The Mythos Trials

Chapter Thirty-Four, Part One

It was just as Phenex had said. Once the fog had lifted, revealing Mizake's true form at its centre—resembling a fox more than a feline now, with long, tapered ears—Gwen could see beyond to where Sitri and his troops were. Standing a little ways off to the left was Ares, his sword still painted with Iris's blood. Iris was slumped at his feet, large brown eyes wide, unseeing.

So it's true, Gwen thought. She really is dead.

Gwen felt her chest constrict at the realization, but there wasn't time to figure out just what she felt about Iris's passing. Mizake crouched, the edges of his long, narrow snout curling up to reveal wickedly-curved fangs. Coal-black eyes glared out from beneath tufts of red- and white-streaked fur, all four of his tails lashing irritably behind him, ears pinned flat against his head. Phenex tensed on her left, Forneus on her right. With their backs pressed up against the staircase, there wasn't room enough to dodge Mizake if he attacked.

Mizake's glare stayed on them a moment longer, but at the scraping of steel being returned to its leather sheath, he whipped his gaze around, pinning it on Ares. A low, threatening growl issued from between sharp teeth, nullifying all other sounds.

Gwen's chest rose and fell with rapid, shallow breaths, her heart jumping into her throat as Mizake closed the distance between himself and Ares. Across from them, no one else dared to move. Sitri had taken to the air, cat-tilted eyes wide with fear, leaving his ground forces to deal with the angry Akuma in his stead. Whatever remained of the Leden Siva was either hidden from view or destroyed, though Gwen didn't hold out hope for the latter. A short distance from Ares stood Otrera, her chest rising and falling with the same panic Gwen herself felt.

Otrera's gaze flitted toward Ares, her hand going to her hip, where her sword was sheathed. She wasn't quick enough. Mizake pounced, and with a thrust of one paw, sent Ares hurtling through the air, landing hard against the council chamber door on the opposite side of the Central Junction.

From how quickly he clambered to his feet, it was clear Ares had sustained little damage, but with him out of the way, what little relief Gwen might have felt was short-lived. Even if Mizake took down every last enemy along the Central Junction, how long before he set his sights on them?

Phenex seemed to be thinking along the same lines. "We've gotta go." He glanced up past the stairwell, eyes reflecting the trails of ether slowly returning to their natural, vibrant hues. "I don't care about their lackeys—let them flee or die, it's all the same to me—but if we want to lock up the head honchos, we have to hurry. We've only got ten minutes."

The three of them circled around the stairwell, Gwen running as fast as her legs could carry her up the spiralling steps and down an enclosed corridor opening onto a marbled balcony. Here they stopped, Gwen panting with her hands on her knees, while Forneus surveyed the mayhem in the levels above and below.

"It looks like a great many from Sitri's faction are fleeing." He pointed to a mass of bodies surging farther down, pursued by the soldiers they had seen shortly after Sitri's arrival. Curious, hour-glass symbols were etched into their armour plating, fringed with golden whorls and flecks that Gwen took to be grains of sand.

"I think it's safe to say we know who sent them now," said Phenex, giving voice to the same conclusion Gwen herself had just reached. "Guess Gwilym was able to lend aid, after all." Then with a furtive glance back the way they had come, the pounding of clawed feet echoing between the corridor's walls, he added, "We have to keep moving."

They took off, coming out onto a crystal bridge lined with decorative columns before veering left onto another footpath, leading to another set of stairs. From here, Gwen was granted a clear view of the battle raging below. Set and Horus clashed in midair, sparks of brilliant, godly light enveloping them and lancing out haphazardly to destroy the network of walkways nearest to them—and all of the monsters between. Gwen saw more than a few operatives get caught in the crossfire, though whether dead or injured, she couldn't be sure.