Protectors- Consequence

Chapter Twelve: Bloodlust

Time began to flow again, and Spirit found herself barely dodging the shining blade, which swiftly returned to Nash's hand as he leapt, unaware that time had been stopped for a second time. Zachary's hand closed around the blade, and although it burned his hand, the nerves were destroyed quickly, allowing him to hold on without pain. The barrier loomed over Nash as he struggled back towards it, seeking its shelter by jumping through the dimensional wall, but Zachary held on tight, forcing Nash around. Blood dripped from the burning hand and from Paladin's wounds, pooling together and flowing into the barrier, being obliterated by the unlimited absence of energy. Wraith called forth shadows, but they did not come, erased by the glow of the holy light. The blade slipped, slicing Zachary's hand apart, but before Nash could dive for his barrier, Metamorph's arm transformed into a large draconic claw, running him through and pinning him to the tarmac with the sharp nails. As he hit the floor, Nash disappeared, diving into another dimension,

"Fuck!" Crimson bellowed, his face still wide open, "Back to back, we don't know where he'll attack from!"

A circle of blood surrounded them, as the group all faced away from each other, ready for Nash to reappear. Spirit morphed the landscape into one of insanely smooth bricks, which pointed up diagonally, creating a surface around them where it would be impossible to walk. To create even more turmoil, it was chilled with magic shortly after, becoming even more slippery. Zachary grew wings, taking his Fury form and soaring into the air, staring down at the Perth cityscape. It had been reconstructed many times over the years, blown apart by Jones, destroyed by Yurin, and made Zachary wonder whether the Chrysalis was a good occurrence for this world, or a bad one, whether its effects were mostly positive, or mostly negative. The deep philosophical thoughts were interrupted by a presence, followed by the Asmodeus demon, roaring an Eldritch battle cry as it soared towards Zachary,

"He's here!" Zachary yelled, "and not using the barrier yet, now's our chance!"

He dodged the demon, but instantly realised that it wasn't Asmodeus, the crackling of Aura notified him of that. A small yellow border surrounded the thing as it swung at Zachary, but he barrel rolled out of the way, reverting himself to a winged human,

"You're not the demon,"

The thing began to shift as well, skin and bones cracking and shifting until a mirror of his own was revealed. Nash had brought another Zachary into the world. Then the presence became clear. Even though Crimson's blood shot out like a razor, it bounced off the skin of the man, as a deranged Noctum rose from the ground, muttering demonically about his past losses, totally consumed by the Chrysalis. The sky turned red. Blood red. As if Noctum's anger had killed the gods above, staining the sky with their life force. He stared daggers at Nash, who reappeared, his barrier of light following him, but when a blast of concentrated Aura flew into it, it was deflected in an instant, soaring right into Noctum's chest and winding him slightly, before he screamed at the heavens, blowing everyone backwards with his force, the sky cracked open by crimson light,

"Fucking hell!" Both Zachary's bellowed at the same time,

A huge Aura sphere flew at the two, faster than either could dodge out of the way. Zachary from the alternate timeline punched his counterpart in the face, pushing him from the radius just as the sphere consumed him, leaving not a shred of being left. Noctum continued to rage, attacking everything in sight, the glowing red Chrysalis inching further out of his chest. Zachary pummelled Noctum with both fists, but the lightning punches had no effect on the transformed Vigilante,

"I've got this!" Spirit shouted, stopping time's flow in an instant, charging towards Noctum,

She began to feel tired at the halfway point, the intense heat of the Aura enough to slow her progress, but eventually, forcing herself through the heat, Niamh brought her arm up to Noctum's chest, pulling the Chrysalis with magic and muscle. Noctum moved a split second before time began to flow, sending an explosive blast through the Chrysalis and blowing up Spirit,