“I don’t care if you were first,” Camael’s lightning avatar said. It wiped its face, removing the dent on its nose. “You got us killed.”

“You kill us every time you drink!”

“No, that’s Sariel’s fault for not supplying any liquor. If you want to blame someone, blame her instead.”

“But it’s easier to blame you.” Levy’s lightning avatar’s cheeks puffed out as its hands went to its nonexistent hips, touching the side of the tower instead.

“I think I spoke too soon,” Palan said, his expression darkening as the two avatars bickered. “One of them was annoying enough.” He wrinkled his nose and pointed at the tower. A black flame sprouted out of his fingertip. Raea raised her hand and summoned a flame as well, merging it into Palan’s.

“They’re doing something, stop distracting me, Cammy,” Levy said through her lightning avatar and shoved Camael’s away. Her avatar opened its mouth, spitting out a scattershot of lightning bolts. The Ingel’s mountainous region was destroyed in an instant: the trees set ablaze and the already ruined buildings devastated even further. Palan and Raea were unharmed though, the massive fireball in front of them acting as a shield. As for Cleo, Danger Noodle had swallowed her.

“You’re not supposed to destroy the surroundings,” Camael’s avatar said and sighed, exhaling blue lightning.

“I’m following Sariel’s orders,” Levy said, knocking Camael’s avatar over once again. “Slaughter all the intruders!”

“We were catching these, remember?” Camael said. His lightning avatar disappeared and reappeared behind Palan and Raea before they could react. Palan’s eyes widened, and he whirled around, swinging his arm as if he were holding a whip. The fireball elongated like taffy and smashed the lightning avatar’s outstretched hands.

“Your reactions aren’t bad,” Camael said. The lightning avatar hovered in the air, still legless. Strands of lightning connected its torso to the ground. “And you’re an elevated existence of wrath. It’s a shame we already have someone for that.” The lightning avatar rubbed its chin as it avoided the lashes Raea whipped at it. “But you’re connected to the demon, right?”

“Who are you?” Raea asked and furrowed her brow. She never heard of anyone with powers like this in the capital. Then again, she wasn’t even an adult before she was exiled—it made sense for her to not know big secrets.

“Ah, that doesn’t matter,” Camael said, throwing a lightning bolt at Raea. She blocked it with a shield made of black flames. “You’re going to die soon, sorry. If you give me your demon, I can let you go if you stop assaulting the capital. We need his pride.”

Raea’s eyes glinted as her irises melted into her pupils, turning her eyes purple. She opened her mouth and said something, but a crackling noise behind her overwhelmed her voice. Levy’s lightning avatar had sprouted spider-like legs and braced itself against the tower. “Banzai!” Levy shouted as her lightning avatar leapt through the air, crashing into the ground beside Palan and Raea. “Death to the guests!” The avatar’s palm widened and smashed towards the duo.

Without turning around, a green hand made of mist shot out of Raea’s back, eroding her clothes. The two hands collided. “Eh?” Levy’s and Camael’s avatars said at the same time. The black lightning instantly dispersed as the green hand grew larger. It continued to swallow the avatar starting with its arm. Levy screamed as she tried to pull back, but the green mist clung to her avatar no matter how far it went.

“Envy?” Camael’s avatar asked. “Change of plans. I’m—”

His words were cut off as his avatar was beheaded by a halberd made of flames. “Don’t you dare ignore me,” Palan said and snorted, manipulating the flaming weapon by flicking his fingers. The two lightning avatars dispersed as they were consumed by black flames and green smoke. Danger Noodle belched, and Cleo came tumbling out of its stomach, her body covered in slime.

“Yeck,” Cleo said and clawed away the sticky liquid from her eyes. She shook herself like a dog, flinging snake stomach acid everywhere. “What happened? Did you win?” She hid behind Palan before glancing around. The coast was clear, but the land was blackened and unlikely to be inhabitable for the foreseeable future.

“Do you think they can come back again?” Raea asked, furrowing her brow. Using her powers and having Palan use them at the same time was taking a toll on her mana. And she really didn’t want to use Pyre’s method of recharging.

“It’d be a real pain if they could,” Palan said. Judging by the amount of effort he needed to call upon Raea’s power, he knew her mana reserves were low.

“ARGH!” Levy’s voice echoed through the capital as even more clouds gathered in the sky. “How come Levy keeps losing!?” The same procedure repeated, and another avatar of lightning was birthed. This time, it was even bigger than before. “Levy used all of Cammy’s mana to make this. You’re not going to beat me anymore.” The lightning avatar paused, strands of lightning frozen in place like a photo. “Levy knows, Raffi. Levy knows. Uh-huh. Okay. Yes, I’m sure.”

Cleo’s expression darkened. “Why are all the strong people crazy?” she asked and scratched her head. She walked up to Danger Noodle and pried open its jaw, stepping inside the startled snake. “People should be taught common sense, geez.” Cleo slammed Danger Noodle’s jaw shut.

“Raffi says he’s only going to revive Levy one more time,” Levy’s avatar said, raising one finger into the air. “So behave and let Levy capture you, okay? We can be good friends until the glutton comes along. Levy promises to be nice to you.”

“Why are they so intent on capturing us?” Raea asked and bit her lower lip. “It’s a bit creepy.”

Palan shrugged. “Capturing people’s pretty normal in Eljiam,” he said. “Maybe they’re demons.”

“The capital doesn’t employ demons,” Raea said.

“Right,” Palan said and rolled his eyes. “They only enslave them.” He continued before Raea could retort. “So what are we going to do about this? I don’t want to fight Sariel if you’re unable to use your powers.”

“Just follow Levy’s idea,” the lightning avatar said and nodded as its arms flashed towards the duo. Before it reached them, a beam of white light shot out from the crack in the capital’s wall and pierced the lightning avatar’s head, evaporating it in an instant. The beam of light continued on into the night sky like a shooting star until it faded into a dot in the distance. A mountain forced its way through the crack in the wall. Pyre had arrived.