The fire felt warm as she was transported by Urithax's powers. They stepped out onto the battlefield. Urithax had come with her, he was already in dragon form, snorting white flame through his nostrils.
"As I suspected, it's Calamity," Urithax grumbled.
Veronica spotted Willow crawling across the ground toward Rhenvar. A pink cat-like being flickered beside him, spasming violently. And towering above them was a monster.
Red. Massive. Covered in jagged spikes and radiant glowing veins.
Calamity.
The end of worlds, made flesh. A true Worldeater.
"Syrethe!" Veronica called.
Veronica's spirit beast surged from a spiral of light and wind, his massive serpent forming green scales that shined with a shine of colors coiling beside her.
("I'm hereee,") he hissed, rising to his full height with a frown. ("Mmm. And that thing… Veronica be careful.")
She ignored him.
(The hair on my arms was tingling the moment we arrived. One wrong move and that monster will kill me.)
She sighed.
(I can't keep fearing death. I have a part in this story now and I'll use the power the Gods of this world had gifted me.)
(Biochemical Insight.)
Her vision sharpened, emerald eyes glowed. She scanned Calamity's form with her super power. Muscle composition. Cell density. Stress fractures forming from overexerted regeneration.
(He was overclocked. His body was burning too fast. Resistance to death but no resistance to targeted nerve disruption. I could use that.)
She bit into her wrist. Her blood shimmered, charged with her elixir blessing. She smeared it down Syrethe's fangs.
"A poison made for him," she said. "Designed to destabilize his neural responses. Urithax will give an opening."
("Ooooh. I like this.") Syrethe said, coiling with anticipation.
"Just inject it, don't die."
("I'll try.")
"So," Urithax gave a scaled smiled. "He got stronger!"
The dragon wasted no time. Urithax launched into the air like a feral beast, flames streaking from his jaws. He slammed into Calamity, claws carving deep in the red monster's skin.
Calamity reeled, not just from the pain, but the surprising force that hit him. He hadn't expected to be hit that hard.
"It's good to see you again," Urithax roared. "eater of worlds!"
Calamity struck back, but Urithax met the blow with his smothering jaws, unleashing a blast of heat that ignited the world around them.
Syrethe struck from below, diving through smoke and flame. Calamity's foot came down to crush him, but the serpent was already behind him, biting deep into the base of the spine.
She saw it work instantly.
Calamity jerked.
The elixir hit his bloodstream. Her destabilizer flooded his nervous system. His movements slowed, stuttering, and twitching.
Urithax slammed him again, dragging the beast backward through broken slabs of stone and cracked rebar.
She stepped forward, scanning again.
(Yes, the God truly blessed me. The neural disruption was escalating. Time to add another.)
"Syrethe!"
He slithered fast to her side.
She rubbed more of her blood on his fangs.
(This one tuned to be a different formula. Cell friction. Accelerated decay. He can't heal if his cells are dying.)
Urithax caught Calamity's next swing with his claws and crushed the wrist until something cracked. Calamity staggered.
Syrethe appeared next to him and bit him, then vanished.
"What are you doing to me?" The monster hissed. "Who..."
Urithax grinned, white flame curling between his teeth. "Eater of Worlds you should focus."
Another blast surged from his jaws, so bright the street turned white.
It struck Calamity's chest. The red titan howled and fell to one knee, molten purple blood oozing from his mouth.
But not dead.
Still smiling.
("I hate that look,") Syrethe muttered, reappearing beside her.
"Then let's wipe it off."
She summoned a third elixir from her blood.
(This one's crafted to keep his cells alive. To multiply. His own body will fight it… and in doing so, turn against itself. Poetic.)
"Just like before, it's working!"
Syrethe nodded with coated fangs.
Syrethe moved like lightning.
Urithax collided with Calamity again, driving him through a wall of steel. The building shattered. The streets were melted to slag. The sky turned white from the heat.
"You've gotten stronger," the dragon growled. "Yet all of that strength isn't your own."
Calamity roared. He struck back, but Syrethe coiled around his leg and yanked. Then he sunk his fangs.
Another weak point. Another opening.
Urithax didn't miss it.
He slammed his weight down, burying Calamity in a crater of flame and stone. Then bit into the monster's shoulder, divine fire erupting from the wound.The sight was blinding, as if a star was exploding.
Calamity screamed.
Veronica saw a panic flicker on his face for the first time.
Calamity was dying.
Syrethe returned. ("He's still adapting. If this keeps up, he might become resistant to all your elixirs.")
"Then don't give him time," she said. "We can't let him stabilize."
(Our hit and run tactic is working. Urithax is doing great. He is a fallen God after all.)
She stepped closer. Scanned again. Cells tearing apart from internal contradiction. Systems misfiring. His body was burning itself out from within. The cancer was spreading.
A final elixir, her deadliest yet, Syrethe's fang slid across her wrist.
"This one's for the heart," She whispered, and licked her blood.
Urithax roared, unleashing one last desperate punch onto Calamity's chest. The skyline lit with magical energy.
The red monster skidded backward from the recoil. Through a dozen melted cars, molten trails burning objects.
Silence.
Urithax stood tall, wings spread wide, breath steaming from his jaws like lava vents.
Calamity fell to one knee.
For a moment, it looked like they had won.
Then Calamity stood.
Veronica locked eyes with Calamity.
"So, you're the one responsible for my slowed movements." Calamity was not smiling any more. He had a look of hatred.
Her heart sank.
And she felt it, just like when she was executed in her first life.
Her death is near.