Battle of the Multiverse

[Corzak The Mighty]

Nyx's eyes filled with unbridled vitriol as Chang'e prattled on and on about her plots and plans, her manipulations to this... "Marlore". For some reason it felt... oddly familiar to her, though she admittedly couldn't a finger on it. Either way, it was clear Chang'e had a hand in the destruction of this place too. Seemed she was really good at that.

"Guess Chang'e had her fun in this place too." Nyx let out an exasperated sigh, before her eyes drifted over to the skeleton on the floor. She wondered who this person was... what were their thoughts? Did he know Chang'e? Trust her even? Is that how she got into this place and ultimately killed him? And possibly even gotten everyone else here killed as well....

Her eyes drifted over to the massive tank. "So if Chang'e isn't full of shit, that possesses Rangis' power... do you think something like that could help us put that bitch down?"
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Owlzarus, spying the wracking bolts of the Wyvern King slice their way toward him, slithering like feel serpents through the air, was forced to defend himself, even as Tenchi Orion assailed the abomination. But before he channeled his runes into a last-ditch defense, he watched as the assault faded before his very eyes, blocked by darkness and blinding light conjured by their very own ally, Evoex. The antiquarian's gaze shifted toward Evoex, before his expression upturned into a smile.

"You are always full of surprises, aren't you Evoex?" Owlzarus mused to the glitching entity. He glanced briefly to his glitching, pixelated wing, before orange runes danced from his hand to the pinion. Time seemed to reverse on the limb as it reverted to its original state, unaffected by Evoex's affliction. He returned his gaze to Evoex, though his posture seemed to falter slightly. The expenditure of power was something he was not used to... to use his powers over time so extensively was beginning to wear on his body. The battle was far from over, but the antiquarian admitted to himself he was unsure how much more of his strength he could risk utilizing.

Owlzarus staggered slightly, as the orange runes around him briefly faltered. Raising a hand to Evoex, Owlzarus conjured a miniature microcosm in between his hands, a swirling vortex of time-space contained within the antiquarian's orange runes, before he drifted the sphere over to Evoex. "I am spent for now... I will need to support rather than fight directly. Take this... it possesses a portion of my power. Use it when the opportunity presents itself."
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Immanuel's body was bent, broken, worn into by the weight of Chang'es assault. The earth snarled, animated through the Corrupted Core's infernal magics, assailing Immanuel's divine form with its power. To think, a creature like this could best him... he knew the strength of their foe was unfathomable, yet even he could feel his spirit break before her power. Such a creature ould not - nay, should not - exist. It was the same as It'Lok'Ran'To, a destroyer among destroyers.

But he found himself saved by the Fusion Warrior's grace; before the earth could rise and devour him, skewer him with stone shards like the fangs of a ravenous beast, he found himself freed from its grasp. The God of Light's form shimmered for a moment in acknowledgement of the warrior, before his mind drifted to the form of Chang'e, and the clarion call of Hercules. Immanuel's wings spread wide, as the god prepared to enter the fray, but he was given pause when he was greeated by two flashes of energy: one, a hazy violet flame; another, a black void licked with shadow.

From the violet-flamed flash emerged a great, regal knight, clad in dark armor licked with purple flame. Great plumage erupted from the back of the figure's helm, as a long flowing violet cape danced behind him, licked with flame. The figure stamped a long handled glaive onto the ground. From the ravenous void emerged a figure in an ebony cloak, hundreds of tassels slithering from the figure's slender frame like the tentacles of a great squid. Chains and sigils of silver adorn the figure's frame, with a black veil obscuring their "face".

Immanuel was visibly taken aback by the appearance of these figures. "Tyr... Umbra... you have shown yourselves after so long... but why? Why now?"

The knightly figure bowed his head. "Forgive me, brother... I sought to know peace after our conflict. But I could not let this evil be left unhindered."

"Nor shall I," the robed figure hissed, eyeing Chang'e. "Let us end this. Together."

Immanuel acknowledged his siblings as best his eldritch form could. "Umbra, shall we like old times?"

The robed figure nodded, as she raised her hands up, as a swirl of darkness emerged around her, the tassels of her robe dancing to form a vortex of destructive entropy. Tyr looked to the battle against Tannin, before his form flared with violet flame. "I shall assist in battling the Tyrant of Wrath. You two can handle the abomination!"

