Storm clouds black as coal churned above Kalahari. Thunder struck. Ominous magic tainted the air. Cygnus and the others glided across the cooling desert sea in the magic cart, the city coming closer into view. Its walls weren't as impressive as those surrounding Wunderdum, but they still stood tall and hosted a dusty home to over one hundred thousand souls. It was one of the largest, most diverse cities in the world, and had many spectacular travelers from far and wide. Despite this, not a single one knew the despair that was soon to befall them.
"There it is," Ada said, pointing forward. "Kalahari."
"Seems like we'd better get there before that storm hits," Cygnus said.
"Sango's desert howls," Kofi said. "We've never seen such weather here before. Those are surely hurricanes wrought by the whims of the elder god himself."
"Whatever it is, it's causing the radar to go haywire," Samson said, holding the rapidly humming magic tacker as its pinkish hue became engrossed in black splotches. It began to crack.
Epsilon looked at it, distraught. "Well, that's unprecedented…"
"It looks like the strange magic in the air overwhelmed it," Samson said. "I never thought so much magic in one place was possible. I've got a really, really awful feeling all of a sudden."
"I reckon we should head back, then," Brax said, his voice growing uneasy. "This ain't something we can deal with, that's for sure."
"Aye, I agree. Every nerve in my body is telling me to flee the other way," Cygnus said, pinching his arm. "Aftering witnessing the corrupt angel first hand, I can tell whatever is causing this magic storm is worth more than a thousand of them. I bet you could take the magic of every human that's ever existed and it still wouldn't even be close to the power in that storm.."
They all looked at each other nervously. Their path was clear. Brax, who was driving the cart, prepared to turn back. Cygnus put his hand out, stopping him.
"And despite that, my curiosity won't let me flee," Cygnus continued. "Quickly! Drop me at the city gates. I alone shall investigate. You guys head back to the camp."
"And what, good sir, might you be investigating?" Samson said, still holding the radar, which continued to crack.
Cygnus put his finger on the screen. "It seems there are two sources of the strange energy, one much weaker than the other. The weaker one is coming from the city."
"And?" Epsilon asked. "It's too dangerous."
"It's dangerous, yet I cannot stop myself," Cygnus said. "If there's even a one percent chance that there's something in that city drawing it near, then I shall find it. If not, then I shall die without regret."
"You know we won't leave you to your devices," Epsilon said, sighing. "Six is greater than one, o' great mathematician."
Cygnus looked at the storm, his eyes fixated on its sprawling darkness. "I shant endanger my comrades. My dear friends."
"Then they shall endanger themselves," Epsilon said.
Samson was shaking, but he nodded in agreement.
"I have already dedicated my loyalties to you," Kofi said. "Besides, I am not one who knows fear. We will go. Together."
Cygnus sighed, then he chuckled. "I figured that was the case, but I'm not so cruel as to not give the option to walk the other way."
"You really do love giving pointless choices, dontcha?" Brax asked. He looked to the city, steadying his mind as best he could.
"Ada, will you be the one to take the cart and report back to the camp?" Cygnus asked. "I know it's not the job you wanted, but one of us must get into contact with the mainland. Only someone of your expertise can make it back quickly-"
"You don't have to patronize me," Ada said. "I do not wish to burden you, so, I will go."
"Burden? I've never once considered you such," Cygnus said.
"For give my insolence, but if I were not the weakest link, you would not be sending me away from danger," Ada laughed.
Cygnus laughed back. "Far from the truth! If we all die, we need someone to continue our research! You may not have the experience we have, but you've more potential than even I. Should the worst come to worst and we are wiped from this Earth, we can die at peace knowing there is someone to carry on our legacy."
"Yeah, yeah, I get it. I'll go," Ada said. "But take the cart with you. I can make it there on foot. It will be much more efficient that way."
"Are you sure?" Cygnus asked. "That storm's coming in pretty fast and-"
"I will be fine," Ada interrupted. "I am the fastest runner in the village, you see."
Cygnus looked at Kofi, who nodded. Though he was clearly uncomfortable with letting her sister be separated from him, he did not protest.
"Then so be it," Cygnus said. "I only wish you luck, young scientist."
Ada shot him a smile before hopping out of the cart, not even waiting for it to stop. They watched as she ran off into the distance while they quickly approached what they could only assume was their fate.
