Ten minutes before the Present...
Chase turned, gasping in awe at the force of power that Leo had just performed... Even the ground where Chase stood had begun to crack from the power of his attack.
However, Chase was in no position to enjoy the show...
Because he was in danger.
Then just as he suspected...
A spear pierced his skull, ripping into his brain with terrible agony, threatening to kill him on the spot.
"Chase!" Gemini screamed from a distance.
Yet...
Somehow...
Chase wasn't out of the fight yet...
He ripped the spear out of his already shriveled up skull, his own brain matter spilling onto the ground.
He was now medically dead if he hadn't been before.
The adrenaline from his own flames eating away at his body, and his encounter with the divine... Could only keep him going so long.
He turned, launching himself towards Hextra...
'One touch.'
Another shockwave of invisible energy imploded in his body, ripping apart more internal organs.
He kept going.
'So close...'
Luna had gone quiet, but all he needed was just one touch upon the green goddess for the fight to be over...
He prayed that Luna was still there... Waiting for the right time.
Because even if he fell in this battle...
His team could live on.
With his palm inches away from Hextra's never ceasing grin, something changed.
"RAKSHAAAA!" She screamed, Chase now realizing just how doomed this battle had been from the start.
The beast that he had thought Leo had destroyed...
Stood between them.
Chase's boney hand shattered against the stone-like skin of the troll.
He threw his feet up, launching himself away from the troll, and staring at it with dread from afar as his body crashed against the ground.
Even his thoughts had vanished.
His brain was completely destroyed, leaving him with only the reality before him.
Which was inevitably defeat.
The troll had already began regenerating, his flesh rebuilding itself the instant that it's gaze met Chase.
He looked down at his own body.
Chase was now nothing but molten bone, as even his flames had begun to die out.
And yet...
"Move!" Luke threw himself in the way of the attack that Chase had been unable to even realize.
Luke's throat split open with blood as the troll's axe swung viciously.
Then Leo appeared, grabbing Luke and dashing away before returning only seconds after...
His body was completely mangled once again... But...
There was no energy seeping from his body.
Meaning that his catalyst had been destroyed...
And yet...
He was going to face off against this troll again...
Chase could not form speech.
But he tried to scream.
He tried to tell Leo to flee.
And yet he turned.
"Is that all you got?" Leo grinned.
Chase's soul tried to ignite.
He tried to force his energy to focus on the revitalization of his body, but it was too late.
Ice began to fill the room, capturing both the troll and Hextra momentarily.
Michael slid past, his eyes meeting Chase's decrepit form with a somber look on his face before sliding towards their fallen comrade.
Leo chuckled, grabbing a rock from the floor.
"You better find a way leader... Or else I'll bring you back and kill you myself..." Leo, as if not even realizing the state that Chase was in... Said so carelessly, so honestly...
As if Leo did not believe in the idea of losing...
...
Present...
Chase looked at the void around him with reverence...
"Let's hope this works..." He muttered, feeling his elder sister's hand press against the small of his back.
"It will... I'm sure of it."
Chase shook his head.
"You said three lesser gods?"
She nodded from behind his vision.
"Yes, but I am sure it will work out."
"How do you know?" He replied, clenching the fists of his soul's ethereal form.
"Because you felt it right?" She asked, clearly smiling from behind.
Chase was unsure at what she was talking of, so he shook his head with a saddened expression.
"There are three lesser gods in the area..."
'Huh?'
Then his soul began to scream as she poured her essence into his own soul...