There are many ways to enter a fortified demonic capital.
Sneaking through the sewer system, crawling through shadows.
Disguising oneself as a minor imp tax official, complete with pocket watch and forged scrolls.
Casting an elaborate illusion and walking through the main gate.
We did none of those.
We got in because the guards recognized me and let us through.
"Praise the Meow-Bearer," said one hulking, winged demon as he bowed low and pointed toward the inner gate.
I blinked. "Wait, seriously?"
"He walks in flesh again," said the other guard solemnly. "The devourer of the Census Tower."
Lyra leaned toward me. "Kaname. What did you do?"
"I ate a fruit."
Silas elbowed me. "That fruit blew up a shrine."
"It also exploded my lunch!" I hissed.
The gate opened.
The capital welcomed me in silence.
Velis muttered, "This place is held together by duct tape, miasma, and cult-grade bureaucracy. Let's move."
The Demon Capital, formally known as Cael'Nurrath, was somehow worse than advertised.
The buildings were made of black glass, fused bone, and what I'm pretty sure were regrets. Glowing leyline veins pulsed under the streets like arteries trying to flee the city. The sky overhead churned with a blood-colored storm that occasionally sneezed thunder.
Everything hissed. The fountains hissed. The mailboxes hissed. A pastry cart hissed at Lyra when she got too close.
The demons walked in straight lines, wore formal uniforms, and whispered behind paper scrolls like they were in a villainous book club.
"Nothing says 'final level' like ritualized dread," Silas muttered.
I clutched my cat-shield tighter.
Iria's gaze swept the horizon. "Where is the castle?"
We looked up.
It floated.
Above the city.
Chained to the sky by seven massive beams of magic and shaped like a mix between a cathedral, a fortress, and a bad idea.
"Oh," I said. "There it is."
We were making our way through one of the less-exploded market sectors when the first tremor hit.
Then the screaming started.
Then the tower on the western side of the plaza exploded in a beam of radiant light and shadow fire.
I stopped walking.
Lyra stopped breathing.
Velis adjusted her goggles. "That's a Class-6 leyline destabilization burst."
Silas squinted. "That's Ren, isn't it?"
"I refuse to answer," I said quickly.
Then came the sound.
> "—LIMIT BREAK: ECLIPSE ASCENSION PROTOCOL!!"
"*Oh no.*"
The upper floors of a library folded like wet cardboard.
We sprinted.
We arrived in the ruined sector just as the dust was settling.
Two figures stood in the center of the crater, silhouetted by collapsing architecture and screaming demons.
Ren Arashi: glowing, smug, rapier glowing with divine light.
Kuroblade Nightshade: surrounded by ravens made of shadow and his usual cloud of melodrama.
Aria, off to the side, was patching a demon's wounds and glaring at everyone involved.
I took a step forward.
Ren turned.
His face lit up like a theatrical sunbeam.
"Kaname!"
"Oh no," I muttered.
He ran.
And hugged me.
Tightly.
He even sparkled. I don't know how. There wasn't any light, but he sparkled.
"I knew we'd reunite at the climax!"
"Can't… breathe," I wheezed.
Kuroblade approached with an unnecessarily billowing cape. "Destiny loops upon itself."
Lyra whispered, "Is he quoting a prophecy or just vibing?"
"Yes," Velis said.
We found a relatively intact archway to regroup.
Ren was talking a mile a minute.
"We stormed a city, beat a councilor, liberated some imp families—oh! And I'm legally married to a succubus now, long story, doesn't count. How've you been?"
I blinked slowly. "Trapped in a mimic. Led a rebellion. Found a cursed shield. May have a church."
Aria was visibly exhausted. "This is the most terrifying group I've ever been stuck with."
Kuroblade stood dramatically on a ruined column. "The castle above pulses with cursed tension. A final battleground awaits."
Iria nodded, solemn. "Then our path is clear."
Silas: "We going up there?"
Lyra: "Looks that way."
Velis: "The leyline locks are connected to seven primary magic gates. We'll have to sever them to reach the top."
"Easy," Ren said.
"That's the hard part," Velis replied.
As we neared the gate to the first leyline chamber, seven shadows emerged.
Towering demons. Each glowing with a different energy. Each more absurdly designed than the last.
"Seven Generals," Velis muttered.
"One for each sin," Aria said.
The demons glared down at us—Pride, Envy, Wrath, and so on—each radiating overwhelming power.
I stepped forward. "So, what's the plan?"
Ren stepped forward beside me.
"Kaname," he said. "You and the others go on."
I blinked. "What."
Kuroblade grinned. "We'll hold the line."
"You can't be serious," I said.
"We've never been serious," Ren said, "but we're really good at pretending to be."
They both turned.
Aria groaned. "Not again."
They charged.
Pride and Wrath met them head-on.
I looked at my party.
I looked at the floating castle.
I sighed.
"Of course they're doing a last stand."