"Alright, so now what?" Epsilon asked. They'd eached Kalahari's massive gate, and stopped the cart at an empty clearing. The ones in charge of regulating the city's frontal entrance had already fled, as did everyone else in the vicinity, leaving it eerily empty.
"Before the radar broke, it picked up a strange concentration at the city's center, yes?" Cygnus asked. "That's where we'll go. Samson, take the cart to a high roof and keep a visual on us. Be ready to cover us with your magic. I'll output a constant stream of energy so you can easily track us through the crowds. Brax, Epsilon, and myself will go first while Kofi trails slightly behind. I don't know what we'll find, so be prepared for anything."
They all nodded as they split up.
Cygnus, Brax, and Epsilon made their way to the center of the city, pushing through confused hordes of people. Unlike Wunderdum, which had soldiers to keep people in check, Kalahari was run by no one, and it was impossible to keep the public calm when things went wrong.
"What do you reckon' it could be?" Brax asked as they ran.
"No idea, but there is always a cause and effect," Cygnus said. "Something is making that storm come closer. We're going to find it."
"It seems like we're getting closer to finding the mystery of the anomalous magic, as well," Epsilon said.
"That, or closer to our deaths," Cygnus said.
As the sky darkened and sirens screamed across the streets, each and every person in the city knew something was awry. A strange, overwhelming sense of dread filled their souls. It was an unexplainable magic in the distance, quickly closing in on them. Growing. Pulsating. Draining the vitality from the air itself. They knew not what calamity befell them, but they knew by instinct that they had to run. They knew if they did not escape far away, they would die.
They sought a solution, a way out, but it seemed like there was none.
When control is lost, the mind loses its senses. Fear takes over, and each action becomes irrational and driven by instinct. The result of this dread in a densely populated place like Kalahari was utter pandemonium. Every which way, the scattering of merchants, nobles, and beggars alike caused chaos and brought up even more dust from the ground. Paired with the darkening sky, it became almost impossible to see. Impossible to hear anything clearly.
Even so, Cygnus and his companions pressed on, determined to get to its cause. The main threat may have loomed in the distance, but the thing bringing it to them like a magnet was right there, beneath the noses of the masses. A strange, rotten feeling from the heart of Kalahari.
It took them an hour of pushing their way through walls of fearful flesh, but they were finally almost there. Their pace slowed as they approached the city's center.
It was there that the three were met with a horrid sight.
They saw the witch of black shadows standing atop a mountain of corpses. With her arms spread and her tainted magic infesting the air, it was she who was heralding the storm of staggering, wretched magic. She drew it near, beckoning the calamity with wicked, bony fingers. A tempting siren, calling whatever lay in those clouds to be unleashed upon the desert city.
Blood seeped out from beneath the pile of dead flesh like molten lava seeping out of a fleshen volcano. The cries of a hundred lost soul sang a lullaby of deathly hollows, wailing in the midday night.
"T-that's her!" Brax said. "She's the one who attacked us before we got to the city… the one who decayed Xinyu's magic."
"And likely the one responsible for the angel, I suppose," Cygnus said, shuttering as he became overwhelmed by the corrupt energy pouring into each of their orpheuses. "Yes… I can feel it. It's the same wretched feeling from before."
The blackened witch's head snapped to them in a single breaking motion, her icy eyes freezing them in place.
She was powerful. Much stronger than any one of them. They could tell just by looking at her, by feeling the residual magic leaking from her spell.
They hadn't a chance to react or assess.
"Begone," the witch grumbled, waving her arm at them. With even more black black magic reaking from her deathly pores, the road around her began to crumble as the bodies sank and decayed into dust. Pressuring dark energy filled the dusten scape, sucking the air from the party's lungs and blowing sharp winds into teary eyes.
Their lungs burned as sand filled them to the brim. They struggled to even stand, the overbearing gravity constantly pushing them down, the wind gushing them back.
"W-what should we do?" Brax asked, blocking his face with his hands. He fell to his knees and used his hands to not fall fully.
They could barely stand in her presence. Surely, they could not hope to fight.
