"Zelgadis..." Lina's blood red eyes unfocused and blurred by the beginnings of tears. Xellos still held onto her, too tightly for her taste, but he was all that stood between Korongar and a Dragon slave.
"Milord." Two men appeared before the leader of the Lamina, both kneeling.
"Is it done?" Korongar asked them.
"The Runecaster is dead, Lord Korongar." The one on the left nodded.
"My pike pierced his skin, just as you predicted." The other added. "Stone is no match for diamond-steel."
"Zelgadis!" Lina cried out, and the two new arrivals spun around in surprise.
"Master, who are they?"
"Isn't that... Lina Inverse?!"
"Don't worry, Tenroh, Yarat 'Nam." Korongar waved away their concern. "She understands our position."
"How did you kill the Runecaster?" Xellos scowled. Yarat 'Nam, a slender, brown haired man with brick red eyes and sleek features, blinked.
"I ran him through, twice." He tossed his waist length tresses over his shoulder. "Had to leave my spear in him to keep the damn Runes from healing him."
"Did you leave the body there?" The Mazoku's expression did not change.
"The Runecaster - " Tenroh, a younger man with sandy blonde hair and dark scarlet eyes, was cut off by the all but forgotten sorceress.
"He has a name!" She screamed. "At least call him by his name!"
"...?" Tenroh looked confused.
"At least give Zelgadis that much respect!!"
"Zelgadis... fell off the edge of the mountain after Yarat 'Nam stabbed him."
"On which side?" Xellos' eyes opened wide.
"He fell... into the volcano..."
"WHAT?!" A violet-black aura sprang up around the Mazoku. "He was bleeding, dying, and he fell INTO SUIVUSEV?!"
Tenroh and Yarat 'Nam cowered. Kwah flinched. Korongar glowed with anger as well.
"What's the big deal about that?" Lina glowered.
"Now we're all doomed. " Korongar sighed. "We're all doomed."
Suivusev's molten rock core bubbled slowly, glowing with heat. One large pocket of air popped, releasing what sounded like a giggle. Several more bubbles released fragments of laughter, and the light from the magma brightened considerably, taking on a gold hue. The ground shook, and the lava began to rise, laughter ringing all the way...
"Suivusev... gateway to Limbo... the 'birthplace' of all Runes, and the doorway to unlimited power..." Korongar sank low into his chair, head bowed and shoulders slumped. He remained motionless, even as the building began to shake and Tenroh and Yarat 'Nam began to panic.
"It has begun..." The laughter from the volcano echoed through the fortress, and the familiarity of the voice caused chills to run up and down Lina's spine.
Ancient Mt. Suivusev was shaking violently, smoke and lava bits flying everywhere. Below, people fled in chaotic terror as the day that their lives would be destroyed arrived. A geyser of molten rock spewed from the mountain's mouth with a loud roar. Riding on the tip of the blast was an obsidian sphere, which rose above the lava and hovered in the sky for a moment, a black shadow against the sun. Then it shattered, revealing the Angel within.
The Angel was, of course, beautiful to look at. It had a lean-cut, male form, as if it were carved from a single piece of creamy marble. Silvery-violet hair, every strand as delicate as a spider's thread, cascaded over the angel's right eye, and flared out at the nape of his neck. His eyes seemed to be two perfectly faceted sapphires, flashing in the light of the midnight sun. Garbed in a black, sleeveless tunic and pants, the angel's wings were actually a large black cloak and shoulder wrap, embroidered in gold with ancient symbols of power. Knee-high black boots completed the ominous ensemble of the Vengeful Angel.
A smirk twisted across the Angel's perfectly sculpted lips.
"Time to die, Sollex." It chuckled. "You, and the race you hold so dear!"
Xellos Metallium felt the massive jolt of power that disrupted the astral plane, and knew instantly what was coming. He moved quickly to the window, just in time to see the black sphere shatter. He phased outside to meet the growing danger.
"What's going on now?" Lina demanded, irritated at being left out.
"Sollex has gone to intercept the Rune Mage." Korongar grumbled. "Futile effort, really, but he has courage, I'll give him that."
"WHADDAYAMEAN?!" Tired of not getting the whole story, Lina grabbed the Lamina leader by his collar and shook him.
"The Runes are now in charge of Zelgadis' body." Korongar jerked away. "At least, theoretically, that's what should have happened. Your friend fell into Suivusev, the forge of destructive power, and should be their tool to the destruction of the human race."
"Theoretically..." She glared, then bashed him with a Flare Arrow.
"Shit!" He yelled, then scrambled to his feet. "Inverse-san!" He called out to her just as she blasted through the wall and out to the battle field.
A moment later, the fortress was blown into smithereens by an immense explosion of golden energy.
The air was filled with black and gold fire. The heat from the flames seared her skin, threatening to pop the protective bubble Rei Wing provided.
"Xellos! Zelgadis!" She yelled, pushing onwards despite the danger. "Zelgadis?"
"Lina, damn it, get out of here!" Xellos yelled from somewhere in the darker pyre.
"Where's Zelgadis?" she screamed.
"That's not Zelgadis!" he shouted back.
"Where is he?!"
"Lina, you can't fight this battle!"
"WHERE IS HE?!"
"Right behind you." Lina turned towards the new voice, and came face to face with the Angel of Vengeance.