Mountains and Madness.

"We have movement down on the jungle floor." "Powerful energy signatures detected." The analysts reported. "What is happening?" Jabu asked, and the bridge commander stammered. "Well?" he roared.

"M'lord we're being targeted." An analyst reported, and the ship trembled. "By the Universe. They're following us." An analyst said. "A large energy signature is gathering beneath us." Two more chimed in.

"It's not one energy signature. They're following us and gathering. Almost like…they're waiting for us to fa-" a bright wall of light travelled south. It slapped Jabu's Whale Ship, and the giant large vessel powered down mysteriously. The magical cells died, and the ship crashed into the mountain ranges along the eastern coast.

"I'm detecting movement in the jungle!" an analyst shouted. "Hmm? What just happened?" Hugo asked, and his brother's ship disappeared from the radar. "Prepare for-" he said, and a glittery white pulse knocked his ship out of the sky as well.

"Ascend, thirty-two degrees starboard." Jane instructed, after taking one glance at the radar. "Ascend! Thirty-degrees starboard! Maximum power!" the bridge commander bellowed, and the bridge crew acted swiftly. The Whale Ship rose and turned moments before the pulse struck it.

"Get me as close as possible to that mountain and tell the crew to prepare for a long march." Jane ordered, and her ship plummeted like a stone.

"What of the civilian crew?" the bridge commander asked, and the two-horned woman stood up. "What of them? Give them a weapon. Whether they take it or wait for help is their prerogative. Everyone is free to choose how they live and how they die." She replied, and the officers exchanged grim expressions.

 *

"Are you certain that will work?" Crane asked skeptically. "No. But you have not been blasted out of the skies yet and we have run out of options." Kagiso replied, and the pirates' hearts sank into their stomachs. The two-horned man laughed at their sombre expressions.

"I was never concerned about our ability to escape. I am certain we could make it out of here alone if we tried. However, we would not make it far." Kagiso said, and his eyes glowed. "A treasure left unguarded is a trap and the one that set it cannot be too far." Goldjack deduced and Marauder scowled.

"With all due respect. You expect us to risk our lives and our crew to save thousands of strangers?" the pale pirate asked, and the two-horned man laughed. "No. I expect you and your crew to risk your lives to save your well-paying passengers." He replied and Bokbaard laughed. "I am willing to wager they would pay a handsome fee for safe passage out of this hellhole." He added, and Goldjack joined in the laughter.

"It appears we have a few Demons of our own." Feng said behind her fan. "Nothing is preventing you from ferrying them out of the goodness of your heart." Crane replied, and he adjusted his glasses. "I am a pirate, darling. I do not work for free." She said coldly and the pirates smiled from ear to ear.

 *

"Kagiso, you were right. The Demons are fleeing to the jungle." Duke reported, and he watched the powerful energy signatures disappear into the dark grey flora. "This darkness…it is there doing?" Raymond realised, and he scanned the terrain.

"You are only starting to notice? We are running out of time. I am sending twenty ships to your location-""-no, we will not abandon our ships. Not yet. Duke and I sail past the first mountain and crash to the west. The rest are scattered along that line. We are then surrounded and boarded." Raymond prophesied, and he shared the vision of their failure with Laurence, Gloria and Duke.

"Do they know that?" the three-horned man wondered, when he noticed the direction the Demons fled in. "No. They are running towards Jane's ship. She abandons her people. They all do." Raymond said angrily. "Sacrifices must be made. First the ships, then ourselves." He whispered, and the glittery barriers sparkled.

"Prepare to set sail. This will be a grueling march. Many of us won't make it, but we must abandon this position if we want to save our and if you want to survive." The three-horned man instructed, before he vanished. Raymond, Gloria and Duke ordered their legions back onto their respective ships. Laurence, Gloria, Duke and the Candidates stood on the beach and waited. However, the Demons did not return.

 *

"Hold the line!" A warrior roared, while the Demons battered and pushed against the barrier. Jane glanced at them, and the monstrous bodies combusted. "Keep moving or we're leaving you behind!" she roared, and the red flags were raised.

The bannermen and women gripped the shafts tightly and marched forward. The warriors on the flanks turned to face the Demons and the two-horned woman's legion made their way deeper into the jungle in a long line.

"W-what do we do?" a young medical officer asked, before he heard a series of gunshots echoing throughout the passages. "You either take matters into your own hands…or you hide, and hope help comes." The senior officer replied.

"Hope? There is no hope here!" "Shut up." "Can't we call for help?" Shut up." "What about the other ships?" I said shut up! Don't you understand?" the senior officer snapped, and the legions marched further away from the ships. The barriers and their influence waned, and the ravenous Yokai pounded on the locked doors.

"It is already too late." The senior officer whispered, and a foul smell shot up their nostrils. The Demons had surrounded them. The monstrous smiles grew wider, and the senior officer placed the barrel against his temple. He pulled the trigger, but nothing happened. The old doctor looked down at his hand and his wrist was gone.

 *

"Hold the perimeter!" the warriors shouted, and they unloaded a storm of glittery white bullets down the passages. "Why didn't you just leave?" an engineer cried out. The Demons climbed and crawled over their mutilated comrades, before the stream of sparkly Eraser rounds cut them down as well.