But Cygnus hadn't given up, even in that moment of terror. In fact, the reknowned scholar relished it! He often felt petrifying fear and normally would have been unable to move, but this time, he had something else burning it away. Curiosity! There was something he ahd to know. He would not give up, not yet, for he, Cygnus Rift, had a dream.
"Samson!" Cygnus yelled, his voice reverberating off the tall, sandstone buildings. He raised his hand to the ground and struck it down, signalling his comrade in the distance.
By his command, a shot echoed through the chaotic streets from far away. Within a fraction of a second, a metallic pellet hit the woman's head. It's struck with great velocity, yet it only bounced off and disappeared into nothing. Several more pellets wizzed by, hitting the woman in various vital spots. Her skull, her neck, her heart. While it normally would have killed a person instantly, none of the areas hit seemed to have any effect. They all bounced off and disappeared in a similar manner. The woman was completely unphased.
"Ha! Of course it won't be that easy!" Cygnus roared, his bones rattling in anticipation. "I wouldn't have it any other way!"
"Watch out," Brax whispered quietly from behind. "She ain't the same as before. I don't know what happened, but she seems much stronger than when we first saw her."
"You're sure about that?" Epsilon asked.
"As certain as can be," Brax said. "Maybe back then, we had a chance, but seein' her now, I don't even think Xinyu could beat her. It just don't seem possible…"
"Then let us bend impossibility to our whims," Cygnus said. He was a man of science, sure, but above all else, he was a dreamer. A romanticist who wouldn't be defined by logic alone.
For him, impossibility was merely a suggestion.
Black flames caught the witch's body, swelting in absolute power. The gravity in the area increased even further and fully brought each of them to their knees. It was like carrying hundreds of pounds of weight upon each inch of their bodies. They had to use every ounce of strength so as not to just fall.
"Y-you sure about that… old friend?" Epsilon asked, barely able to speak. "Samson's not as powerful as Princess Sako, but he's still the kingdom's second-best sniper. How in blazes is she still standing after a shot from a rifle?"
But Cygnus was not phased. He rose, using the gravity of his magic to negate the energy pressing down on him. His eyes were full of passion, his heart equally so. He began charging the power of a sun in his hand, invoking all his strength into a single point. His focus was as unbreakable as diamonds. The witch's magic aura may have grown with each passing second, but so did his.
One had to ask, where did such bravery come from?
Cygnus was a man of great resolve, but when it came to the heat of battle, he often wavered. He was a scholar, not a warrior. So, when it counted most, where did this newly found valor come from? His heart? His latent ability?
Nay. He'd learned it from someone else.
Even if he had to imitate the courage he'd seen the Eastland girl portray before, he would find it within himself to fight against the building dread. To find against not just his enemy, but himself.
He would be just like her. Brave. Fearless. Strong.
During the battle with the angel, his body lay broken on the ground, but his eyes watched her every move. He never stopped trying to understand her smile, and in the end, he learned to be just a little more courageous.
Alas! He wasn't inherently the strongest in the world, but he was the world's best learner. And that is what allowed him to stand against an opponent much greater than himself.
Cygnus, the Constellation Sorcerer, lit up the night with his star. Where most would have fled for their lives, he ran at the witch, charging with all his might. His body blazed and burned from the concentrated expenditure of unrestrained power. That was because his instincts screamed at him, telling him if he didn't throw everything at his foe with all he had, it would never be enough.
No, he thought. Not yet. Watch. Wait. Find the moment to strike.
The witch waved her hand and the earth crumbled beneath him, but Cygnus's sun became extinguished before she could do anything more. He'd withdrawn the attack completely. That's when the scholar begam zipping all around with physical enhancement magic, drawing her watchful gaze as he circled her. This was a distraction. The earth began to break, creating a hole near her. Kofi, who had used earthen magic to tunnel beneath the ground, broke through and leapt over the black sorceress, landing right behind. His muscles raging from the strain of magic coursing through of his veins, he unleashed a billow of heavy swings, his punches aimed precisely at a single point.
Kofi's fists exploded in the air as they flew, but the huntress nimbly evaded each one. Even so, the Southland man did not halt. He did not hesitate. His attack was relentless. Focused. But his focus left him open.
The witch noticed this weakness, and tried to attack from his blind sides. Dark tentacles emerged from the ground, aimed at the mans broad back, but before they could make contact, Samson shot each one away with his gun. He might not have been able to damage the witch herself, but he could easily counter her shadows with magic infused metal.
