Four Arms absorbed the magical blast directly to his chest, tanking the dark energy like a boss shrugging off damage from a minion. A faint scorch mark marred his crimson hide, nothing more than a cosmetic scratch against his Tetramand durability.
His four eyes locked onto Hex with predatory focus, cataloging every advantage the dark magician possessed: the Archamada Book of Spells tucked against his robes, the serpent-skulled staff crackling with eldritch power, the collection of mystical pendants dangling from his neck and sleeves. Hex had come prepared with magical artifacts, accessories, and weapons, a walking arsenal of dark magic ready to be deployed.
Perfect, Four Arms thought. All those goodies are just waiting to be liberated.
Hex felt the weight of that hungry stare and his confidence wavered. The four-armed monster wasn't just looking at him, it was looking at his possessions. Like a predator sizing up prey, calculating exactly which piece to tear off first.
"Gwen, Ben, fall back a bit!" Four Arms called out, his deep voice echoing through the museum hall. "I'm going to take something from this corpse-faced magician that doesn't belong to him!"
His four massive arms tensed simultaneously, fists clenching with enough force to crack stone. The air around him rippled with barely contained power.
"Tempestus Eruptum!"
Hex recovered from his momentary shock and immediately went on the offensive. Dark syllables spilled from his lips as he raised his staff, launching a crackling bolt of magical energy directly at the Tetramand.
WHOOSH!
Four Arms felt invisible force wrap around his body, yanking him upward. The levitation spell, the same one Hex had used to pin everyone to the ceiling earlier, now targeted him specifically, attempting to lift his massive bulk off the ground and render him helpless.
CRACK!
Four Arms' legs drove downward with explosive force. His feet shattered through the museum's marble floor, driving deep into the foundation below. Cracks spiderwebbed outward from the impact craters as he anchored himself in place, using his immense weight and strength to resist the magical pull.
The levitation spell tugged uselessly at his body. He wasn't going anywhere.
Even better, Four Arms could move while resisting. Each step required him to tear his feet free from the floor and immediately smash them back down, but he advanced steadily toward Hex despite the magical interference.
BOOM! BOOM!
The sound of his footsteps echoed like artillery fire as he closed the distance, methodical and unstoppable.
Cold sweat broke out across Hex's skull-painted face. His body began to tremble despite his best efforts to project confidence. A dark intuition whispered what would happen if this four-armed monster reached him.
If he gets into melee range...
He'll tear me apart. Use me as a stress toy. Disassemble me piece by piece!
"Animatus Infernum!"
One of Hex's pendants flared with blinding light, and his staff discharged a bolt of crimson energy that arced over Four Arms' head. The Tetramand's eyes widened, the attack wasn't aimed at him at all.
The spell struck the three statues behind him: the two demon gargoyles and the robed figure of Death clutching its massive scythe.
"You old bag of bones!" Four Arms whipped around, realizing the deception too late. "You weren't aiming for me, you were going for the statues!"
Behind him, Ben had released his grip on the demon sculpture and was suddenly yanked toward the ceiling by the residual levitation spell. He slammed against the tiles with a grunt, arms flailing.
Gwen managed to grab the wall just in time, her fingers finding purchase on an ancient stone relief. The Charm of Luck around her neck pulsed with purple light, and somehow her grip held despite the magical force trying to pull her away.
And those two crimson bolts...
They hadn't dissipated. Instead, they curved around the three statues, connecting and forming a glowing circle of arcane energy. The sculptures began to bathe in unholy light.
"He's not trying to kill us," Four Arms realized, his expression growing grim. "He's trying to resurrect those things to fight for him!"
Under the power of Hex's reincarnation pendant, the statues came alive.
Stone cracked and shifted. Eyes that had been carved granite suddenly burned with malevolent crimson light. The two demon gargoyles stretched their massive bat-like wings, joints grinding as centuries of stillness fell away.
The figure of Death drifted free from its pedestal, skeletal robes billowing in an unfelt wind. Its grip tightened around the scythe, a blade that had been decorative marble moments ago but now gleamed with razor-sharp reality.
Gwen barely managed to haul herself against the wall before the levitation spell's pull intensified, her costume straining against the magical force.
"ROAR!"
The demons, no longer statues, now living nightmares, stepped out of the light with murderous intent burning in their four-eyed faces. They fixated on Four Arms with obvious hunger.
