," Mender stated.

Turning to his siblings, he openly wept. "They got you too?"

Jamie shrugged and walked over to him. "Yeah, but it's not that bad. I get to live inside you now. I promised I would never leave you again, and now I can follow that to the letter."

"We promised," Mender corrected. "Oh, and I used the last of my strength to make sure Amber survives. Sorry, but I won't be able to give you much."

"I have plenty for him!" Jamie beamed. Wiping her eyes, she cupped his cheek. "You really are the greatest thing to happen to us. When you recover our bodies, can you please burn us with the others. I wouldn't be mad if you turned our ashes into a weapon."

Despite himself, James laughed. "If that's what you want, I'll figure something out."

Kissing his cheek, Jamie started to fade. "This is such a great feeling. I get to be with my brother forever. But you better kill the fuckers who did this. I want to know what their blood feels like between your fingers."

Mender touched his shoulder. "I'll be around, James. Thank you for everything."

James could hardly see anything through his tears as the last of their energy faded away.

Souls Absorbed: Soul Strength: 12.01 (+0.11)

His tears continued to flow as pain built in his body. The misty Soul Realm faded away as he started to scream. Something inside him was changing, and he tried to focus.

Gold veins spread across his arms and hands before he started to hold his head. Ripples of energy washed off him, pushing everything away and cracking the ground he knelt on.

Slowly, his golden flame took on a violet hue before rapidly expanding. The flames of his soul burst into his limbs, changing his flesh. Hardening and tempering it beyond any material he knew.

The gold was replaced in seconds, consumed by the new violet energy. Eventually the flames reached his head, and his vision flickered. His empty eye socket with the partially grown eye seared with pain as it rapidly regrew. Yet it didn't feel the same.

His screaming stopped and he nearly collapsed. Resting his hand on the ground, he watched the violet veins spread across his arms, finishing off the last of the gold. Then, the pain was simply gone, replaced by energy unlike anything he had felt before. Nearly all of his skills had changed and notifications were coming in, but he only focused on one.

New Soul Skill: Armor of the Soul King

Standing up, he opened his newly healed eye and gasped in pain. Sensory overload flooded him as the world changed around him. Instead of using his Soul Senses to inspect Venice, he could clearly see her soul and emotions. She was watching with enough fear that he could taste it.

Blinking a few times, he reached out and felt the barrier around her soul that protected her. Lifting his hand, he snapped his fingers and watched that barrier shatter.

Screaming in pain, Venice collapsed to the ground clutching her chest. Blood trickled from her lips as she glared at him with enough hatred to paralyze most people.

"You wanted to kill a god," he snarled as he walked over. "You have never seen a god, woman. Let me show you a fraction of what a god can do." Summoning his armor, he felt his body be covered by a thick layer of purple leather before black bands and plates of metal fell into place. He knew instinctively that he could make it look more sinister, and that's exactly what he did.

Curling spikes rose from the shoulders and forearms that he could use to rip through her flesh. The smooth, rounded edges of his armor took on a sharper feel that formed to his body and allowed smooth movement.

Her eyes were filled with fear as his helmet covered his head. He took on design that he pictured a demon would look like. A snarling mouth with razor sharp teeth. A scrunched nose, risen with anger as his sharp eyes honed in on her. The black and purple coloration seemed to glow as he pushed energy into his new equipment.

Grasping Venice's neck with clawed fingers from his sharp gauntlet, he picked her up. Holding her at eye level, he snarled. "You killed all of them! I promised to make your death feel like a thousands years. That begins now.

Reaching into her body, he grasped her soul and started to peel layers off it. He didn't absorb it like he should, but instead burned every strand he was grabbing, sending pain through her body that she had never experienced before.

Throwing her onto the ground, he kicked her sword toward her. "Get up! You wanted to kill me! Here's your chance!"

Gasping for each breath, she picked up her sword and he released her soul. Activating a glowing skill, she swung at him and he stepped into it.

The crescent of red energy that had eroded the road before washed over his armor and snuffed out. The blade struck his arm, bouncing off with a ting that echoed over the city.

"Pathetic!" he hissed. "My family died to give me this power, and you can't even put up a challenge." Grabbing her collar, he slammed her into the ground, cracking the asphalt and pushing her several inches into the ground as bones broke. "How did you learn I existed?"

Short, sharp gasps escaped her as she worked her mouth. Ripping off another sliver of her soul, he savored her screams before letting her go. Scanning the city, he found Amber fighting the last elf. Something was wrapped around her soul, protecting her and he knew she would win. Just to help her, he decimated the barrier around the elf's soul, collapsing his defenses. Amber didn't hesitate to start Siphoning his soul.

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