Just flying west ended up not being enough to find my friends and allies, but thankfully, I had Alya watching out for me. I started doing circles, spiraling out from a point in an attempt to spot them. Thankfully, I was only flying over the city for a minute before Alya spotted the horde of capes, golems, and guardians chasing down Jack Slash and Bonesaw. As we approached, Alya fed me information.
"According to the guardians, they have almost gotten to him three times, but New Wave keeps holding them back," she explained. "I'm talking to Smokey right now. He isn't sure what's going on, it's almost as if they are too scared to approach, afraid they might set something off."
"Well, we need them to get over it, quickly. As far as I'm aware, this is the weakest and most exposed Jack Slash has been since he joined the Slaughterhouse Nine," I pointed out, biting my cheek. "Coordinate a new push with them, tell New Wave I'm incoming, and get us together all at once. We will work together to stop anything they have up their sleeve, but we need to end this now."
Alya agreed, directing me along with everyone else at once. Together, we managed to surround Jack Slash as he and Bonesaw, along with the shambling abominations that contained the poor hero's brain, attempted to cross a parking lot. They were breathing heavily, and Jack was practically dragging Bonesaw behind him.
I landed roughly in front of them, hard enough to crack the asphalt under my feet. Behind them, golems and guardians poured from the alleyways, with New Wave dropping from the sky to stand on rooftops. I could see their conflicted expressions, but I ignored them to focus on what was in front of me.
"I think that's enough, Jack," I said, tapping my staff at my side. "I killed your trump card. You have nowhere left to run."
"You think you killed Siberian? I think you would be surprised by how durable Siberian is," Jack assured me with a confident grin, which wasn't all that effective considering they were still huffing and puffing. "Even if you managed to send her away, she always comes back."
"I'm aware, it was getting quite annoying," I responded, shaking my head. "That's why we killed the man who was projecting her. You know, the middle-aged man sitting in a van all by himself, with tattoos on both hands? Funnily enough, when I put a lightning bolt through his chest, the Siberian disappeared."
Silence settled over the parking lot. Jack's eyes went wide, and his jaw dropped, while Bonesaw went pale.
"No! No, no, no!" Bonesaw shouted, her eyes watering. "You killed Siberian! She was my friend!"
Bonesaw pulled a vial from her apron and hurled it at me, clearly intending it to shatter against me, or at least at my feet. Unfortunately for her, Alya was ready and watching. A lightning bolt, spawned from nothing, slammed into the ground through the bottle, vaporizing it and the contents in the process.
The explosion rattled the parking lot, breaking windows all around us and nearly deafening me. It was far worse for the two villains, who had been much closer to the blast. They staggered back, Bonesaw falling on her butt, eyes wide in shock. Behind them, the abominations shook, unable to understand or comprehend what was going on. While they were off balance, I saw a chance.
"Crow?" I asked simply, knowing that she must be nearby. "Lock them down."
Sure enough, a shadow behind a nearby pile of trash shifted, and out stepped Crow, dressed in her feathery look. She flicked out her hand and nearly a dozen feathers fired out, stabbing into both of the villain's shadows, as well as the abominations, all cast by the streetlamps glowing behind them. Jack tried to move, but he was locked in place, his eyes wide in anger… and just enough fear to be visible.
"Keep that up, this is going to take a moment."
Crow nodded, and I stepped forward, my staff clinking on the ground as I did. Once I was just a dozen feet away, I stopped, ignoring that Crow re-applied her feathers.
"I have no words for you, Jack, as I have no reason to comfort you," I said, before looking down at Bonesaw. "I don't know what led you to this. But I hope that you find peace in whatever comes after, because I can't imagine that this is your fault. I'm sorry this is necessary."
I looked into a Bonesaw's eyes, her tears falling freely. After a long moment, her eyes closed, and I could only hope that it meant she was ready. I raised my staff, drawing out a square in the air in front of me.
"Energias destructionis, obliterationis, et eradicationis invoco," I chanted, now drawing a circle in the air. "Prode et spatium purum ante me exsculpe. Dele, elimina, eradica!"
