Winter: Waking; Up; In; A; White; White; World; A; Decision; Is; Made PT. 4/7

"PIERCE!"

I watched the ground erupt from underneath us, sending everyone back towards me before the dirt returned to normal.

"PIERCE!"

"Shadow Crush!"

Erebus appeared next to the passed out Necessitas, crushing Iapetus' attack that came from the wall with his free hand, darkness covering his hand.

"Man, Mr. Tall Man really has it out for Necessitas!" Hemera yelled out, frowning at Iapetus before pointing her finger at Iapetus. "Hey, don't you know better than to attack non-combatants!? She's passed out for crying aloud!"

"THAT BITCH WHO DARES THINK SHE CAN MESS WITH MY FAMILY REUNION!? I WANNA SLAUGHTER HER, I DON'T EVEN CARE IF SHE'S DANGEROUS, NO ONE GETS IN THE WAY OF FAMILY!"

Nyx whistled softly. "Damn, he really does have a screw loose in there somewhere." She raised up her right index, middle, and ring finger, the rings glowing before she thrusted her fingers down.

"And The Clock Strikes 3!"

"Pierce!"

Nyx's illusion got torn to shreds as Iapetus glared her down.

"If you think a mere illusion would stop me, then you need to learn a thing or two girly."

"Daybreak!"

Hemera had reached Iapetus and slammed both of her fists towards him, colliding with his metallic spear as a bright flash of light filled the room.

"Pierce!"

"Shadow Step!"

Hemera appeared next to us once more along with Erebus, and I gritted my teeth as we continued to make no progress against the man named Iapetus.

"Shadow Saw!"

I watched the darkness around Erebus' wooden katana shape itself into razor blades that whirred to life before Erebus rushed towards Iapetus once more.

"Pierce!"

"Masochistic Tendencies!"

Eros jumped in the way of the attack, taking it all in full force, bruises starting to appear on his body.

"Oh my, those really do hurt~!" Eros purred out, winking at Iapetus.

"Lover's Quarrel!"

A barrage of sparkles barreled their way towards Iapetus along with Erebus, who leapt up in the air.

"Shadow Embrace!"

The darkness enveloped the bright yellow sparkles, tinging them a purple as they continued to make their way towards Iapetus, who had a crazed look within his piercing brown eyes.

"PIERCE!"

"Dual Combo! Shadow's Quarrel!"

The sparkles rushed towards the attack that came from the ground, obliterating the dirt as they exploded around Iapetus, causing dust to rise up from the ground.

"Shadow Saw-Slicer!"

Erebus ripped through the dust, slamming into Iapetus as he spun through the air, only to collide with Iapetus' spear at the last second, Iapetus holding firm as Erebus' attack was put to a standstill.

"You have a lot to learn, EREBUS!"

He sent Erebus flying into the wall next to me with a loud boom, and I watched Erebus fall to the ground, coughing loudly.

"Erebus!" I yelled out, rushing towards him before I noticed the darkness around him.

"Shadow Armour," Erebus chuckled out, groaning as he managed to get back up. "Damn that hurt. Just how strong can one man be?"

"PIERCE!"

Aether yawned as he walked in front of the spikes coming from the ground that were heading straight for the passed out Necessitas, each of them missing their target entirely as they were obliterated.

"You should learn to aim better, Peasant," Aether said simply, glaring at Iapetus. "You shouldn't touch one of my followers, since they are far above you in status you Plebeian."

"You damn brat, how the hell are you doing it?" Iapetus pondered.

"Happiness, PUNCH!"

Hemera once more slammed her gauntlets into Iapetus' spear, both of them steaming from the impact.

"Mr. Tall Man, just stay down already!" Hemera yelled out, her gauntlets started to glow red as she pulled her arm back for another attack.

"Pierce!"

"Frolicking Tendencies!"

Eros barely managed to get Hemera out of the way, bringing her back to Nyx.

"Ah man, I almost had it!"

"You mean your gauntlets almost had it," Nyx muttered, glancing at Hemera's fists.

"Cool Night!"

The temperature dropped considerably around us, making all the heat from Hemera's attack fade away, including the heat from her gauntlets.

"Oh, you're the best Nyx!"

