The moment Jax's voice echoed across the field, the pressure in the air changed, pressing down on the Hero Party.
Killian, as the most powerful member of the group, felt it first. His golden aura flickered, the divine radiance around his armor stuttering as if something far older and far heavier had pressed a hand against it.
"Form up," Touka ordered sharply, planting her shield into the earth, a magnificent golden aura sparkling around the Shield, "Standard suppression formation, just like we trained yall. Lizzy, buff us all. Alexi, prepare Tier-Zero Magic, the strongest you can, Alicia, overwatch. Natasha, "
"I'm already moving," the assassin's voice whispered as her body dissolved into shadow.
"LET'S DO THIS!" Touka said, holy light surging around her as Lizzy raised her Holy Staff, chanting a rapid divine spell as waves of blessings landing on the party.
Jax tilted his head slightly, golden eyes glowing brighter beneath the helmet as he sensed their strength increasing from the Blessings, "Good. At least you remembered how to try."
Killian roared and charged again, sword blazing with divine sunlight as he crossed the distance in an instant, Touka moving alongside him, shield raised, the two of them executing a flawless pincer assault they had perfected over months of demon slaughter.
Jax didn't move.
Killian's blade came down with enough force to cleave a fortress gate.
~CLINK!~
Jax caught it, with just a finger.
His Index finger pressed against the glowing sword, the radiance of the blade snuffed out like a candle submerged in water.
Killian's eyes widened as he saw this, and Jax leaned in slightly, mocking Killian as he said, "You swing like a child, how pathetic,"
~BANG!~
His fist slammed into Killian's stomach, rearranging some of his internal organs as Killian's body folded around the impact, being launched across the field, skipping through the ground like a stone across water before crashing into a distant ridge hard enough to crater it.
"Killian!" Lizzy screamed as she saw this.
Touka also didn't hesitate. Her shield flashed as she stepped in, divine sigils blazing, slamming it forward in a crushing bash meant to break mountains.
Jax's eyes shifted to her and as soon as she felt Jax's eyes on her, Touka felt it, a primal fear that she was undeniably outmatched by her opponent.
The golden glow in Jax's eyes intensified and Touka's breath hitched as an invisible weight crushed down on her mind, her body freezing mid-motion as images not her own flooded her thoughts, burning towns, screaming civilians, blood soaking streets she had told herself were necessary sacrifices to destroy all the Demons and save the good people of this world.
Her knees buckled as all of these visions flashed through her thoughts.
"You hide it well," Jax said calmly, stepping past her stalled shield, "But your sins scream."
His knee struck her shield anyway, and the Shield shattered, with Touka being sent tumbling through the dirt, blood spraying from her mouth as she struggle to breathe.
"TOUKA!" Alexi screamed as she released her spell, the sky rupturing as lightning, fire, ice and compressed mana all combined into a single annihilating column.
Tier-Zero Elemental Cataclysm, a spell meant to erase cities.
The spell engulfed Jax completely.
The explosion turned the battlefield into hell, elemental energy tearing the landscape apart.
For a moment, the Hero Party dared to hope, but when the smoke cleared, Jax stood at the center of the devastation, cape fluttering slightly, armor untouched. The spell's energy coiled around him like obedient serpents before dissolving into nothing.
Alexi's staff slipped from her fingers.
"That spell," she whispered, horrified. "That should have, "
"I let it hit me," Jax interrupted. He raised his hand, fingers curling slowly. "So you could understand the difference between us."
The air crushed inward. Alexi screamed as invisible force seized her, lifting her off the ground, limbs flailing as pressure wrapped around her chest, her magic collapsing in on itself.
Lizzy frantically raised barriers, holy walls slamming into place around Alexi.
They shattered like glass as Jax flicked his wrist, slamming Alexi into the ground hard enough to knock the breath from her lungs, her body skidding across the ground.
Alicia loosed arrow after arrow, nature magic entwining each shot, vines and wind guiding them with lethal precision.
Jax didn't even look.
The arrows froze mid-air, twisted, and dropped harmlessly to the ground.
"Your attacks are way too predicable," Jax said.
Alicia gasped as killing intent slammed into her mind, her vision blurring, knees giving out as terror clawed up her spine. She dropped to one knee, bow clattering from numb fingers.
Natasha finally decided to strike, appearing from behind with her blades coated in shadow and poison, aiming for the joints in his armor.
Jax turned his head just enough, his hand snapping back as he caught Natasha by the throat mid lunge.
Natasha choked, eyes bulging as she was lifted effortlessly off the ground, her shadows tearing uselessly against his grip.
"Invisibility doesn't work," Jax said softly, tightening his hold, "when I see everything."
