The Scourge of Gods

CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

Eriden looked down at Jun in his arms, rain pouring over him. As long as the child was okay, then he had no regrets. That was the truth. He sheathed his saber for it would be useless in this battle, and flared his energy nexus, savoring the heat warming his body, his blood. All of his anger, sadness, and fury washed together within him, lending him strength.

He would not allow Vetis to possess Jun again.

Eriden looked back at the demon, a satisfied expression on his cruel face—or the approximation of one. Gwyn stood beside him, slowly coalescing water around her, like wary snakes ready to strike. Now he and the witch were alone in facing Vetis, one just as powerful as any spirit god.

"Why did Sabathiel disappear?" asked Eriden.

Gwyn shrugged. "Something must have happened to Lillias."

"Lovely timing."

Four wiccan warriors charged Vetis before Eriden could stop them. Gwyn called out their names, but the witches discharged streams of fire from their mouthes, bathing Vetis in its embrace. He didn't try to evade the attack. Eriden backed away, unable to withstand the severe flames brightening the battlefield as heavy rain crackled and steamed, completely engulfing Vetis.

It didn't work.

Vetis whipped his black wings outwards. With a single blade of wind, Vetis doused the magic and decapitated his attackers in an instant. One of the fallen heads rolled into Gwyn's foot, lips parted, eyes glazed over. She stared at it, and in that moment, Eriden knew the same rage that boiled inside of him, exploded inside of her.

Gwyn screamed and launched spears of ice from the water she'd been gathering. Eriden gently laid down Jun, then carved out a large piece of rock from the ground below him and hurled it at the demon as well, supplementing the witch's attack. Vetis hurtled towards them. The ice shattered against his breast in a flurry of frost. Air must have been vibrating around him again, acting as a forcefield. Even the slab bounced harmlessly off his feathered body.

Something heavier needed to penetrate his defenses.

Eriden shot invisible strings of energy into the rock and raised his palm, facing the sky. Vetis careened forward, flying low. Perfect. Eriden grinned as he closed his fingers into a fist, pulling the strings. Massive pillars of wet rock burst from the stone below. They closed around Vetis like a sprung trap, each pillar crushing him from all sides.

The demon shrieked, wings flapping uselessly, talons clawing at air.

"You're finished!" yelled Gwyn, a Matrix gleaming over her fingers.

Tides of water surged into the sky, creating a wall over the rock face's ledge. After bulldozing several enemy spirits into the ocean, the waves collapsed and crashed into Vetis. Gwyn swayed the water into a violent whirlpool with a swish of her hand. The torrents buffeted the trapped demon.

Eriden had barely used any magic thus far, but he could feel his core overworking, his chest burning. He cursed. The only earth available to him was what was underneath him; pure, hulking, leaden rock, instead of the softer dirt and mud he usually manipulated. To cut and form such a substance meant it required massive bursts of energy.

"Is this going to work this time?" asked Eriden, staring into the depths.

Gwyn shook her head. "No, but this might," she said. "Krylla!"

Another witch off to the side with a thick mane of braids had just finished impaling a spirit with a multi-pronged frozen harpoon. Gwyn nodded to Vetis. The witch looked at Gwyn's handiwork, a mischievous grin spreading. Krylla raised her hands to the whirlpool. Nothing seemed to happen.