Forged Legacy

Nobody spoke as they marched forward. With Heaven’s overwhelming numerical advantage, it felt more like they were waiting in line at an amusement park than charging into battle. The squad of angels would occasionally take a few steps forward, then wait for their summoned beasts to gain more ground. Harvey knew there might be a few demons to shoot once they rounded the corner, but he had to conserve his essence for the real battles. A truly horrifying scene awaited them when they rounded the bend. The blood of thousands of humans flowed down the sidewalk gutters, pouring down into drains leading who knows where. Half-chewed bodies and severed limbs were piled high against the concrete buildings, some reaching the second-story windows of apartments that sat atop the various storefronts down below. Lions used them like ramps, charging up into the complexes where they hunted for the demons raining bullets down on them moments before. Giant eagles plucked others off the rooftops, tossing them down into the rampage below.

Heaven suffered plenty of their own casualties, but Celeste pulled them to the center of Heaven’s advance where they could conserve their resources for the fight against Hell’s final lieutenant. Considering Heaven’s own lieutenants couldn’t leave the nodes they guarded without surrendering the genesis matter they provided to Hell’s side, it fell to the Captains to ensure Hell’s demise. Brutus was somewhere, but as the only angel capable of controlling the Protean Foundry, he couldn’t risk assassination. If he died, Heaven couldn’t conjure a single beast, making killing him Hell’s only lifeline.

Right now, Harvey didn’t care about Brutus. He didn’t care about Heaven or Hell. He just wanted to go home. Living in a perfect little suburban neighborhood for the past few weeks helped him forget the desperation he’d felt back in Veils End. His emotions were so raw after their own last stand at the Hell Hotel that he’d let himself get sucked into pretending at least part of their lives could be normal. But it was all a facade, one built by monsters who fully intended on turning his people into cattle and his planet into their prison.

[You’re spiraling. I need you to stay focused.]

Why does it matter? What happens when some other faction has Heaven’s back against the wall once we’re down on Earth? They’re just going to do the same thing to us that Hell did to the sinners.

[You won’t let that happen. But you have to survive if you’re going to protect anyone.]

They continued their march, eventually coming up on what looked like a copy of the Roman Colosseum. As more and more of Hell’s monsters fell, the demons began retreating inside. Narrow tunnels ringed the building, too small for large groups of beasts to charge through. A Nephilim would have to crawl on its hands and knees just to have a chance, and even then it might get stuck.

“Elite squads follow me!” Celeste shouted. “Brutus is going to keep things loud out here so we can make a move on the Lieutenant!”

Proving her point, angels who had largely held back until now started launching skills and bullets towards every opening in the Colosseum walls, picking off demons trying to fight back from cover. Multiple layers of shield sprang up around them as their group of 50 sprinted towards one of the tunnels. Celeste took the lead, sending out waves of razor energy from her sword towards any demon who tried to stand in their way. Harvey loaded Heaven’s Wrath slugs into Cataclysm, boring a hole in the chest of any survivors. Pushing to the end of the tunnel, they saw the entire building was packed full of demons.

“Harvey! Make some chaos!” Celeste barked.

Adrenaline helping overcome his melancholy, he conjured two shattersmite cores with Echo Forge and imbued them with his Architect of the Veils End Imprint. Scanning the stands for the most densely packed sections, he hurled the bombs as hard as he could. Booming explosions were followed by gouts of holy flame erupting from every piece of shrapnel, throwing burned and bloody demons high into the air. He’d already thrown another set by the time his group was spotted, but Hell wasn’t going to let their intrusion slide. Golden shields shattered one after another as hundreds of skills came their way, only to be replaced by a new one in the nick of time. Squads of angels fought their way in through other tunnels, but Celeste’s was forced to endure all of Hell’s ire for an agonizingly long moment.

“Fall back!” Celeste commanded. Harvey didn’t listen, charging forward and conjuring Legacy’s Redoubt to block the entrance. The steel groaned and buckled under the constant attacks, but he poured as much of his Tempered Heart Imprint as he could to reinforce it. Opening the door to let some of the others pile in, they continued the assault. A few demons tried attacking the redoubt up close, but infusing his Tempered Heart Imprint made any cracks in the steel shoot a blast of forgefire similar to his Fangburner skill. Once a few stumbled away with smoldering armor, the rest maintained a safe distance. The redoubt wouldn’t last forever, but the Sentinels continuously conjured shields just outside the walls to help it hold out a little longer. That gave the other squads time to join the fray, pulling some of the attention away from them.

“I’m going to detonate this thing, which should clear out the entrance,” Harvey announced.