"Too bad those rounds don't do anything to her actual body," Epsilon remarked. He walked up to stand next to Cygnus, charging himself with electricity. Little spricks came from his torso and legs. A man of elemental expertise, he could command many magics. Fire. Water. Electricity. Air. Perhaps the most versatile master in all of Wunderdum, he was, without a doubt, one of its greatest hidden weapons.
He, alongside Cygnus, began walking forward, whispering in each other's ears a strategy they devised.
The witch knocked Kofi hard to the ground, then stood to face Cygnus and Epsilon as they walked at her head on. She pulled a blade made entirely of black mist from her forearm. It seemed to emerge from a small portal of shadows just below her midway joint. She raised to strike Kofi before they got to her, knowing he'd recover if she didn't kill him fast. Her downward slash was aimed at the nape of his neck, but Epsilon was too fast. He appeared in a blur of blue lightning, catching her hand before it fell. His muscles, energized by pure electricity running through his veins like wires, bolstered his strength several times more than what any regular soldier was capable of and halted the witch for a moment. It took everything in his body and soul to hold that single hand still, but he managed.
Cygnus barreled toward the witch once more with his cometing cosmic punch, charged with the star he'd forged before. He made the sun's energy seem to disappear, but kept it hidden beneath his skin, waiting for the moment to unleash it. The witch used her other hand to manifest a shadow whip and tried to slash the air with it, but was cut short when Kofi shot up and halted that hand as well. He held that hand in the air, trapping the witch in a position from which she could not break free. Black tentacles rose more rapidly than before as she struggled, but were quickly shot away by Samon's projectiles. He was too fast. Too precise. Her shadows wouldn't work with him watching over them.
Her pupils darted around. Her arms pulled with all her strength. Her body writhed. She tried everything to break free, but it was too late. Cygnus's blindingly bright fist met her ribs as he pelted her with all his might. He forced his arm further in, trying to break through to the other side. The fortress that was her body was tough, but they could all see it weaken. She was faltering. Her body tensed and her magic concentrated within herself, trying to defend from the relentless attack.
The witch might have been at her limit, but so were they. Their muscles were tearing apart from overuse. Their screaming voices growing bloody and coarse. Their lungs filling with sand. All they could taste was iron and fear, all they could feel was pain, yet they held firm. The witch's shadowy body, though resilient, had finally begun to crack. They could see an end in sight. Would it stop the calamity approaching? They didn't know, but they would worry about that after. For now, they still had to assure their victory.
They were so close. They just had to push with all they had a little longer.
But the witch was not done.
Her rage erupted as she screamed, piercing their ears with a monstrous needle that penetrated straight to their brains. In that faltering second, the black fire on her body amassed and grew, burning them as she forced them back in an explosion of pent-up energy. Kofi, who was quickly able to shield himself with earthen armor and stood firm through the blast, remained right where he stood. Letting go of her arm, he ducked behind the wicked woman, wrapping his arms around her body. He held her in place, like a python's constricting grip.
He yelled as he bound the witch down for a few more moments. "It's up to you, my sturdy companion!"
During that blight, one individual had stood back, not out of fear, but as a trump card. Should they fail in their initial attack, they'd still have cards to play.
"You got it!" Brax yelled as he drew from a revolving circle of glowing paper around him. During his comrades' assault, he used all his energy to create cards- as many as he could. Despite growing a little bit stronger, he had no way to be useful with just his earthen magic. He knew this, and he knew it well. So, he left it all to a gamble. He wasn't a master of his creation, but he had a little more control with his new understanding of natural magic.
There were many more cards than usual, spinning faster than they ever had. As Brax looked at the first card he snatched, he saw an odd a rectangle with a circle around each corner. Confused, he looked up to see the same shape, taken in the form of a steel block, floating high in the sky above him. From it, burning plasma rain began to pelt the ground directly beneath, right on top of Brax.
The fiery droplets of energy would've been enough to burn his body if he had not mastered the flow of magic. He let pellets of pure energy enter his body, absorbing them and concentrating them to a single point in his arm. His bones rattled at the pressure, and his insides felt as if they were boiling. The amount he was taking in was too much for his vessel to comfortably handle, and it began to crack from the massive amounts of energy entering him. Blood and sweat began to seep out of his skin, yet he remained composed. If he faltered, the crack would lead to a shatter. And a shatter meant instant death.