"We do not abandon our people! Help will come! Just…stay down!" the gunner shouted over the symphony of supersonic booms. "I've got them!" a warrior called out from the other end of the passage. He adjusted the stack of thick metal round shields on his back and looked past his comrades. Standing at the very end of the tall and wide passage was a towering behemoth.

The horned Demon resembled a hairless minotaur. He walked behind the smaller ravenous monsters and spread his arms slowly. The Demons screamed and snarled before they ran up the walls and along the ceiling.

"Retreat!" the gunner shouted, and the warrior charged to meet them halfway. He fought against the invisible tide and watched as the passage stretched ominously. The horned Demon approached steadily. His heavy feet shook the floor, and his breathing grew more laborious, with each step.

The minotaur wheezed uncontrollably, when he was only a few steps away. He reached out and the waves of Demons descended on the gunners and the engineers. They dropped from the ceiling, leapt from the walls and pounced from the ground. The Demons were centimetres away, when time stopped.

The Candidates appeared in the passages, and the Demons had been cut to pieces. The pirates appeared next to the engineers and the warriors, before they vanished and appeared on their ships. The shock faded away and the crew members locked eyes with their colleagues.

"You did it! You saved us!" one of the engineers shouted, with relief and tears streamed down her cheeks. "It wasn't us. It was them." A gunner replied, and he gestured to the pirates with disdain. A cell door slammed shut, and the engineer turned around.

"Well, and here we were hoping to ransom you off back to your lords. I suppose we'd be kicking a dog while it's down." Feng said from behind her mask. "Release us this instant!" a gunner shouted angrily, and the beautiful pirate captain turned her head to the side.

"With pleasure, would you like to be dropped off in the jungle or on the beach?" she asked, and the survivors stepped back. "Take a look around you. You are all that is left of your crew, and this is my ship. So, sit down and shut up." Feng said threateningly.

 *

"How many more of them are there?" Regius asked curiously. He placed his hand on a Demon's chest, wrote a simple Plasma Bolt Spell and converted the horned Yokai's own flesh and bone into a projectile.

The Demon-bone arrow passed through the bright orange circle and a fiery bird burst out of the other side. The horned Demon burned, and the magical arrow darted from side to side. The fiery bird punched through every monstrous body in the passage and left behind charred remains.

"Too many, and they seem to grow stronger and more intelligent by the second." Riekes replied and his Astral projection split into four copies. The four ghosts passed through their targets and their muscles convulsed.

The Yokai' magical cells were disrupted, and their energy levels dropped. The monsters struggled against their own bodies, while error reports blocked their field of view. The fiery bird pierced their chests and incinerated them as well.

The Candidates raced through the tall and wide passages. They cast powerful spells, unleashed dangerous techniques and utilised highly difficult skills. The pirates appeared, whenever the masked men and women had cleared an area with survivors. They placed their hands on their passengers and ferried them to the bowels of their ships.

Kenpachi scowled at the carnage before him. He swung his sword, and the air around the blade ignited. The imposing one-horned man decapitated every head in the room.

Clyde dashed down the passage, and his daggers grew thinner and longer. The short swords glowed red hot and the air around the blades ignited. The slender one-horned man spun like a top and the molten blades became whips. He whipped, slashed and burned the Demons in his path.

Mdu swung his axe with incredible force. Clyde glanced at his brother. The stocky one-horned man spun like a top. However, he only completed one revolution before each swing. Mdu danced around the Demons. He cleaved them in two and the glittery flames burned the monstrous corpses to ash.

"Your footwork has improved!" the stocky one-horned man bellowed. Clyde scoffed, before he vanished, spun once and whipped his targets in half. He cleared the other half of the passage, while Kenpachi burst in and out of the rooms.

The one-horned brothers fought like a small army. They switched weapons often and maintained a simple formation. Mdu raised the triangular barrel and tightened his grip.

The omni-rifle wrote a Scatter Shot Spell in front of the strange muzzle, and the Dragon-bone firearm grew hotter and heavier. The flat surface glittered and sparkled, glittery marbles swelled, and a solar flare arced inside of the balls of inter-dimensional energy. The stocky one-horned man roared, and his Dragon fire mowed down the Demons in the passage, with a deafening boom.

The Candidates fought an endless uphill battle. They incinerated and obliterated the Yokai, only for another wave to crawl through the vents and cracks in the ships. The masked men and women stood before the control panels in their central nervous systems. They placed their hands on the dials, levers, wheels and nobs and increased their energy output.

 *

"That's everyone from your ships accounted for, but what about Jane and her brothers?" Mei asked. She turned to face her siblings and saw the sorrow and rage in their eyes. The pirate ships returned to the skies above them. They ducked, dove, skipped, banked, barrel rolled and looped out of the way of the bright white streaks criss-crossing in the pitch-black sky.

"We are running out of time. We need to worry about ourselves now." Laurence rumbled sombrely and the three Golden Eyed Sisters hardened their hearts.

 *

"I know you said that she is bloodthirsty, but is that it? Would someone obsessed with war sacrifice her own people? What is she fighting for?" Clyde wondered, and Kenpachi laughed.