In a flash of flame, Tyr was gone, leaving the two siblings alone. Umbra reached out a hand toward the monstrous form of the End of All, as the vortex around her intensified and began to manifest itself around the Corrupted Heart. Around the form of Chang'e, a ravenous void opened up, tendrils of inky blackness erupting like the tentacles of a monstrous sea beast! The darkness began to envelop Chang'e, entropic darkness blinding the corrupted Heart of the Multiverse and clinging to her like a destructive cloak! Chang'e's body was hardy, resisting the shade's entropic grasp upon her, but its effects were immediately noticeable, leaving an opening for one to strike!

Immanuel's form began to shine with golden light once more, concentrating his mind to once more channel the great lance of the heavens to smite a mighty foe. A divine ring of light danced around him, mingling with Umbra's darkness and forming a scintillating ring of gold and black! The combination of light and darkness soon began to coalesce into a spiraling spear of contrarian energies, focusing their powers into one! The lance grew in size and strength, soon becoming a fearsome, spiraling tower of destructive power.

Channeling their power together, the siblings announced their attack with a fearsome cry: "SPEAR OF DESTINY!"

The destructive lance sliced its way across the earth, tearing up massive portions of the arena as the spiraling spear of light and darkness aimed itself towards Chang'e...

Elsewhere, as the battle between Tannin and Jake raged, a mote of purple flame sliced through the air at blinding speeds! Erupting in a gout of brilliant violet fire, the form of tyr emerged, thrusting his glaive into the side of Tannin in a vibrant explosion! With the help of Jake's own assault, the two of them halted Tannin'charge long enough for Jake to prepare for a counterattack. Twirling his glaive, the armored god adopted a defensive stance against Tannin. He offered a nod of acknowledgement to the draconic warrior; he would run interference for him while he delivered a more decisive blow.

Violet flame slithered down the haft of Tyr's polearm as the bladed head became engulfed of purple fire. Twirling his weapon, Tyr lashed out with a series of blinding dashes, slashing and stabbing at Tannin's ill-defended points to keep the End of All distracted...

[Demon Lord Gira]

Mara and the others stood in silence as the video feed played out. Mara especially felt her hands clench tight into balled fists. This city, it too had suffered under Chang'es tyrannical rule. Parental abuse of what looked to be one of her children, sterilization of the masses, genocide... It was as if this bitch had made it her life goal to be as unrepentantly loathsome and vile as possible. And those names... Alex wasn't the most uncommon name in the world, but Crigan, Lavidana, Yzazil, those were definitely not common names.

Had they as well fallen victim to Chang'e? This world's versions of those gods perished by Chang'es hand? And the Alex mentioned... a different version of the one beside her? How much blood did Chang'e have on her hands?

But, luckily, something good had been left behind with this. Something that made coming down to this sunken tomb and learn more of Chang'es heinous machinations all the worth it.

"I do not like this woman," Risel plainly stated. "She is a bad woman. But, who is Rangis?"

"Rangis was Crigan's original name," Mara told Nyx and Risel as she walked up to look at the massive tank in question and what lay within. She tried to peer within, but the dark mist within made that difficult for her. "But when he had to be remade after he slew Salavance, he changed his name to Ragnok, and then Persephone renamed him to Crigan when she captured him. If what is in here is the bulk of his power..."

She looked over to Nyx and the other, a smile forming on her face. "How else do you kill an immortal than to instill the concept of death upon it? Guess the bitch forgot she kept the one thing she didn't want used against her down here. Now, how do we-"

"I am already on it," Lae said. He motioned for Aseya to help him up to a keyboard panel on the side of the massive tank, and the other small fae obliged and picked him up and threw him over to the control panel. He gently ran his diminutive hand across the panel and held it there for a few moments. Then, he pressed a few keys. The tank flashed with lights and wires disconnected from it. The murky cloud of gas and liquid within dissipated as it flowed into opened vents within the tank, and as the glass tank opened up, what lay within was a crimson flesh covered orb. Six golden claws encircled the orb, which was the size of a basketball. Once the tank was opened, Lae hopped over to the orb and put his hand on it, but immediately reeled back.

