The sounds of screaming demon women, and buildings I had crashed through falling apart, and the thumping in my ear. That sound was my blood boiling inside me as I seethed with anger. So much wrong had been done, and I knew that this monster was not going to stop with just Sagittarius.
Kadeon still controlled nine of my former guards. The other Zodiacs, and some of them my wives. The things I would do to Kadeon when I got my hands on him were unthinkable, but I had to deal with Horseman first.
"Sage! Let's just talk about this like men, so I don't have to hurt you," I growled as burning shadows wrapped around my hands. I knew he wasn't going to stand down, but it felt wrong not to at least let him know I don't want to do this.
Sagittarius, or the grotesque, twisted version of him, stared at me with vacant eyes. "Hurting me… won't be that easy, Galio," he replied, his voice an unsteady mix of the deep, resonant baritone I once knew and a monstrous grating growl.
As much as I'd hoped to appeal to the human part of him with my words, the beast inside Sagittarius appeared to be largely in control. His movements were no longer those of a graceful yet formidable warrior, but the predatory stalk of a raging beast.
I clench my fists, my shadow flames dancing and flickering in response to my rising anger and determination. If Sage wouldn't stand down, I'd have to force him.
"See Aquarius," his almost-guttural voice rumbled as he snapped an imposing, brawny arm out to his side. From the darkness behind him, a figure emerged.
"Huh?" I said, stunned. It was my wife, but she was not twisted like Sage.
"Huh? That is the best you have got?!" My wife and once very loyal guard snapped at me.
I really couldn't do much but blink, because that was all the time I had before a bullet of water tore by my face. It happened so fast that I could move fast enough for the shockwave that came after, and I was blasted to the side.
"You ignored me, my King. Yes, I remember everything, but I always have. I waited. Do you know what that WAS LIKE?!"
I tried to shield myself with Umbramancy, but there was something about her power that seemed even deadlier than Sage in his enraged state.
"You know," Kadeon said as he stepped out of a red chaos-infused portal. "I didn't even have to warp her mind to make her agree to delay you here. You think you know why I am here, but the best part is that I know you don't! Isn't that just wonderful? There is something here that can link this world to Yaggisdral, but only I hold the key!" Kadeon declared, but then paused thoughtfully, tapping a finger to his lips before a disgusting smile spread across his face. "You know what will happen then, right? Chaos will flood all the layers of the Underworld and devour all these disgusting creatures! After that it is only a matter of time before I can consume-"
I moved like a flash, cutting Kadeon off, but Sage was instantly between us.
"Sorry, not interested in playing games with you. I have bigger fish to fry, and you have more to worry about. I think that Capricorn should be making her entrance soon!" Kadeon laughed as he opened a portal. "Do you think you can defeat all three and keep those vile whores alive?"
I tried to dodge past Sage but was forced back by a hail of water bullets that destroyed the landscape around me. I could barely keep up, and I needed to think of something fast. My shadows could do nothing about this, so I had to start thinking outside of the box, or rather, the four-dimensional box, but it was risky.
"Don't think that I will let you get away, my King!" Aquarius screamed from her cyclone of water up in the air.
"Why in my name are you attacking me if Kadeon isn't forcing you to! Look at Sage! Is that what you want?!" I demanded as I wracked my brain.
"You have no idea. You got to live, and love in countless lives while we, the ones that truly loved you had to watch. You, The most powerful being in existence, a mere puppet for the man you promised to protect us from!" Aquarius screamed. "I don't care about anything anymore! I just want you to hurt as bad as I do!"
The ground beneath me trembled and the shadow flames around my fists flickered under the onslaught of Aquarius' anger. Her words stung, carving into the protective armor I'd built around those locked-away memories and regrets.
I'd failed her, failed them, in more ways than one. I had been given countless lives to live and love but was oblivious to the pain of those that had loved me on Prime.
"You're right," I admitted, gritting my teeth. "I've been selfish, blinded by the endless cycle of rebirth and love I was favored with. But don't confuse my ignorance with a lack of empathy or remorse. I do care. Immensely."
My eyes shifted towards Sagittarius, a grotesque marionette dancing under Kadeon's command. It was a painful reminder of my past failures, and a foretelling of potential catastrophes if I didn't put an end to Kadeon's games.
Suddenly a mischievous grin spread across Sage's face. "You think you can stop us so easily, Galio?"
As I braced myself, a small menacing figure with a massive hammer slowly emerged from behind Sage, and my heart squeezed in my chest. I had called her sister for so long, but this form was not the woman that I loved.
"Time to die, my King," The distorted face of Capricorn said quietly, and then all three attacked at once.
All I could do was close my tear-stung eyes.
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