He tossed her aside like trash.
She hit the ground and didn't get back up.
~BOOM!~
Just as the Heroes were losing their faith, a blinding surge of Holy Light erupted from the tree-line behind the Hero Party, accompanied by the rhythm of marching boots.
White-and-gold banners bearing the sigil of the Holy Order pierced the smoke-filled air as thousands, of armored figures poured onto the field.
Holy Knights, Paladins, Templars, Clerics and more, all mounted on Radiant War-Horses ready for battle. Their combined faith manifested in a blazing wall of light that clashed with Jax's demonic pressure.
"Heroes of Light!" a commanding voice boomed, "Fall back! The Holy Order will hold the line for your retreat,"
Relief slammed into the battered Heroes like a lifeline.
Lizzy sobbed openly as she scrambled to Alexi's side, pouring healing magic into her broken body while the others also regrouped behind the advancing Knights.
For the first time since the battle began, the Heroes believed they might survive.
Jax slowly turned his head toward the charging legion, smiling underneath the helmet as he decided to toy with his old friends some more.
"So," he said softly, voice carrying effortlessly over the battlefield, "the insects brought reinforcements."
The Holy Knights didn't hesitate even as they heard that.
"FOR THE GODDESS!" they roared as one, charging.
~BOOM~BOOM~BOOM!~
Holy spells detonated across the field. From Pillars of sanctified fire to spears of divine judgement raining from the sky, the Holy Knights unleashed everything in their arsenal at Jax.
Jax stepped forward as he saw this, a huge wave of his mana pressure surging outward in a crushing wave, smashing into the front ranks of the Knights and instantly pulverizing them into flattened bloody piles of metal.
Jax raised one hand and all of the Holy spells sent towards him froze in mid air, trembling violently as they struggled against an invisible grip.
"Your Goddess," Jax said calmly, fingers curling, "didn't give you enough."
He clenched his fist and the spells reversed.
Holy fire twisted black and Divine Spears turned into Demonic Swords. The Knights barely had time to scream before their own attacks detonated among them, vaporizing entire formations in chain reactions of sanctified self-destruction.
The battlefield became a slaughterhouse as Jax moved around, walking through the legion as bodies fell apart around him.
A backhand erased a mounted Paladin and his steed in a red mist while a stomp collapsed the ground, swallowing dozens whole. His gaze alone caused Knights to clutch their heads and collapse, brains liquefying under the weight of his killing intent.
A High Templar raised a relic greatsword, screaming prayers as he swung, but Jax caught the blade and crushed it, holy metal screaming as it shattered. His elbow followed, punching through the man's chest and ripping his heart free in one smooth motion.
"Too slow."
He tossed the Heart aside, its blood soaking the ground.
The Heroes watched in absolute horror as Jax decimated the Holy Knights sent to assist them. B Within minutes, the field was silent save for crackling fires and the wet sounds of cooling gore. Not a single Holy Knight remained standing. Not one alive.
Jax turned back toward the Heroes.
They flinched as one.
"Now," he said pleasantly, "that was for your benefit."
Touka snapped out of her shock first, "Teleport! NOW!" she shouted.
Lizzy slammed her staff into the ground, screaming the incantation through tears as a massive teleportation circle flared beneath the Heroes, runes spinning desperately as divine energy surged.
Killian grabbed Alexi. Alicia stumbled into the circle. Touka dragged herself forward, shielding Lizzy with her body.
The spell began to activate, space warping as Jax's smile widened.
His hand shot out, and with brutal precision, just before the teleportation activated, Jax seized Natasha by the throat and yanked her out of the teleportation circle, space tearing like cloth as she was violently pulled back across the battlefield.
"NO!" Touka screamed.
The light exploded and the Heroes vanished, silence falling over the battlefield as Jax stood alone amid the corpses, holding Natasha aloft as she slowly stirred, choking weakly, eyes fluttering open in dawning terror.
He looked down at her.
"Phase one," he murmured.
His golden eyes burned with cruel satisfaction as he tightened his grip just enough to make her gasp.
"Complete."
Meanwhile, the Heroes found themselves in the ruins of an old temple, far from the battlefield.
Touka sank to her knees, still clutching Killian's bloodied body, her sword clattering to the ground beside her. The others were silent, their faces pale and shell-shocked.
Alicia was the first to speak, her voice trembling, "We... We left her..."
Touka's hands tightened into fists, her knuckles white, "We didn't have a choice," she said, her voice low and raw. But even as the words left her lips, they felt hollow.
Alexi collapsed to the ground, tears streaming down her face, "He took her... Natasha..."
The oppressive silence stretched on, broken only by Killian's ragged breathing and the distant echoes of their failure.