"It's hot to the touch. There's no doubt about it, this is part of Crigan's divine core," Lae said. "No wonder he's a decrepit husk of his former self. I'm surprised he still has enough power to form a Divine Tome for his soul."

"Divine Tome?" Aseya tilted her head in confusion.

"The soul of a god," Mara explained. "For now, let's get this back to Crigan."

_____________________________________________

For the demon lord Cavrasnak, what was supposed to be a slaughter for it to enjoy instead had become its funeral.

The fiend was outmatched, assailed on all sides by Ninja and Borskall alike. Confusion and pain surged through its mind. When had mortals become so powerful? When had the gods such might and will? Only one other had brought it to its end in the past. Were these beings even greater than the Tyrant of the Abyss? Im... Impossible!

Pinned and electrocuted by the constant bolts of lightning and mortally wounded by the efforts of Tenchi Orion and his allies, Cavrasnak's body and soul gave way, cursing in ancient Abyssal the one who had slain it before and the ones who ended it now... But it would not go out without leaving its conquerors with a parting gift.

The carcass of Cavrasnak began to billow out sickly purple fumes, a toxic gas that billowed from the severed blood vessels and veins across its body. It was a heavy suffocating gas, one that threatened to smother everything it came into contact with and reduce them to melted bones.

__________________________________________________

"Heather, let Molly go now," Demmy narrowed her one good eye at the towering mound of flesh that was now Heather, "and I might let you live."

The Solamith let out a hearty bellow as the soul flame in its hand flared brighter. "You're no longer in a position to bargain, Demmy... No, Demogorgon. All I have to do is give the mental command to Achilles over here, and Molly's life is forfeit. If you all value her safety, drop your weapons and prostrate yourselves before me, your new king! There's no weaseling out of this one, Demogorgon. I finally get the upper hand against you, after all this time!"

The girl in question was held off her feet by one hand of the silvery slime, and the other had twisted into a serrated blade held at her neck. Molly's heart was racing in her throat. She wanted to get out of this, to break free, to escape, something, anything, but what could she possibly do against this thing? She looked over to Demmy and to Nichelle, yet it was clear neither was willing to risk her life. Nichelle withdrew her weapons, and Demmy simply glared at Heather. If only she could use her Lifemother powers to-

"That won't work, I am afraid," The voice of the Lifemother whispered into her mind, her tone low and quiet. "This thing, this creation, it is tethered to our memories and mind. If I were to try to aid, it wouldn't be enough to save you. I am sorry, Molly. Even now, my powers are not enough to save you from this situation."

"Do not blame yourself, Lifemother." Molly mentally replied, even as the blade inched closer to her neck. "I trust in Demmy and Nichelle, and in Heather. I... I just know everything will be alright."

Even though that was her response, she had no way of knowing why she felt that way. Nothing gave it any sort of credence. By all accounts, she was dead on the spot. She was going to die at best, or worse serve as some servant to Tannin... Yet, she had a feeling, a notion that wouldn't be the case, that everything was indeed alright.

Footsteps drew her attention away from herself and back toward what was going on. Demmy was walking toward Heather, hands unballed, yet her glare never leaving. The towering Solamith's left eye twitched as it almost stepped back, as if unnerved by this sudden behavior.

"Oh? Are you coming closer to prostrate? To allow me to beat the everloving shit out of you, Demogorgon? To pay you back for all the humiliation you put me through, for everything I have suffered because of you?"

"You know, it finally dawned on me. If you hadn't kept running your big fat mouth about your laundry list of grievances, the connection wouldn't have hit me. Maybe spending so much time as a human has dulled my mind, but..." Demmy stopped, and took a deep sigh. Her one good eye briefly glanced over to Molly, a look that told the girl "I cannot believe I am actually doing this because of you," before the eye shifted back to face Heather. "You really do hold a grudge over the smallest of things, Demiurge."

"Demiurge?" Nichelle mouthed, the bioweapon's face just as confused as Molly's own, but was cut short as Heather gnashed their teeth together. The flame in their hands billowed and flickered as veins began to swell across the Solamith's face.

"Yes, younger sister! Yes I do! Your friendship with Cercil is what costed us the lives of our parents to her deranged sister! You... You took everything from me! You took my happiness, you took my security, my joy and peace! You took the only people who gave a fucking damn about me, and let the Archangel of War tear them to shreds trying to protect you! You lost one eye that day, but you got everything you ever fucking wanted after that, while I? I was left to the Garngraths!"