Just when he thought he might burst, the magic rain finally stopped. It hurt, but he could use it to his advantage. He would turn his unlucky card into one of luck.
Brax opened the palm of his hand, releasing the energy in the form of a beam, aimed straight at the witch. She knocked Kofi back with her head and threw her body left, barely evading it. Brax was far from finished. His body was still overflowing with the rain's energy, trying to escape his meager vessel, and so, the beam continued to flow out of his palm. He followed the woman with it, trying to catch her as she fled. She hopped around the scape, hiding behind clumps of bodies and creating shadow doubles to evade the potent blast.
A few seconds later, he felt the rest of the energy explode out of his arm all at once, knocking him back. His body had failed to maintain its focus. And though he was bruised and a bit bloody, he could still stand. The damage was minimal since he'd expunged most of the energy prior. He could still fight. He swiftly grabbed another card as Kofi, Cygnus, and Epsilon blocked the woman's path to him. Her black flames was searing, but they didn't back down. Their energy, confined to pure magic, became a compilation of fire and stars as they attacked her with punches and kicks faster than the eye could see.
Then, Cygnus jumped back three body lengths and put his hands together, as if praying. He slowly pulled them apart, tearing the air like leather, and from between, a black hole began to grow, distorting the light around it. Its gravitational pull became immense. The strength of the little black distortion multiplied. Two-fold. Three-fold. Ten-fold. Twenty. The dark huntress shot a piercing rope of darkness towards him, but even that was absorbed into the hole's ravenous nothingness. It was then that Kofi grabbed her arm, Epsilon the other, and channeled every ounce of energy into holding her in place once more. Her bodily fires burned and encapsulated a wider radius, but Epsilon's fire burned just as hot, countering hers as she struggled to maintain her magic.
From the front, Brax ran with a card in hand, and, pivoting to the back, Cygnus charged, holding the power of a collapsing star.
The witch screeched so loud that it could be heard by the heavens.
Despite her efforts, she could not escape.
A black hole dug into her back. A card was driven into her chest. On the face of that card was a piece of driftwood. When the edge of the card touched her, it turned from glowing paper to a stake of unbreakable dead wood, piercing her heart as her backbone was crushed to dust by a collapsing star. Her arms, which were torn asunder by the four-way assault, gave out as she fell to her knees. Her yelps of agony rang like a dying beast, and a dying beast, she was.
But a dying beast fights more viciously than any other.
When they thought they had won, the wicked woman's cries turned into roars. Though her body was broken, she strung it together with strings of darkness and puppeted herself like a marionette, cackling maniacally as she did. Her spine was rubble, yet she held herself up with a shadowy pole that could bend and mold itself in more ways than bone. This pole replaced her spine and other bones entirely, allowing her to stand once more. Much of her blood had been sapped, and her heart decimated to naught, but breath still left her pale lips. She concocted another heart in an instant with black yarn and pumped shadows through her veins to keep her fibers moving. Her blood ran black, her soul reliting her body with hatred.
Ressurected by pure darkness, she pumped a putrid, ashy haze into the air, making it impossible to breathe. It was suffocating and sapped both the physical and magical energy of those it touched. In the stench of that fog, she knocked all four of her enemies back with her a tendril from her mouth. From her finger, she shot a burst of black fire, hitting one of them. It was Epsilon.
As he fell to the ground, Epsilon writhed, the flames slowly fizzeling out. His body had been burned harshly by the witch's fire, and though the wounds cauterized instantly, the pain was enough to make him pass out. The other three landed on her feet, trying to catch their breath. Cygnus quickly ran up to Epsilon.
"This isn't good," Cygnus bit his lip, checking his fallen friends pulse. In his peripherals, he caught a glimpse of Samson still aiming at the witch, his sights unmoving. Cygnus realized what he had been doing.
He yelled to his other two comrades, who were trying to recover. "Brax, Kofi! We shall attack her head-on at once!"
"But-" Brax started.
"There's no time!" Cygnus interjected. "Trust in me and go forth with everything you've got! Before she has a chance to bring herself back together! It's our final shot."