“We charge on three! Ready!” Celeste shouted, counting down until Harvey changed his legacy infusion to Architect of the Veil's End, turning the redoubt into a frag grenade that threatened to collapse the tunnel down on top of them. His kill notifications suggested the blast only killed one demon, but it gave them enough room to surge into the Colosseum proper. Harvey activated the shield array inscribed on his shotgun that conjured a circular essence barrier around the barrel and sprinted through the dust, blasting the first set of black wings he could see with a burst of golden fire. He had no idea how he was supposed to find the lieutenant among all these demons, but he was content to keep blasting for the moment.

[Awaken the sniper!] Julius exclaimed.

No! I need the essence.

[Then drink a potion! I want to help!]

Grumbling, Harvey pulled Extinction out of his spatial ring and hurled it high into the air, activating Awakened Armament at the apex of its flight. Julius wasted no time taking control of the gun, flying even higher where it could pick off high-value targets from a distance.

Clearing out their immediate surroundings, Harvey uncorked an essence potion and scanned the battlefield. The demons in the stands looked the same as the ones he’d fought at the Golden Calf Casino and the farmhouse the gluttonous lieutenant called home. Most wore lavish clothes that he wouldn’t call armor, but that wasn’t a surprise considering most of the angels fought in robes.

[Look down in the fighting pits]

Harvey complied, looking down where the gladiators would fight for Rome’s sadistic entertainment. The sandy arena was packed full of demons who looked like they could’ve been pulled straight out of a Mad Max movie. They wore pieces of plate armor made from the same black metal Harvey had melted down into his angelbane bullet, but few had more than half of their body covered. Unlike their more refined brethren, these demons looked like true barbarians, wielding swords and axes that bit deep into angel flesh.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

[The ones in the middle are wearing full armor.] Julius said before a flash of golden flame erupted from the top of one of their helmets.

Can you break through?

[I don’t think so.]

“Celeste!” Harvey shouted, pointing down at the sand. She nodded, shouting for the rest of the squad to start clearing a path. A blinding flash of lightning from Tyler’s bat punched a hole through the crowd, sending demons flying with smoke rising from their wings. Any who refused to move found a bat hurtling towards their head. Rather than worry about securing kills, the squad rushed toward higher-priority targets. Everyone took occasional hits from errant skills and determined demons, but each had their own way of enduring them. Harvey coated himself in stone using Fangburner, letting anything strong enough to break the barrier do so and dodging anything that might actually break through his armor. Tyler used Fast Break to flit around the battlefield, the extra speed helping him bob and weave until he built up enough momentum with Relentless Assault that he could start batting attacks away. Cash used his skill that let him turn his wings into solid gold, turning them into mobile cover that shielded them from the hail of bullets flying overhead. His conjured lion joined Tyler at the vanguard, savaging the legs of any demon dumb enough to make a stand. Celeste’s sword never stopped moving, parrying one demon’s sword slash before whipping around to send a wave of searing light at the neck of another. Harvey had never actually learned the full extent of her skills, but he assumed she had something similar to Tyler’s momentum-based buffing skill for her to dance in and out of danger so gracefully.

Steve, on the other hand, was currently huddled in the middle of the squad. His Father’s Vigil bathed the surroundings in holy resonance, but he couldn’t do much more than that without putting himself in grave danger. Level 25 just wasn’t enough for this battlefield, and Harvey was beginning to regret bringing him along. His shields crumbled after a single attack, and using his chains just gave the demons leverage to yank him towards their sword. Switching places with anyone using Father’s Sacrifice was suicide, so all he could do was shoot the occasional beam of radiance out from his sword.

Despite their efforts, Harvey still got his bell rung a few times before they reached the front row. Something had nailed him right in the back of the head, but he’d scrambled away before they could follow up. The unexpected attack left his mouth throbbing, but it didn’t stop him from leaping over the railing. Before they landed, Tyler activated Fulmination for a second time, blasting a cluster of armor-clad demons with a legacy-infused lightning bolt that turned the ground beneath their feet to glass. It used up all the momentum he’d built, but cleared a small landing area. The demon he’d targeted was convulsing on the ground, and the second Tyler landed, he activated Fast Break to rush over and take an overhand swing at its head. A burst of explosive force joined the bat in cracking both the man’s helmet and his skull, showering Tyler’s silver armor in a spray of red.

“Stay close! They’re protecting the lieutenant!” Celeste commanded.

Harvey was right on her heels, blasting Desolation slugs towards any gaps he could find in a demon's armor. When the fight devolved into a furious melee, he began conjuring empty orbs with Inkbound Ordnance and filling them with the same ratio of Starving Swarm and Prophet’s Suffering Ink that made up his Desolation Arrays. It was the first time he’d combined inks inside the tiny grenades, but it worked like a charm, turning the churning storm of essence held within the same sickly yellow color he was looking for. One after another, he lobbed the grenades towards the center of the arena, hoping to catch the lieutenant unaware and start draining his essence before he got to use a single skill.