"Was your time with her that memorable?" the imposing one-horned man asked and Mdu scoffed. "Do not concern yourself with what is on her mind. It is her blood that compels her." He said and Kenpachi's eyes flared. The stocky one-eyed man glared back, and the slender one-horned man noticed the exchange of looks.

"Now is not the time. We all agreed to fight together or not at all." The eldest of the One-Horned Brothers said sternly. Mdu nodded and walked away. "We will have to, eventually. I will not allow her to have this hold over me anymore. And now she has her claws in our youngest brother as well." The stocky one-horned man rumbled, and Clyde felt his shame.

"You owe her a debt as well." The slender one-horned man deduced. "And her family-""-quiet!" Kenpachi snapped before his brother finished his sentence. "Why hide the truth from him? He deserves to know!" Mdu rumbled and his rage bubbled.

"Calm your spirit. You do not know what she truly desires." The imposing one-horned man rumbled threateningly, and Clyde was plunged into a deep sea of rage. The intensity of the emotions in Kenpachi's words filled his chest and weighed down his shoulders. The slender one-horned man exhaled, and his Mana poured out of his body.

 *

"Forward!" "March!" Jane's commanding officers bellowed, while the bannermen and the heavily armed warriors protected their flanks. "You need to drop your barriers so my people can save yours." Kagiso instructed, and the two-horned woman laughed.

"And rob them of this learning experience? The flames of war will baptise the survivors. And like your pirates, they will be worth ten Candidates one day." Jane rumbled boastfully and her legion roared proudly.

"And what about your crew? They were just civilians." The two-horned man rumbled, with disgust and images of the carnage that took place in the downed ships flashed into the legions' minds. Kagiso was surprised, when the news of the horrific deaths of their comrades did not shake the legionnaires' spirits.

"Every war has its casualties. My people knew that better than any." The two-horned woman rumbled stoically. "The offer still stands. I would take you over any of those fools. We could usher in a new age together. We could become the next Dragon King and Queen." Jane rumbled affectionately and her boldness impressed the two-horned man. The legionnaires felt the emotions in her words and blushed.

"Our destination is the mountain to the north. There is an army of giants at the foot and hordes between us and them." Kagiso reported. "Very well, but this is the last time we will fight alongside each other. I have enough samples to start my family…far away from this planet, The Boy King, His Council and this foolish war." The two-horned woman replied hopefully.

"In another life, I join you. In this one, I am a fool that believes in the Boy King and his potential to grow into the perfect leader. Good luck on your journey. I do not know if this makes me a bad person, but most of the fathers of your children may not survive the night." The two-horned man said, and the two-horned woman laughed.

"Thank you, but I fear the Council will use the rest to find me anyway. In return, I want you to know that I will take your secret with me to the grave. You have my word." Jane replied sincerely. She turned to the south and watched as the same pulse that downed her ship struck Duke's, Raymond's, Gloria's and Laurence's vessels.

The pirates appeared for a brief moment, before they whisked the skeleton crews away. The hordes of Demons beneath them waited impatiently for their prize to drop from the sky. The empty Whale Ships sped up, before they crashed with a meteoric impact. The collisions kicked up waves of dust and debris that rolled over kilometres of jungle and buried the Yokai alive. The Candidates charged over the hills, with their weapons drawn.

 *

Hours passed by slowly. The survivors grouped up together in the bowels of the pirate ships and waited. They heard the echo of an explosion now and then, and the small vessels shook terribly.

The pirates let out a loud cheer, and the terrified crewmates sighed with relief. The legions tapped their feet impatiently and folded their arms. They exchanged frustrated scowls, clenched their fists and ground their teeth.

 *

The Candidates dashed through the jungles and rocketed through the skies. They carved a path to the mountain, while millions of Demons congregated on their location.

The hordes surrounded the masked men and women. They formed domes of monstrous bodies around them, and the Candidates scanned the island. However, it was too dark to see further than a few kilometres. They closed their eyes, but the swarms of bright, white silhouettes obscured the battlefields to the northwest and northeast.

Jane's and Hugo's legions were bogged down on the northwestern and northeastern feet of the central mountain, while Jabu led his legion through the mountains along the eastern coast. A few Candidates sneered at the three siblings and their predicament.

"Serves them right." "That's what they get for rushing ahead on their-"the bitter masked men and women were silenced, when the domes of densely packed energy signatures moved. The Yokai tightened their circles, to no avail. Jane and her brothers continued their march towards the northern mountain.

 *

"Control yourself, brother! Do you see what your anger and jealousy have wrought?" Kenpachi asked as he tried to still Clyde's rage. "This was not…she is false. I only wished to warn him of that." Mdu rumbled regretfully.

"There is nothing false about her. Both her dream and her request are born from love. You either misinterpreted her words or focused solely on your desires. You forget that she is carrying my child as well, brother. Forgive her and let her go. Jane was never ours to begin with." The imposing one-horned man replied, and an image of Kagiso flashed into their minds.

Kenpachi and the stocky one-horned man chased an enraged Clyde through the jungle. He barged through the trees, swiped at the Yokai and roared madly. The slender one-horned man's eyes pulsed, and his Mana poured out of his body violently.