Brax and Kofi nodded, then pounced at the woman in unison. Brax drew two cards at once, something he'd never done before due to the risk. He figured such a gamble was necessary.
He turned them over. One turned into a knife and fell to the ground, while the other morphed into a lion spirit. The lion roared, but then kneeled its head to Brax indicating subserviance to its creator. The knife simply lay there in the sand, nothing more than a slightly magical object. Both were lucky outcomes, all things considered. But not enough to defeat to witch as they were.
But that was fine. He didn't need exceptional luck. He just needed adequate luck.
Brax picked up a knife from the ground and tossed it to Cygnus, who hopped upon the lion's back and rode it as if it were a horse. Brax instinctively pointed forward, commanding the creature to charge the witch with the might and pride of a lion.
The lion spirit roared, causing it to emit a glorious golden shine. This light blew away the smog, and its powerful hind legs pounced forward, racing right towards the witch.
Cygnus channeled his magic into the knife, making it grow into a long saber painted with galactic color. They innately knew that the next strike had to be the finale, lest they wished to drag the battle into an unwinnable fight of attrition. All they had, all that they'd done, would be defined by the next moment.
Whether they lived or died would be determined by their ability to finish the weakened witch in one final attack.
Kofi grabbed the running lion by its hind legs, his muscles building with all the power he could muster. He began to spin and spin and spin, creating immense momentum with all he had. His muscles cramped at the speed he achieved and felt as if they would fly off his body, yet he kept spinning. Then, in an instant, he released the lion, propelling the beast and Cygnus forward with every last ounce of his strength, collapsing to his back right after. Cygnus, flying at near Mach speeds, could barely move his arms. He channeled all the physical strength he had left to raise the galaxy saber above his head as he cometted towards the witch.
Brax was on his knees. He could summon many semi-lucky cards, but he had not gotten to the point where he could draw them with ease. It knew from thereonout, fate was not his to command.
Cygnus was a hair away.
He swung the sword, clipping the woman's side, removing a chunk from where her ribs should've been.
But he missed a fatal strike. It happened too fast. He couldn't be precise. She stepped left and, with the slimmest of measurements, evaded the attack while Cygnus and the lion continued to hurl forward until they barreled into a wall. The lion disappeared while Cygnus crashed through the building, barely conscious.
Even so, he grinned because he knew that the attack didn't need to finish her. It simply needed to sway her attention away for a moment. He caught the glint of a light from atop a faraway rooftop.
Far away, Samson had his sights set on the witch.
"Sorry it took so long, but the longer the wait, the greater the payoff," he said under his breath. Supercharged with all his magic, the barrel of Samson's gun released a blast of energy so big that the recoil threw him back and caused his arms to go numb.
The shot pierced the woman's right side, removing another fifth of her body. She paused for a moment, but despite the heavy hit, she still stood.
It was not enough.
"I will not.. die," the woman said. Black strings began to shoot out from her body's open wounds, stringing together and solidify. Thread by thread, she used shadows to piece herself back together. On the cusp of death, she refused to fall.
"Not yet," she muttered. "Not… yet…"
She waved her hand and amassed a great gale of dark wind, ripping apart the exhausted warriors. She threw them into the walls, then thrust them to the ground. Bloody and heavily breathing, none of them could even stand. Samson fired one last desperate shot at the witch's head, but she caught it with a tentacle and catapulted straight back into him. It hit his shoulder, nearly ripping his arm off as he rolled back on the building, a pool of blood emerging around him.
In the end, though they came close, they missed the chance to destroy their foe by a hair. It wasn't because they couldn't match her strength. It was because her resilience was too great, and she held mysterious powers unbeknownst to any other.
"You were strong opponents," the witch grumbled. "If the world had resolve such as yours, this would have been different."
Wearily raising her arms to the sky, the storm surged and swirled, summoning hurricanes the desert lands had never before seen.
Finally, the calamity had arrived.
The city's people scrambled all about, trying to escape the city, yet there was no escape, because when the black clouds above opened up, something massive descended.
It was not a creature.
It was not mortal.
It was not a dream.
It was a god. Not just any god, but the elder god of the South. Sango, a king of gods, had appeared for the first time in thousands of years.
The end of the world, was nigh.