As I chanted, the lines I was tracing began to glow, a simple box inside a circle. Each of the box's corners had a symbol, as did the "sides" of the circle, as defined by the box. The floating circle pulsed, and an identical formation appeared under Jack Slash and Bonesaw. Just as Crow renewed the lock on their shadows, I cast the spell, and a cylinder of roiling purple energy, the energy of annihilation, exploded from the circle. It rose to thirty feet in the air, completely silent, as a breeze pulled us gently towards it, not nearly enough for it to actually affect us, but enough to notice.
It turns out that four levels of annihilation magic were pretty comprehensive. Not only did it contain a wealth of information on generating, directing, and controlling that sort of energy using rituals, enchantments, or both, but it also included a variety of spells. These weren't insanely powerful, as annihilation magic was a potent and deep subject, but it was more than enough to add an inefficient, long-form chanting spell, which was only slightly shortened by my two levels in quick cast.
The blast of energy finished as suddenly as it started, cutting out and vanishing in a split second. In its wake… was nothing. Not a single speck of the villains remained. In fact, the spell had also annihilated a foot-deep circle of asphalt as well. I sagged slightly, letting out a long breath of relief.
"What… did you just do?" Lady Photon asked, calling out from the rooftops nearby.
"I unmade them," I answered. "Destroyed them so completely that there is no trace. No chance of contamination, no chance of anything sneaking away. They are destroyed. Have you guys secured the others' bodies?"
"I… yes. Yes, Panacea confirmed that Shatterbird, Ironrot, and Crawlers' bodies are not a threat," the hero mom said, taking a moment to break through her stunned expression. "She is currently working with those hurt during the Shatterbird scream. The Protectorate is on scene and Velocity is on hand helping with the healing."
"Yeah… I think we should probably head there next…" I said, trying to work out the best plan. "Actually… Weaver and I should go on patrol, spreading out over the city. We need to make sure there isn't some sort of ticking time bomb waiting to go off."
"I'll go with Weaver," Glory Girl volunteered quickly. "Being alone right now is a bad idea."
"Good point, Glory Girl," I agreed with a nod. "I need to check up on my home, make sure Mannequin and Burnscar are both taken care of. After that, I'll start patrolling as well. Alya will have my back."
After a round of confirmations, I teleported away, leaving the scene to check on the forest. My home unsurprisingly smelled of smoke, though it wasn't anything detrimental, just a lingering smell.
"Kali, you there?" I called out as I walked out of the compound and towards where I knew the fire damage was.
"William-Father," Kali greeted, stepping out from behind a tree, using her golem, though I wasn't sure how she was getting it around so fast. "Everything is alright. Kali has stopped the villains. Kali apologizes for allowing the forest to burn so much as she did. Kali was luring them into a trap."
"That's alright, Kali, I'm just glad you're okay," I assured her. "Did the burning forest hurt you?"
"No, as unnatural as the source was, fire is a part of life," she explained. "Kali will need to help the forest regrow, but it will come back stronger than before."
"Wait… the fire looked pretty far out of your range…" I said, giving her a curious look. "Kali, do you inhabit the whole woods now?"
"No… but Kali does inhabit almost to the edge facing the city," she admitted, looking down slightly. "Kali apologizes for not informing William-Father of her growth."
"Hey, I'm not angry," I assured her, putting my hand on her shoulder. "I'm just curious as to what's going on."
For a moment, she seemed hesitant to talk about it, so I gave her shoulder a light, reassuring squeeze. When she looked up at me, I gave her what I hoped was an encouraging smile.
"Right now, we are in the thick of something," I explained. "So take your time, figure out what you're thinking, and when this is all over, we can talk about it. Just know that I care about you, Kali, and that no matter what it is, I promise we will work together to make it okay."
I gave her a hug, which she eagerly returned. After a moment or two, we separated, and the Genus Loci showed me to the last two unaccounted-for members of the Slaughterhouse Nine. Or, at least, what remained of them. Two piles of dirt, one with a lighter nestled on top, and another with a rather creepy mask, which took me a moment to realize wasn't a mask, but a face plate.