The invisible energy pushed against the air, and powerful shockwaves obliterated everything within hundreds of metres. Clyde rampaged towards the east and Mdu groaned.

"He's leading us further away from our destination. We will be isolating ourselves if we do not hurry." The stocky one-horned man advised. "I know, but this is our fault. We suggested that he come. Now what we had hoped has happened, but he is still not ready to become a Berserker." The imposing on-horned man replied in astonishment.

"Clyde still suffers from an external locus of control. He will never fully reach his potential as a War Dragon so long as he still looks outwards whenever he makes a mistake or struggles to overcome an obstacle." Mdu replied, and he threw his axe at the Demon clinging to his younger brother's back.

"Where does his doubt, desperation and fear come from?" Kenpachi wondered, and he wrapped his arms around Clyde's waist. The stocky one-horned man landed in front of his younger brother and sighed.

"We chose poorly. We wanted a younger sibling too badly. Someone who would look up to two one-horned failures. We both know it takes years of training to control the Berserk Spirit. Years of dedicated self-improvement." Mdu replied honestly and the imposing one horned man gripped his younger brother tightly.

"He must grow frustrated with himself to unlock the deep rage that grants us strength. This is nothing more than a tantrum. Clyde's desperation, recklessness and deceit-""-I know! He is my brother. I will not abandon him. Calm his spirit. We have wasted enough time here." Kenpachi replied, and the slender one-horned man barely budged in his grip.

Mdu pushed through the many dense layers of violent Mana. He placed his fingertips on Clyde's forehead and forced his nano-portals to reverse the flow of inter-dimensional energy.

"How long have you been standing there?" Kenpachi asked, when he noticed Kagiso's presence above their heads. "Long enough to know that wasn't the Berserker Spirit. I have mastered the first few steps, and my brother mastered the Silent Rage, so I know that could not have been it either. What is Clyde? How was he conceived?" the two-horned man rumbled curiously.

"And what would you do with that information?" Mdu asked threateningly, but the imposing one-horned man raised a single arm to settle him down. He draped the Mana fatigued Clyde over his shoulder like a towel.

"I will tell you, in exchange for free passage to the northern mountain. My youngest brother needs a safe place to rest. I assure you, what you saw was the Berserker Spirit. Even if it was a prematurely awoken iteration. As for his lineage, well, that is something only he can tell you and I am certain he will be more than happy to oblige…if you would be so gracious as to let us aboard one of your ships for an hour." Kenpachi replied diplomatically and Kagiso laughed hysterically.

"I have always been fond of the Eastern Dragons. Yes, we are forever bound to the family we have chosen." The two-horned man rumbled, and the imposing one-horned man let out a booming laugh. Marauder's ship appeared above their heads and the three Candidates flew up to meet it, with an unconscious Clyde.

 *

The Candidates separated into two groups. One headed northeast with Raymond and Duke, while the rest marched northwest with Laurence and Gloria. Jane and her legion were in the centre of the two groups. Hugo was on the far eastern side of the island and Jabu was still battling through the mountain range.

"How is Jabu going to catch up, while leading a legion of mortals?" Mei asked with a hint of concern. "That is something he will have to figure out himself. The only thing that should be on your mind is getting to that mountain alive. We are only a few hours away now." Laurence replied, with a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

The Candidates' eyes shone like bright floodlights, and they illuminated the shadowy bushes. Monsters burst out of the darkness, and they reacted quickly. The masked men and women wielded their weapons expertly. They cut the Yokai down, burned the corpses and sprinted after their comrades.

The pirates appeared randomly and fired a quick barrage of cannon balls. They cleared two paths to the mountain and the sickly foliage grew back rapidly. Gigantic carnivorous plants, barricades of thorned bushes and rows of poisonous trees barred the way to the north.

The Demons overran the southern half of the island. Their overzealous charge flattened the blackened landscape and left crushed flora and corpses behind. Raymond counted the seconds as they drew nearer to the island wide barricade.

The Candidates coughed and wheezed. The inexperienced masked men and women had abused their Mana and their bodies. The stress from fighting at their maximum energy output for hours had worn its toll on their cells.

The Candidates felt unbearable surges of pain coursing through their bodies. Many had short-circuited their nervous systems, overheated the sophisticated buildings and exhausted their Mana wells. The desperate Candidates sent their Astral bodies through the doors, and they nearly gave up at the sight of the dry ocean beds.

Suddenly, a large energy signature ballooned in the sky and Kagiso's Mana flowed freely from every cell. The inter-dimensional waters sparkled, before it coated his body in a nano-thin membrane.

The two-horned man's eyes glowed blue. He leaned forward and a marble of Mana clumped up in front of his mask. Kagiso exhaled and an explosion of glittery blue flames erupted from the translucent orb. The Candidates were shocked by the flame. They turned to face Raymond and Duke. The two brothers were just as surprised as they were.

The two-horned man spewed a gigantic ball of brilliant blue flames at the wall of Demonic plants. The ball of Dragon fire singed the eerie flora long before it even reached it. The star-like sphere drew nearer and everything around its target burned.

Kagiso's fireball detonate on impact and a tsunami of fire rolled towards the mountain. The flames fanned out and incinerated a large swath of the jungle.