The Death specter floated beside Hex, scythe held in a ready position. Its empty eye sockets somehow conveyed anticipation.
"Damn it," Four Arms muttered, assessing the situation. "So it's four against one now?"
He slowly surveyed his enemies, two demons flanking wide, the Death specter hovering near Hex, and the dark magician himself maintaining his levitation spell while preparing additional attacks. His muscles tensed beneath his crimson hide, Vajra Indestructibility thrumming through every fiber of his being. That power could be unleashed in an instant.
"Keh heh heh..." Hex's cold laughter echoed through the hall. "I'm well aware that your transformations are remarkably powerful. Did you honestly think I'd be foolish enough to face you alone?"
If you can gang up on someone, why fight fair? Hex's logic was simple. Only idiots give their enemies a sporting chance!
The Archamada Book of Spells, the Charms of Bezel, his Staff of Ages, he'd brought everything. He wasn't about to let this shape-shifting menace take any of it.
"Four against one?" Four Arms' lips curled into a fierce grin. "Doesn't matter. You're all getting beaten."
"Arrogant fool." Hex's staff began gathering energy, dark purple flames dancing along its length. "You face a master magician and three of my most powerful constructs. Your bravado will, "
"He's not fighting alone!"
The voice came from above.
Ben, now encased in his steel power armor, released his grip on the ceiling and plummeted straight down. The suit's thrusters fired at the last second, converting his fall into a devastating tackle that drove him directly onto one of the demon gargoyles.
CRASH!
The impact sent both figures tumbling across the museum floor in a tangle of metal and stone limbs. Ben's armored fists were already swinging before they stopped rolling, hammering into the demon's face with mechanical precision.
"Ben?!" Four Arms stared in surprise, then felt warmth bloom in his chest. A grin spread across his alien features.
I have my own heroic companions.
I'm not fighting alone!
"Another Iron Warrior?!" Hex watched in disbelief as Ben's power armor went toe-to-toe with his demon construct. This wasn't part of his calculations. Where had this metal-clad fighter come from?
"And me, Lucky Girl!"
Gwen dropped from her position on the wall, landing in a crouch between the second demon and her family. The Charm of Luck blazed with purple radiance around her neck. In her hands, she gripped an ornate iron pole she'd pulled from a nearby display, heavy enough to serve as a makeshift weapon.
She twirled the improvised staff with surprising skill, then pointed it directly at the approaching demon.
"Hey, ugly! Over here!"
The second demon's burning eyes tracked to this new threat. Something about the glowing pendant around her neck seemed to enrage it, and the creature immediately changed course, abandoning Four Arms to lumber toward Gwen instead.
"You want your charm back?" Gwen taunted, backing away while maintaining her guard. "Come and get it!"
The battlefield had transformed entirely.
Ben versus the first demon gargoyle.
Gwen luring the second demon away.
Which left only the Death specter and Hex himself to face Four Arms.
"Gwen's actually fighting?" Four Arms felt a moment of genuine concern. "That demon isn't some street thug, it's way out of her league!"
But there was no time to intervene. He had his own battle to win.
Hex's skull-painted face twisted with fresh contempt. His staff rose, pendants flaring with gathered power. "It seems my lucky charm will be reclaimed ahead of schedule. Very well, my objective has changed. Rather than killing you immediately, I simply need to keep you occupied!"
He wasn't concerned about the girl at all. A child wearing his stolen pendant, armed with nothing but a metal stick? She posed no threat to one of his awakened constructs. The demon would crush her, reclaim the Charm of Luck, and return to assist him against the real threat.
Four Arms snorted, cracking all four sets of knuckles in sequence. "Keep me occupied? Both of you can try your absolute best."
BOOM!
Hex moved first.
Every pendant on his chest ignited simultaneously, cascading light across his robes like purple flames consuming dry kindling. The Staff of Ages discharged a massive shockwave of combined magical energy, golden, crimson, and violet strands interweaving into a devastating attack that screamed toward Four Arms from the right.
At the same instant, the Death specter lunged from the left.
Its skeletal feet scraped across the floor with a sound like grinding bone. The scythe swept in a horizontal arc aimed at Four Arms' midsection, the classic reaper's harvest, designed to bisect a target at the waist.
Both attacks converged simultaneously.