I quickly used some druidcraft to grow a pair of buckets, which Kali helped me put each of the piles into. I then gave Kali another hug, put the piles of dirt by my ritual platform for easy retrieval, and then teleported back to the heart of the city.
Part of me wanted to head to where Shatterbird made her last scream, knowing that Panacea and Velocity were likely working hard to heal everyone, but scanning the city for any reprisals or hidden threats was more critical. While Jack Slash was not the kind of egomaniac to think he could ever be beaten, he was the kind of over-the-top drama queen that would set up some sort of domino effect or timed destruction, all so he could do his knock-off Joker act with explosions in the background.
For the next several hours, Alya and I scanned the entire city, coordinating heavily with Weaver throughout the process. What we were doing was an absolute invasion of privacy, but with the threat level so high, we did not have the luxury of letting that matter. Between Bonesaw's skills and Jack Slash's demented mind, there was no limit to the horrors they could unleash.
By the time we had scanned the entire city, the sun was starting to set. New Wave, Crow, Weaver, and I met up where Shatterbird had started her final scream, though in all honesty, the worst had already been taken care of. Panacea and Velocity had been on scene for quite some time at this point, and the area had been evacuated of all uninjured citizens.
Unsurprisingly, with the PRT headquarters well within the range of Shatterbird's scream, they had a vested interest in making sure the whole process was calm, cool, and collected. As we helped out with the last few injured people, nothing more than scrapes and superficial cuts, we were approached by Miss Militia. Lady Photon called me out from a tent, though I was already in my way since Alya had spotted her already.
As well as Dauntless, floating around nearby.
"Miss Militia," I said with a nod. "How is the PRT and Protectorate handling this?"
"Currently, we are scrambling to figure out how we didn't see them coming," She admitted, shaking her head. "We had absolutely no idea they were even in the area. The last time they were spotted was somewhere in the Midwest."
"That was most likely on purpose," I pointed out, shaking my head. "They came here specifically prepared to hunt me."
"That's what we are getting from Ironrot," Miss Militia responded. "Which brings me to my next question… we need confirmation of the others. As much as you can. And Director Piggot would like a debriefing on just exactly what happened."
"I think we can do that," I agreed. "Perhaps Lady Photon, Piper, and I could come in tomorrow."
"Piper?"
"She is the one who stopped the entire city from looking like this," I said, gesturing to the buildings around us, none of which had a single piece of unbroken glass. I was out in the Boat Graveyard when all of this started."
"Understood. Then yes, she should accompany you," she agreed with a nod.
She stood there for a moment before seeming to shift, her professional stance shifting to something a bit less restrained.
"And, off the record… this was incredible, Arcanum," She said, her eyes tightening as she smiled behind her bandana. "I never thought… To see an end to them... I don't think I'm the only one who had simply accepted them as a part of the world, like Nilbong and the Endbringers… You and your people have done what many thought impossible."
"I'm just glad we were able to stop them before they could do anything insidious," I said with a smile. "Perhaps their victims can find some rest."
We chatted a bit more, and we agreed to come in early the following morning. For obvious reasons, we wanted to get the word out about the Slaughterhouse Nine's destruction in a clear, concise manner before rumors started to spread and take hold. From what Miss Militia was saying, we were in a bit of a strange area. The group was usually loud, taking a city by storm and crushing it under their heel until they grew bored. Here, we had stamped them out in an afternoon. The fact that their presence in the town was even partially under wraps was shocking.
After we agreed to come in for a debriefing, I teleported back to the forest and grabbed the two buckets containing Mannequin and Burnscar. Miss Militia had been more than a bit confused when I handed them to a PRT trooper, going a bit pale when it finally clicked.
I had to point back at my demonstration of annihilation magic in order to explain what I had done to Jack Slash and Bonesaw. For Siberian, I had to direct them to the ruined van not far from the docks neighborhood. I held back from mentioning who exactly they would find, as I would explain the next morning.
Once Miss Militia left, we worked for another twenty minutes before we finally called it, passing the situation to emergency services so that we could finally have some rest.