"Do not hold back! Search deep within yourselves! Surpass your limits! Or die! Strengthen your minds, bodies and souls! Devastate these lands!" the two-horned man rumbled maliciously, and the Candidates inhaled deeply. They grimaced and ignored the pain and the stench.

The masked men and women filled their lungs with as much toxic fumes as they could heave in. The Candidates threw caution to the wind. They inhaled deeply repeatedly until the medical centres in their organs had learned how to neutralize the toxins. The masked men and women remembered what they were and what they strived to be.

Glittery puddles formed in the dry ocean bed and a few droplets landed on the Candidates' heads. They looked up and took in the strange sights. Colours swirled like oil spills, before they formed kaleidoscopic patterns and hardened. The mosaic paintings depicted their development and their respective journeys through the Ascension Trials.

The masked men and women smiled proudly at their auras. They watched as the paintings faded away and colossal cities rose from the ground beneath their feet. The Candidates rushed through the Astral doors and returned to their mind palaces. They watched as the same city rose from the ground on the other side of the door as well.

Barriers formed around the cities, and the masked men and women's Mana wells were protected from any malicious influences. The Demons stopped in their tracks. The Candidates inhaled deeply a few more times and glittery clouds formed in the skies. It rained heavily and the glittery vapour leaked through the Astral doors.

The masked men and women refilled their Mana wells, and the inter-dimensional energy soothed their aches and pains. The glittery waters transported their Astral bodies to the sophisticated buildings where they repaired the damages rapidly.

The Candidates waved the error reports away. They stared at the orange and red silhouettes in the bottom left corner of their fields of view and it turned grass green. The blue rings around the damage indicators turned a darker shade of blue and the three white rings around their shields filled up slowly.

The masked men and women waited until their stamina bars had filled up completely, before they charged at the field of flames. They tightened their grip on their Dragon bone weapons and projected their auras.

The Yokai closed their eyes and the dozens of bright lights lit up the darkness. The Candidates' energy signatures hummed, and the glow emitted rainbows of kaleidoscopic colours. The gigantic paintings came to life. Colossal serpents covered in fur, scales, feathers, armour and the elements themselves spread their enormous wings and the deafening hum stunned the monstrous bodies.

 *

"This is how Jane and her brothers have been carving their way through this hell. What else are we capable of? Our understanding of magic and Mana is lacking. He is right. We must unleash our most powerful spells." Regius said excitedly.

"Calm yourself. Let the others do the heavy lifting. Our strength will be needed when we reach the mountain." Riekes advised him, but the one-horned wizard could no longer stand by and watch. Regius vanished with a glittery burst of orange fire. He appeared in the sky with eight sparkly fireballs around his body.

The one-horned wizard manifested his staff. The clusters of Dragon fire shrunk, before they darted further away from each other. He printed dark orange brackets around the fiery nodes and streams of translucent Mana formed the circuit boards.

Regius raised his staff. Magical brackets that resembled olive vines, strange pictographs and geometric shapes materialised around the fifty-metre tall and wide magical circle.

The one-horned wizard gripped his staff tightly, while the Candidates protected him from the swarm of winged Yokai. He raised the one-tonne crystal circle, and it lit up slowly. Kagiso, Raymond and Duke appeared hundreds of metres in front of the giant spell and held their hands out. The bright white pulse burst from the mountain and the trio shielded their ally. However, Regius' spell had cracked open.

Riekes sighed and repaired the damage instantly. The one horned wizard's eyes glowed orange. He exhaled sharply and cast the Starfall Spell. Thousands of glittery marbles twinkled like stars, before they were launched like missiles. The orange orbs grew until they were the size of small houses.

 *

Jane, Hugo and Jabu glanced at the thousands of starry meteors. They flashed their auras for a fraction of a second and their legions forced their exhausted bodies to charge. They cleaved, crushed, pilfered and slashed their way through the jungle. The heavy gunners picked their shots carefully and fired glittery white rounds that shot off muscular limbs and chewed through tough torsos.

 *

"Push!" Duke roared at the Candidates, and they all sprinted through the gap in the cackling thicket. The two-horned woman watched the dozens of masked men and women carefully. They breached the gap together and dashed towards the army of twenty-metre-tall monsters. The behemoths' stampede shook the ground. They let out a pained screech from their short trunks and focused their narrow vision on the tiny enemies in front of them.

 *

Jane laughed. She leapt into the air and raised her sword above her head. The two horned waited until she had reached the apex of her jump. Jane imagined a curved blade and swung vertically. Her Mana coated her sword and took on the familiar shape. The two-horned woman's energy signature spike and a few Candidates glanced at her in the sky.

Jane pushed with her mind, body and soul. She unleashed the Blade Wheel skill and the crescent-shaped blade buzzed like a circular saw. The two-horned woman's Mana enveloped her body, and she inhaled deeply. She swung once more and roared at the top of her lungs.

"Cosmic Wheel!" Jane bellowed, and she unleashed a glittery wheel. The first two Blade Wheels cut through the demonic foliage, and the Candidates were shocked to see two of them. The Cosmic Wheel passed through the centre of the first two attacks. It cleared the eerie plants and barreled towards the northernmost mountain range.