Nyx just rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

"Pierce!"

"Shadow Slash!"

"You got a plan for taking out this guy yet? We've been fighting him for 2 damn hours and still nothing," Erebus said, the armour fading off him as he sent off another slash of darkness, colliding with the spikes erupting from the ground with a loud boom that shook the building once more.

"I haven't been able to find a way to beat him without killing him," I said, and Erebus sighed, his singular red eye glaring at Iapetus.

"Well, we can keep it up for a while longer."

"Idiot!"

I turned to the battlefield to see Nyx sliding across the dirt as she held Hemera in her arms.

"Oh wow, he sure sends us flying back hard huh?" Hemera asked, wincing as she got back up.

"What would you have done if I didn't catch you huh!?" Nyx roared out, and Hemera just laughed.

"Oh, it's fine. I have your front, and you have my back!"

"Is that really the best you can do?"

We all turned to Iapetus, who was twirling his metallic spear in the air with two fingers.

"IS THIS REALLY THE POWER OF THE NELNEHAT'S, THE GROUP WHO MANAGED TO SLAY AN ARCHDEMON!? IF YOU WON'T GO ALL OUT, THEN I MIGHT AS WELL END THIS PITIFUL PIECE OF ENTERTAINMENT!"

I watched as the ground and the walls erupted into spikes hurtling our way, impaling us all, our dead bodies laying to waste as Iapetus cackled with laughter.

I blinked, looking at the others. "Shit! Okay, everybody listen to me now!"

"Erebus and Eros, take the floor, Nyx, take the walls. Hemera, rush towards Iapetus, and Aether, you stay back here to protect us three. Everybody got it?"

I managed to let out my orders right before it occurred as everyone tensed up.

"PIERCE! PIERCE! PIERCE!"

I watched Iapetus slam the butt of his spear into the ground as everyone rushed to their respective places.

"MASOCHISTIC PUNISHMENT!"

"SHADOW ROAR!"

An explosion of darkness echoed off Erebus, ripping through the spears of dirt that assailed us, while Eros took the rest of the attack full force, letting out a cry mixed with pain and pleasure.

"NIGHT REND!"

Nyx's rings and tiara glowed a bright blue as the night sky itself enveloped the spears of metal that showered us from all, taking them all in at once.

"IF YOU THINK THIS IS THE BEST WE'VE GOT, YOU'RE WRONG MR. TALL MAN!"

Hemera rushed through all the chaos, broken spears fluttering around her as Iapetus took aim with his own spear directly towards her heart.

"LIGHTS PUNCH!"

Just as fast as Iapetus was about to pierce through Hemera's heart, Hemera delivered a blow even faster to the tip of the spear, blowing it and all the tiny spears that erupted from the single spear away, leaving Iapetus with a metal rod.

"SHADOW BUSTER!"

Erebus rushed past Hemera as the darkness around his sword swiftly changed shape to form a giant great sword, landing itself right into Iapetus' shoulder, letting out an explosion of darkness that tore directly through his suit.

However…

"THAT'S, ENOUGH!"

His yell alone was enough to send us all flying back into the wall as we all gasped out in pain, falling back onto the floor, slowly catching our breaths as we stood back up.

"Nice, hah, one Aether," I managed to let out, holding my side as I glanced at Aether, him and Necessitas the only two who hadn't been affected by his yell.

"I can't let you all die, since King would be disappointed," Aether said, and I let out a small smile.

"Fuck, is this guy strong. He's probably way stronger than that damned Archdemon we killed all those years ago," Nyx said, getting up as she readjusted her tiara.

"You might be right about that one Nyxy~," Eros said, his entire body covered in bruises from the constant assaults he had taken head on.

"Even so, we're here for a reason, right?" Hemera said, picking up her cowboy hat as she let out a cough of pain, holding her side.

"Indeed, we are. And we're stronger than we were when we killed that Archdemon," Erebus said, gripping his wooden katana tightly as he managed to get back to his feet.

"We're here, after all, to save our King," I said, taking a deep breath.

"AND WE'RE NOT LEAVING HERE WITHOUT HIM!" We all yelled out.

Covered in bruises and dirt from head to toe, the group the NELNEHATs continued on against their foe…