The monolithic Solamith grabbed Demmy by the neck and hoisted her up to eye level with its free hand, then brought the flame in the other hand into Demmy's face. The fire consumed Demmy, igniting her ablaze. Nichelle began to move forward, but was stopped by a look from Molly, who subtly shook her head. The bioweapon, trusting Molly's judgement, stayed still while Heather burst into laughter.

"To think, I envied the attention our parents gave you from such a young age. I was their favorite little boy at first, cherished and loved by them, and then you came in. You took their love and care and focus away from me! I thought perhaps it was because you were a girl, that something was wrong with me if they were so quick to shift over to you. I tried to be more like you, to look more like you, to act more like you, to dress more like you, to change my entire self to be more like what they saw in you. And you LAUGHED at me! You mocked me, saying I looked stupid trying to be a girl! They thought something was wrong with me, changing myself to be more like you. I lost their love and their respect that day, and then you took them from me completely by your befriending that damned angel! I was left to rot in the Abyss. And when I found my way to a group that accepted me for what I wanted to be? In comes YOU, FUCKING YOU, to take everything away from me once again after all these years!"

The flames billowed hotter and larger. The humanoid form within the fire vanished entirely, and Heather let go.

"This is what you fucking deserve, Demogorgon! You ended my life, now I end yours!"

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Through the tendrils tore into the Tyrant of Wrath's hide and spilled oily black blood upon the ground, Tannin would not be stopped. Even as the energy turrets Jake had formed blasted into him from four angels, Tannin continued to advance, each beat of his massive wingspan propelling him further and faster despite the odds. Were it not for the energies of the Core of the Multiverse fueling him, Jake's terrifying salvo of power would have not only blasted him back, but also reduced The End of All to little more than a bloody smear against the ground. The arrival of Tyr with his empowered strikes was still not enough to stop Tannin.

No, it only painted a target upon his back.

As it was, the Core was serving as a far more potent source of power than Persephone could have ever been for Tannin. He was a runaway freight train of malice and destruction, and he slammed into Jake with all of his might. Jagged fangs clamped down upon his neck and dug deep into his flesh, and the twin clawed legs of the End of All dug trenches into Jake as well. Tannin's tails slashed down upon Tyr as he came in for a striking blow, and the god was sent crashing down into the earth below in a plume of dust. His hide being bombarded and blasted into, Tannin swung Jake's body to intercept his own attacks, the energy bombardment blasting into Jake's back, before Tannin crashed back down into the torn earth below, his great bulk weighing down upon the opposing dragon beneath him. Necrotic fire began to churn in his maw, to set ablaze his foe here and now...

The call of Godzilla was Jake's salvation. Tannin leaped back, letting go of his foe as his sixteen eyes turned to face the approaching arrival. Another foe... One who would also feel his terrible wrath. They would perish as well. Arching his head high up into the air, Tannin sent bolt after bolt of fell energy from his eyes into the torn distorted sky above him as well as the surge of deathly flames he had been building up. The eye bolts curved back downward by the dozens, vaporizing the landscape as they honed in on the approaching Godzilla and upon Jake. At the same time, the skies rained down fire that threatened to burn away at the both of them and at Tyr on a molecular level.

While this was going on, the limp weakened form of Persephone fell from Riistang's petrified body and landed upon the ground with an unceremonious thud. Her eyes, glazed over in their half opened state, saw nothing, but she heard everything. Everything she had tried to accomplish... Her goal of a perfect world free of gods... All for naught. All of her efforts, merely played into Chang'es hands. She was so close... Yet so, so far away. Was this... what Cercil had tried to warn her of so long ago? Why she had been... so protective of her?

"I... I'm sorry..."

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"Sister! You... You will pay for this." One of the twins cried as the other was turned into a metal statue. She turned to glare at Nameless, and her form darkened as she merged with the metallic statue. Both she and the statue melded together, and something else took form. It was a great monstrous serpent that formed before Nameless, a beast with two massive pincer claws and acid that dripped from its gaping maw. A single eye peered down at the much smaller form of Nameless, and its jaws parted in a deafening bellow as it swung both of its pincer claws toward the armored figure, each claw large enough to slice him in half.