 *

Jabu emerged from the mountains with a fragment of his legion. He led his high-speed units through the jungle and the legionnaires cut down everything in their path. It did not take long for him, his assassins and his spies to regroup with Hugo.

The two brothers and their tattered legions heard the loud buzzing and laughed. Jabu and Hugo led what remained of their forces to the northeastern foot of the northernmost mountain range. They fought an arduous battle on two fronts, while the enemy hurtled glittery boulders from the mountain sides.

"If one did not know better, one would think they do not want us to reach the mountain." Jabu said, and he tossed a Dragon-bone idol onto the ground. "Of course, they do. They would have made things more difficult if they wanted us to leave." Hugo added with a delighted chuckle. Mana poured out of the bear carving's magical cells.

The watery energy seeped into the soil and the heavy idol buried itself underground. A giant stone skeleton burst out of the ground. The bear crawled out of its grave. It roared and flesh grew all over its one-hundred-metre-tall body.

 *

Raymond's eyes glowed, and he stared at the foot of the mountain. The three-horned man turned to the east. He scanned the horizon, spotted Jabu's bear summon and looked up at the sky.

"This is it. We're going to make it." Raymond whispered in disbelief. "What happens next?" Duke asked as he punched a cylindrical hole through a Yokai's chest. The stoic two-horned man vanished and appeared beside another giant. He punched a hole through its head and a Demon dashed in behind him.

The twenty-two-metre monster pulled its right arm back and Duke vanished partially. He spun around quickly, appeared and let out a loud roar. A glittery ring of sound crashed into the Yokai's chest and shattered every bone in its body. The stoic two-horned man secreted a cloud of glittery bronze particles, shaped it into a round shield and palmed it all in one swift motion.

The gong released a second glittery ring of sound, and it obliterated the Demon's soft tissue and nano-portals. The twenty-metre-tall monster crumbled to dust, without its Demonic technology. The giant monsters backed away from Duke. He walked towards them, and the ground trembled with every step.

Suddenly, a large energy signature spiked near the foot of the mountain. A pillar of green fire shot up into the sky and sickly green spectres, that resembled men and women, screamed as they burned endlessly. The fiery phantoms soared even higher, before they scattered across the island and dove straight towards the ground.

 *

"That's our cue." Kenpachi called out and the pirate ships appeared in unison. They had surrounded the skies above the northernmost mountain and the three powerful barriers at its feet.

"Why are we doing this again?" Clyde asked, with a hint of scepticism and Mdu scoffed. "A deal is a deal. And this is our path to freedom." He rumbled stoically and the slender one-horned man felt a hint of disappointment in his brother's words.

"I will explain later. For now, we must clear this fortress, while Hugo and Jabu clear the one to the east. Our new friend will clear the fort to the west, while reinforcements keep the enemy off our new doorstep." The imposing one-horned man instructed, and Clyde drew his omni-gun. "I'll take point." He replied and Mdu scoffed.

"Do you have something to say…brother?" the slender one-horned man asked aggressively. "Yes, we will be fighting indoors. A blade is preferable to a firearm in close quarters combat." The stocky one-horned man said condescendingly.

"That depends on the warrior and their skill…doesn't it?" Clyde asked snidely and Mdu snarled. "Enough! Lower your spears. This siege requires a hammer, anyway." Kenpachi barked, and the three brothers descended on the stone fortress.

 *

Jane's Cosmic Wheel shattered the first barrier around the three structures, spread dozens of kilometres apart. Jabu and Hugo looked past the army of giants, and they noticed the telltale distortions in the pitch-black air. Their Dragon eyes glowed red, and they understood their task.

"See, brothers? I told you that he was worthy. He has joined the three battlefields into a single united front. And he did so without the Dragon King's foresight. I hope to see the depth of his connection to the darkness, before the end of this mission." The two-horned woman said, with her eyes fixed on the black dome to the west.

Jane looked over her shoulder. Her legion was in tatters, and the fiery phantoms had possessed the most powerful Yokai in the jungle behind them. Silver bangles, rings, piercings and armour materialised onto their bodies. The green-eyed monsters inspected their bodies and laughter emanated from the tower of fire.

"What are you laughing at? We have you surrounded." Goldjack rumbled sinisterly, and the laughter died down. "Open fire!" the pirate Captains ordered, and a barrage of cannon fire rained down on the three black barriers.

Clyde, Kenpachi and Mdu were still falling, when the cannon balls struck the barrier beneath them. Hugo's and Jabu's eyes glowed furiously, when the pirates attacked. The powerful energy signature spiked again, and the Demon Captains pointed at the mountain. They screeched and the monstrous bodies ignored the legions of mortals.

The Yokai charged at the mountain. However, it was too late. The pirates' iron-bone cannon balls struck the shields and the magical cells inside activated on impact. They syphoned large quantities of energy and sucked up the surrounding air. The magical cannon balls rendered the particles into subatomic energy, before they each unleashed multiple devastatingly powerful explosions.

The Starfall Spell rained fire on the army of giant Demons. The cannon fire obliterated the barriers and the Candidates nearby pounced on the opportunity. Kagiso appeared right above the barrier, around a castle to the west.

