The Last Saint

26: Shock and Awe

The group made their way up the mountain, fighting through countless waves of Second's constructs. They were starting to get tired. All of them were. Luckily, the enemy's ranks were starting to thin. Adam noticed that strangely enough, the constructs were no longer behind them either. The group reached the front gates of the the castle, protected by 40 constructs.

"We'll have to clear them out to break down the door," Adam yelled.

Cain agreed, and they charged into the enemy in formation. Adam and Cain broke through the enemy ranks, slicing and slashing their foes, and Liz and Kara protected their backs. Adam fought hard, but his whole body was in agony. Every muscle begged him to just give up. Still, he fought on.

The group struggled to finish off the group of Constructs before them, but they succeeded. Adam looked around as they destroyed the last ones. Kara had a cut on her hip and shoulder. Liz was limping. They were worn out. Adam realized it - the likelihood that all of them would make it out of this battle alive was growing smaller.

Sybil walked ahead, preparing a spell to destroy the gate, but the doors opened on their own. Two men emerged. The first was tall and thin, with short, straight black hair and an emotionless expression. He dressed in fancy clothes, with a long brown coat reaching passed his knees. The other man was large and muscular, with spikey hair and thick burly arms, wearing a black vest and pants, and sunglasses.

Sybil stepped forward. "Blitz!" She said, and the muscular one smiled.

"Wilt," Kara added, and the thin one looked at her.

"These two are dangerous," Cain said. "Be careful!"

Cain and Kara stepped forward, and Cain gestured to Adam; "You three take Blitz. We'll handle the Ninth!"

And with that, they ran towards Wilt. But suddenly he created a corrosive fog which surrounded himself, forcing Cain back. Meanwhile, Blitz ran forward, firing arcs of electricity from his hands, separating Adam, Liz and Sybil. Sybil flew in, trying to rush him, but he dodged her, grabbed her ankle, and slammed her into the ground.

He then ran to Liz and Adam, electrocuted Liz, punched her face, and delivered a back kick to Adam's chest that knocked him over. 

Adam rolled over to avoid another kick from Blitz, but as he struggled to stand, Blitz came up close, relentlessly punching Adam, and knocking his sword out of his hands. Adam tried to fight back, but it was clear Blitz was a martial artist. Running low on options, Adam used fireballs to stun him, and rolled away, rising to his feet.

Blitz did a mocking bow. "Not bad Fourteenth, you've prolonged your miserable death by a couple of minutes!"

"You're the Tenth, aren't you?" Adam yelled. "Do you know how many of your little friends I've killed? I'm gonna tear your big head off!"

They ran towards each other, and began to brawl once more. Adam swung, but Blitz countered and beat him back to the ground.

From behind, Liz and Sybil rushed back into the fray, but he disarmed Liz and held his own 2 on 1. He fought hard, pummeling Sybil, as Adam got back up and started attacking him with air magic.

Blitz dodged and rolled forward, punching Adam in the groin, lifting him up, then slamming him into the ground. He cried out in pain and his vision blurred as he watched the Tenth backhand Liz, grab her by the throat, and slam her into the mountain wall.

"Well well girly, I guess you're first, but it'll be such a shame to crush that pretty face!" Blitz said.

Liz reached and grabbed something from behind her. "Fuck yourself," she spat out.

She drew Kara's gun, put it to Blitz's chest, and emptied the magazine into his heart. The Tenth dropped her and fell back, bleeding out on the ground. Liz coughed and caught her breath, and Sybil helped Adam up. 

Visions came to Adam's mind. He tried to ignore them, but one stood out; of him smithing two katanas, fitting them with hilts, and creating matching scabbards. He then presented one of the swords to Eve, but then the vision ended before he could see her response.

They helped Liz up, and Adam retrieved Eve's sword, realizing it was the one from the vision. By the gate, Kara and Cain were having trouble fighting Wilt, who's corrosive mist had them on the defensive.

"What do we do," Liz asked.

"That mist makes him untouchable," Sybil answered.

Adam had a sudden moment of clarity. "It's simple. We get rid of the mist."

He handed Eve's sword to Sybil, and she nodded to him. He limped forward, in front of the Ninth, who watched him motionlessly.

"Adam, you've been blinded by anger," Wilt said, his voice expressionless. "You're being manipulated. You must listen to us."

Adam shook his head. "So you can kill me?"

"It's not about you Adam. It's about the whole world. Your attachment to this life will destroy us all."

Adam shook his head, and released an incredible burst of wind that forced the corrosive mist away. Wilt's eyes widened, but he was too slow; Sybil flew in close and cut his throat.

As Wilt died, Adam saw more images. And then he realized it. That he had been here before. He saw himself standing in some sort of stone cathedral, where the roots of a great tree extended below the earth. And Eve stood beside him, her hand in his.

The images he was seeing were not visions. They were memories. He had lived once before. But when? Why did he come back? Did he and Eve fail to destroy the saints last time?

He snapped back to reality. 

Cain was looking around. "Where the hell is Second's army?"

"Who cares?" Liz whined. "We have a chance to take a breathe!"

"More importantly," Adam began. "There are only 5 Saints left. Taiyang, Freyja, Baum, Shadow and Fate."

Sybil pointed to the tower. "Fate and Eve are at the top. But for some reason, I don't sense Taiyang or Freyja here."

Adam shrugged. "It doesn't matter. Let's go in!"