"YOU WILL PAY FOR MAKING LIGHT OF US, MORTAL! WE WILL BE YOUR END!"

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If The Wyvern King was surprised and infuriated by Eevoex's interference in her attempt to end Owlzarus's existence, she didn't have any time to show it as Taifage continued her assault. The foe was fast, much faster than anything she was used to, and with the constant strikes and blasts, she found herself subdued beneath the reptile's bulk and pinned. Though the flames themselves did little to harm her, there was something else about them that burned away at The Wyvern King, some other aspect of them that ignited her body in pain. And she was about to receive another blast at point blank range.

Before Taifage could unleash her surge of atomic fire, the third head of The Wyvern King struck, arching upward as the only one of the necks not pinned down to latch onto Taifage's throat. She pushed the maw of the reptile off of her, and the atomic fire came just a hair too late, flying into the sky. She pushed herself up, knocking the reptile back, before the other two heads snapped forward, one onto Taifage's left arm, the other upon Taifage's right arm. With a beat of her wings, she took to the sky, then dropped back down and slammed Taifage into the earth beneath her. Now it was her turn to return the favor, as three beams charged up within The Wyvern King's maws...

Pain lacerated across her back, and two of the heads lost their grip and incinerated the ground instead. One blasted into Taifage's throat, sending the reptile reeling backwards.The source of the pain was Crigan, who had flown in, claws dripping with her blood. He stabbed the claws back down into The Wyvern King's back, and the pain consumed her. She felt her life force, her energy, being siphoned into Crigan, her power weakening.

The middle head's eyes narrowed into venomous slits. No, she was the true God of Death now, not he! He would suffer for this transgression!

Crigan flew back just in time to avoid a mouth that tried to bite at him, and ducked low to evade another bite. Now The Wyvern King's full attention was upon him and not on Taifage...

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What... What had they done? These were bastardized memories... memories of Marlore.

Chang'e felt her anger boiling over as she was stuck in place, unable to do anything but watch and observe as mockeries of her victims from Marlore, from her old personal project from so long ago, all jeered and mocked at her. How did they know? How could they have known?! Was Tiamat digging through her mind to dredge up and distort these memories? She knew each and every one of these people, all whom she had personally made their lives a living hell back then... Yet now they were mocking her, reviling her, laughing at her, at what they saw, at what Tiamat and the Ninjas wished to mock her with.

Her blood boiled over. She would make them pay for humiliating her like this. She was the Core of the Multiverse, the apex of power, the Ultimate One! This would not continue on her wa-

It hit her. In that moment, something in the darkest dredges of her mind came roaring to the surface, separate from the jeers and taunts and jabs. It was something from Marlore she had forgotten about after all these years.

If Tiamat and the Ninjas knew about all of this... Then, they knew of-

Her thoughts were stopped as salvation unintentionally came to free her from her mental prison. It was Hercules, who blasted at her with his gun. In that moment, the mental prison she had been stuck in was undone, the physical strike freeing her. Yet she only had a split second to process her freedom before the Spear of Destiny from the divine siblings came in to finish the job. The godly strike vaporized what remained of Chang'e, yet as her upper body was disintegrated, it seemed a cheshire smile had spread across her face.

If the Sandman had thought he had trapped Chang'es soul, he was in for a rude awakening. The soul within the prison he had conjured turned to face him, and a cackling grin formed across it, before the soul flashed and exploded, shattering his rotating disc of psychic energy and sending him flying back. The physical remnants of Chang'es body that Hercules was tangling with expanded outward, surging with electricity as they turned into metallic wires that flew toward him.

All the while, the form of Chang'e remanifested within the Tree Core, and this time the taunting and smugness she one had was fully gone. Murderous hatred radiated from her being, and she focused her enegies fully upon ending Tiamat and the Ninjas. Persephone's Feldite blade shot forward from a rift and slashed into Orion, the god killing properties of the unholy material burning and melting away at his flesh. Dozens more identical blades began to fire out from constantly opening rifts, creating a rain of god slaying blades all aimed toward Tiamat and Tenchi Orion.

"I'll make sure not a single atom of your existence remains once I am finished with you! NONE WILL REMAIN THAT WILL REMEMBER YOUR NAMES!"