"Hurry. We do not have much time." Raymond advised, and he looked up at the sky. "I know, which is why I chose fighters with the title of Siege Master to help." The two-horned man replied, and the three-horned man cleaved a Demon in two. He tilted his head to the side and gave it some thought.

"He can see the titles we have acquired. How close is he to Ascension or is this something his eyes can do? Hmm. Can Priya see titles as well?" Raymond wondered. He raised his left hand and a dozen Mana fields enveloped his targets.

The three-horned man snapped his fingers, and the glittery spheres contracted. He crushed the Yokai instantly and pointed his staff at the mountain. Raymond was about to fire the dense clusters of magical meat, when a series of monitors popped up in front of him. His eyes scanned the information on the screens and glowed curiously.

The cannon fire destroyed the barriers and cracked open the defensive walls. The pillar of fire died down as suddenly as it had shot up. The pirate ships vanished and evaded the white pulse.

The Candidates raised their arms and their Mana printed igloos made from dense hexagonal, square and triangular crystal bricks. The masked men and women blocked the Mana pulse and their shields shattered.

A second pulse washed over the island and drove the Candidates hundreds of metres back. All except for Mei, Laurence and Gloria. The Golden Eyed Sisters warped the glittery light around their bodies. They rumbled a few kind words, and their Mana enveloped the Candidates.

The masked men and women recovered quickly. They got back onto their feet and charged at the mountain, and the terrified Yokai trying to defend it.

 *

Kenpachi, Mdu and Clyde crash landed in the middle of the courtyard with a meteoric impact. Jabu's bear burst through the hole in the eastern wall, before he and Hugo attacked from the south.

The two-horned man slapped his palms together. He pried his hands apart, and his sceptre popped out of the Mana field. Kagiso caught the Dragon bone rod and swung downwards. The club at the end struck the ground and time stopped. The two-horned man inspected the stasis field, before he scanned the castle.

The stadium sized field of glittery energy held every particle in place. Kagiso dashed, vanished and appeared all over the luxurious structure. He tagged the Yokai tasked with guarding it and tapped each one on the head with his sceptre. The two-horned man delved deeper into the castle, where he found a spiraling staircase that descended well below the dungeons.

"I have always wondered." A disembodied voice echoed through the stone passages. "I must be the nearest to them." Kagiso deduced, and he sprinted down a passage to his right. "If one kills a Candidate…does that make them a Dragon Slayer?" the disembodied voice asked arrogantly.

The two-horned man closed his eyes and listened. "Is that why you keep your boot on the mortals' heads? So, they may never find out how much power there is in taking your head and drinking your blood?" the voice added and Kagiso spun around. He placed his hand on a wall and looked at his sceptre.

"I would be cutting it close. Ugh! I knew I should have spent that upgrade before coming on this mission, but then Clyde showed up out of nowhere…how did he know how to find me?" The two-horned man wondered, before he sighed. "I suppose all will reveal itself in time." Kagiso thought, and he struck the ground again.

The first stasis field popped and the Yokai, the two-horned man had tapped, screamed. They clutched the sides of their heads as their skulls inflated and their eyes bulged. The Demonic cells went rampant. The monstrous bodies exploded and showered the castle in gore. Paintings, statues, cabinets, furniture, ceilings, floors, walls, bedrooms and passages were painted red. All the while, a second stasis field ballooned deep below ground.

"Oh? Why are you so quiet now? Let's have a chat. Reveal yourself or I will smoke you smoke you out." Kagiso rumbled threateningly and green flames flared out of the corner of his eyes. He turned his head to the right and vanished. The two-horned man narrowly dodged the sickly green Blade Wheel.

"Hmph. What is a Dragon to a God? In fact, I cannot wait to lay you down on my operating table and have my way with you." The necromancer said, with a sinister grin. He wore a luxurious white robe with silver and gold jewellery all over his body.

Kagiso stepped forward and appeared a metre away from the robed man. The necromancer's blood turned to ice, and he gripped the armrests of his cold metal throne.

"H-how?" the withered up old mage asked in a wheezy voice. The heart monitors fixed to the stone wall behind him beeped, and the pumps inflated. The two-horned man twirled his sceptre in his hands. He scanned the dusty throne room, the glittery orbs of light hovering above the sconces and the ceiling that resembled the war-torn island.

"May I?" Marauder asked, and the necromancer turned to his left slowly. He saw the pirate Captains lined up like a firing squad and whimpered. None objected, so the Pale Pirate placed his hand on the old mage's head.

"Do you know a pirate named Greaves?" Marauder asked, and Feng smiled behind her fan. Kagiso heard faint whispering and scanned the chamber. "Hurry. Learn what you must, then kill him. Choices have consequences. Lingering will be our undoing." The two-horned man rumbled warily, and the Pale Pirate closed his eyes.

The old mage seized and convulsed as the information was stripped from his mind palace. Marauder emptied the shelves and the albums. The photographs rocketed towards the ball of light in the sky, before they rained down on the Pale Pirates' head. His Astral bodies caught the memories, compiled them into albums and assimilated the information into his library.

The necromancer's nose bled, and their eyes became bloodshot. Their brain short-circuited, and they collapsed lifelessly in their chair. The heart monitor flatlined and the pumps stopped working.