It didn’t take long for the gladiators to catch on to his tactics, and a group of five made a desperate push to stop him. They were met by two faceless humanoids made of molten silver, wearing the same baseball uniform his brother had worn for the past 3 years. One pitched a fastball at the leader’s head, the golden stitching spinning impossibly fast as the metal baseball curved around the demon's shield. It wasn’t a lethal wound, but the impact staggered the demon just enough for the second teammate to follow up with a bat to the ribs. Tyler wasn’t far behind, joining his summoned companions in battering the demons.

Harvey racked his shotgun, careful to time his shots where he wouldn’t accidentally hit his brother. A few weeks of fighting together weren’t enough for them to instinctively move around each other's attacks, and Tyler’s erratic movements made it hard to get a clear shot. Frustrated, Harvey boosted himself into the air and started shooting at their backs. It helped him land more shots, but it also made him an easy target. Spears, firebolts, and bullets screamed towards him, denting his armor in a dozen places. His weave screamed in protest as the strands embedded into his equipment with Soul Forge weathered the storm, and he dove back to the ground before any of the bends turned into breaks. His mad dash ended up with him pinning a demon to the ground, and scorching pain was spreading through his body before he knew what was happening. Plunging his shotgun barrel into the demon’s exposed stomach, he pulled the trigger. Desolation licked at his armor, trying to siphon essence from the many arrays inscribed in the silver. The hungry flames soon turned away when they found easier prey, attacking the gaping wound in the demon and all of the vital blood streaming out of it.

Still, another wave of pain washed over him as the dagger in the demon’s hand stabbed into his armpit again. The demon had found one of the few gaps in his armor and pierced straight through the cloth armor beneath it. When it tried to attack a third time, Harvey snatched its wrist and twisted, a tiny jet from Booster helping him break the barbarian’s arm. The demon screamed in pain as the knife clattered to the ground, and Harvey traded his shotgun for his sword, stabbing it up through the bleeding wound and into a lung. Lightning fried the man’s insides while Harvey activated all three healing brands inscribed on the Sentinel’s Arcblade. By the time the demon died, the wound on Harvey’s armpit had already closed. Losing the healing arrays so soon definitely hurt, but it was better than trying to fight with an open wound.

“Behind you!” Tyler shouted. Harvey dove towards the floor just in time to hear the whoosh of a weapon flying over his head. Springing to his feet, he parried a follow-up strike. Holding back the axe nearly broke his wrists, making him realize he had neither the strength nor the skill to fight this woman hand to hand. Harvey tried boosting himself out of harm's way, but ghostly hands sprouted from the ground to hold his legs in a vice grip. The demon sported a wicked grin as her axe burst into flame. Harvey knew he didn’t have time to switch to his shotgun, so he covered himself with Fangburner and prepared to meet the demon’s swing.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three nickel-sized holes sprouted from the demon's neck, making her falter. Harvey jumped on the opportunity, activating Flamestrike and imbuing his Architect of the Veils End Imprint to help his sword cut deep into the hand holding the axe. Unable to hold on through the pain, she dropped her weapon, leaving her wide open when Celeste’s sword lunged toward her neck.

“I told you to stay close!” she chastised Harvey, helping pull him out of the failing skill still rooting him to the ground.

The squad regrouped and kept pushing towards the center of the arena. Harvey returned to lobbing Inkbound Ordnance into the largest groups of demons, until a cage of bones sprang up to intercept a grenade.

“Enough!” a deep, angry voice screamed. “Let them through! I want to finish this face to face.”

The battle in the stands continued to rage, but the demons filling the arena cleared a path towards the newly erected cage. Inside stood two very different demons, guarded by a contingent of elites. One appeared to be the leader of the more barbaric contingent, wearing full plate armor adorned with shards of bone from a myriad of creatures. In his hands was a massive two-headed battleaxe with a shaft longer than Harvey was tall. Beside him stood a handful of demons that looked like they’d come straight from a high-powered law firm. They didn’t seem dressed for the occasion, but Harvey could feel the powerful auras of their equipment. There was more to their silk ties and gold watches than meets the eye, and the fact he couldn’t see any weapons wasn’t as comforting as it should be. Their leader looked completely calm despite the chaos unfolding all around them, spiking his own heart rate even higher.

Why aren’t you shooting?

[I tried already. The cage has a barrier I can’t break.]

Alright, come back down then. I might need you inside.

“You’re just inviting us in?” Harvey asked. “Aren’t you worried we might win?”

Extinction dropped out of the air and landed in his open hands. Harvey pulled the bolt back, making sure the chamber was empty before conjuring a Desolation round inside.

The armored demon took off his helmet, revealing a mane of long, messy brown hair and a hungry smile. “No.”