From another rift came forth thousands of eye bolts from the Tannins of countless timelines, all raining down upon the Sandman, Hercules, the divine siblings and upon Tenchi Orion and Tiamat.

[HayesAJones]

"I don't like her much either," Alex confided in Risel. The researcher seemed somewhat ashamed at the admission; by giving into hatred.

Alex shook his head, then cleared his throat. "Um... about that... getting back, I mean. Do we need to go back topside? Because it's, uh... ugly out there. The sky opened up and started raining monsters."

[Beast Blood]

The red of blood once more filled Tannin’s vision - his every eye blinded by deepest crimson. The fell power from his eyes struck the land, but died long before it would reach any of the heroes. Rather, it dispersed utterly, water to an intense flame. A great aurora now stood before the dragon, of ethereal body and eyes like burning starlight - a projection of the Beastmother, far larger than the one he had met before, materializing before him. Its ghostly hands latched his throat; his feet left the earth. Far above it was Tannin lifted, cast towards the churning skies, an offering for every hero and god to lay waste to. Ristaang scowled from above, glaring from her own eyes and that of her ghostly avatar.

The ghastly grasp of the Red Aurora held him firm, even as pieces of his body were unmade by the contact with her flaming body, scattering as sand to the wind. However much his form tried to heal the horrible damage wrought, the spectral power of Ristaang dispersed it immediately, a blood-red devouring plague, torn threads of his very being unraveled into nothing. For Ristaang represented death as much as she did life. By dealing death to those who threatened life, she allowed it to thrive. Her claws would reap, so that more could be sown.

Though he had evaded her might before, Tannin would find this avatar much harder to weasel from. For now he faced a portion of her essence, a manifestation of her formidable power. There was no flesh for him to tear. No bones for him to break. No blood for him to spill. There was only spirit. Ferocious, indomitable spirit. And that alone would prove for him impossible to break, a uniquely stubborn flame he could never subdue and certainly not extinguish. For that spirit was why there was only one of Ristaang where there were untold numbers of Tannin throughout the multiverse - the multiverse only needed one. Hers was an unbreakable will, unbridled strength that yielded to none; not even reality. It mattered not how many different universes she would have to tear through to hunt him down, by her heart-driven rage and impossible might, she would see him torn in each of them, long as he endangered this universe her loved ones lived in.

And besides her were souls of similar resolve, those heroes who fought at her side. Trapped in the great Beast’s paws, nothing would save him from their fury.

Today, the End would meet his.

____________________________

The towering Borskall did not have time to escape the billowing smoke, and as such found themselves reeling back from it, holding their breath so as to not be caught in a furious fit of violent coughing. Still the fumes raked their noses, drawing blood from the more sensitive flesh. Korraz immediately pawed at her face, protecting her eyes from clinging fumes lest she be blinded.

The earth was drenched in blood, deeply imbibed with its spilling. The Borskall were covered in red, clothes and fur soaked deep crimson. The mangled bodies of wyverns lay scattered all around their feet. And before them was this great plume of noxious smoke, a veritable fountain of death, ending note to this symphony of war. A culmination of all the violence that had occurred here.

But the Borskall, tired as they were, remained hopeful. For after every battle came the quiet, however long it would last.

A deafening crash of thunder came from Hod’s wings as he slammed dark pinions together, rending the air and dispersing the shroud of death with a blast of electromagnetic might. The beauty of the night sky became visible again, moon and star shining above.

“Allow me,” Gaiyan said as she rejoined her friends, extending an arm to the broken husk of the demon Cavrasnak. In her other arm she cradled Cthelee, while Mitsif hid nestled within her cloak’s collar. There was with her, as well, the shapeshifting Fray, curled about her shoulders as a living scarf.

From the healer’s outstretched hand floated glowing green spores, little motes of light that scattered over the creature’s corpse. The body and the earth beneath it shifted at their touch. From the mangled remains grew a tiny sapling, a little pine tree that rose to tower above the giants. Born from death, nurtured by the flesh and blood of the fiend, the majestic pine purified the air, ending the demon’s menace for good. Healing spores rained from its boughs, gently drifting to the earth below.

“From death... life,” Gaiyan remarked, folding back her arm to scratch Fray behind the ears.