"The seat is how they maintained and manipulated the barrier. The technology was beyond them, though." Marauder reported, and the two-horned man glanced over his shoulder. "Interesting. Then I will have to reverse engineer it. Stand back." He advised, and the pirate Captains vanished.

Kagiso dashed back in and inhaled. His Astral bodies appeared in the deep dark recesses of space. They looked down at the bed of blue stars and descended upon the temples and towers hovering above the starry hearth.

The two-horned man strolled across a stone bridge. He entered the tower at the end and emerged in the Library of Truths. Kagiso stared at the beams of light criss-crossing between the tops of the titanic skyscrapers. A laser shone directly into his right eye, and he carried that bit of knowledge back to his temple.

"Only one eye? What does this mean? No, focus on the task at hand. You will have time to reflect later. And there is much to ponder." the two-horned man thought, before he opened a portal to his hearth. Kagiso bathed the throne in Dragon fire, just as three blade wheels cut through the western wall and a gigantic rhino horn drilled through the eastern wall.

Hugo, Jabu, Mdu, Kenpachi and Clyde emerged from the breaches in time to witness the brilliant blue flame up close. They felt its searing heat and marvelled at the sheer amount of Mana mixed in with the star fire. Kagiso burned the old mage's body. He melted the throne without so much as charring the wall behind it.

The five Candidates' eyes glowed curiously, when the two-horned man seemed to bend reality with his fire. The glittery blue flames bounced off the wall and crashed into itself.

The fire swirled and sparkled as it rebuilt the throne and the one that sat on it into an eerie golden chair that resembled an elongated skeleton. The thighs became the seat, and the torso became the backrest. The neck grew longer, and the golden skull became the headrest.

 *

Duke, Raymond and Jane led the final charge. The Golden Eyed Sisters' blessing redirected the bright white wave of Mana around them, and they dashed towards the giant captains. The three powerful Candidates punched holes through the monsters. They crushed their heads, butchered their bodies and burned what remained.

"Hurry or you will be locked out!" the three-horned man instructed, and the masked men and women carved a path through the Demons. However, the legionaries fell one by one. The two-horned woman looked down. She nodded to herself, tightened her grip and vanished.

Jane appeared near her forces. She cleaved through the Yokai and the legion injected a large group of warriors through the enemy's centre. They broke through their ranks and erected a barrier near the Candidates. The two-horned woman slashed and shot her way back to the mountain. She glanced at the bloodied and broken warriors and smiled behind her mask.

"We…made…it." Regius said in-between breaths and Riekes looked around. "But now we have an army on our doorstep. What makes you think we will fare any better than our enemy?" he asked sceptically.

"We…can do a lot more together than we could scattered across the jungle. And now the enemy must deal with the same problem we did. Fortunately, we are more intelligent, and we can shore up our defences." The one-horned wizard replied hopefully. "I wish Laurelei were here. She would have just conveniently known the spell to deal with this." Riekes complained and Regius chuckled.

The Candidates stared at the hordes of monsters, and the green-eyed behemoths behind them. They roared orders, and the Demons circled the skies above them. They formed lines made from homogenous groups and prepared for war.

"W-welcome…Dragons…to our domain." A voice called out from the centre of the army. "What was that about intelligence?" Riekes asked sarcastically.

"What's taking your brother so long?" Gloria asked and Mei stepped forward. "They can speak?" she asked, and Laurence's eyes flashed. "Unfortunately. There have only been three reported Demon Generals in history. And they were regarded as living Cataclysms." He replied, and his energy output spiked.

"Save your strength. It will be needed later." Raymond rumbled prophetically. Duke glanced at him. "Have you seen the outcome of this battle?" he asked curiously. "Aye. It ends with our victory. However, it is what comes afterwards that concerns me." The three-horned man replied. The Candidates felt a surge of excitement coursing through their veins, instead of fear or exhaustion and their eyes glowed in anticipation.

"Slaughter them!" the Demon General screeched at the millions of monstrous bodies in their square formations. They launched their assault, and the island trembled. A wave of fire erupted from the mountain. The fiery pulse rolled over the island and incinerated the Yokai on the front lines.

The tsunami of Dragon-fire cleared what remained of the jungles. It slammed into the Demons' barriers, and they pointed and laughed at their fallen comrades. Regius turned to face his brother and Riekes turned his back in annoyance.

"We have a problem. I can lower the barrier around the island, but then it will take a few minutes to erect it again. We can call for reinforcements, but I do not think they will reach us in time. I could erect a smaller barrier, but it won't be as powerful. The larger the barrier, the more Mana it requires. The more Mana it uses, the more powerful the barrier. This could push barrier technology hundreds of years into the future. Imagine defending entire cities with a few well-placed trees." Kagiso reported excitedly.

"I see a barrier around the mountain alone and a terrible battle afterwards. Hurry, you are needed on the battlefield." Raymond replied and the two-horned man detected the powerful energy signatures behind him. "In a moment. It seems I may have a situation on my hands." He replied, and the five Candidates in the throne room pointed their weapons at him. "How and why do you know how to manipulate Demonic cells? Why are you so familiar with the enemy's technology?" Jabu rumbled suspiciously.