The Only Son Amongst The Daughters Of Eros

"Virax!" Nyx screamed. "Attack mode: Venomous Bite!"

Her snake beast twisted its body and then lunged out with force, using its head to attack. Mouth wide, fangs out and glittering with some kind of venomous liquid.

Aeric's eyes narrowed. He thought fast and quickly. Strengthening his grip, he held tight onto Sylver's reins and pulled the beast to the sound.

The Silverwolf leapt, then curved, twisting to avoid the spearing attack. However, at the same time, Melina's Nightpanther vanished and appeared right before Aeric again.

Aeric pulled the reins one time, knowing that the Nightpanther was about to pounce, and once it did, Sylver managed to sidestep, sending dust and debris flying.

The move wasn't done there. Sylver landed on his forelegs, then pushed his hind legs upwards, striking Melina's Nightpanther right on the chest.

The beast tumbled upside down, almost causing Melina to crash on the floor, but she held on tight to the reins as the panther beast landed on its feet but dragged itself through the ground because of the force.

Noise started to grow from outside and Aeric remembered that there was a crowd watching.

'At least if I die here, there will be witnesses,' he thought. 'Even though they all presumably hate me.'

Saying that, he looked at Melina who was composing herself after that powerful kick. And he could see the raw hatred in Melina's gaze — she truly wasn't after his flag. She wanted to hurt him.

'If only looks could kill,' Aeric thought, 'then their job would have been done a long time ago.'

Nyssa and her beast leapt over Melina, joining the scene with a loud yell; "Bambi! Attack mode: Spears of thunder!"

First, Aeric felt a little fear, but then he locked in and held tight to Sylver. 'You've got maxed out Agility already, Sylver! Show me why!'

Sparks of lightning formed on the Thunderstag's antlers and then it shot them forward as they took the shape of speeding spears.

Sylver instantly began to leap and dodge, leap and dodge. Streaks of blue lightning attempted to strike him, but he almost turned to a blur, zapping just past time.

He leapt on top of the wall then ejected longer claws, ran on top of it and completely evaded all three girls and their beasts.

"Where the hell do you think you're going!" Melina steered her beast around to follow, and Nightpanther instantly burst into action. It caught up instantly and lunged again at Aeric and Sylver.

However, just as Melina's Nightpanther attacked, the walls of the maze shattered once again and Celestia arrived on scene.

She drove back Melina with a fierce charge, her Pegasus slashing its hooves down with terrifying force and causing a burst of golden light to explode within the corridor.

The three Daughters were pushed backwards, given Aeric the clearing he desperately needed.

Celestia looked at him and nodded.

"Took you a while," Aeric said with a smile.

"I know. I lost track of you for a moment there. I'm sorry."

Aeric took a deep breath. "It's fine. I still have both Tokens. The Twilight Twins have two, I can take it from them if we can defeat them here."

"How about Melina?"

Aeric looked at the three girls who were all glaring at them angrily. "Melina's a Protector. She doesn't have the token."

Then his eyes darkened. 'But if Melina's the Protector, why has she distanced herself from Aryanne, her Seeker? Unless..."

The respite was short-lived. Suddenly, from the opposing walls, Aryanne and Rosette swooped in on their Beasts, catching them both by surprise.

Aryanne's Dreadhound clashed hard with Aeric's Silverwolf, who held his ground and collided with the Legendary Beast one tier higher than him.

Rosette's Owlbear caught Celestia's Pegasus with a drag of its claw, fastly digging into the skin on its neck, and pulling away.

That strike caused the horse beast to stumble backwards. Celestia's grip on the reins loosened and she fell hard on the floor.

'No!' Aeric's eyes caught her crashing hard. He dragged on Sylver and made him pull back, causing Aryanne's Dreadhound to fall forward. At the same time, Sylver agilely got out of the way and the Dreadhound collided head first with the part of the maze walls that were harder.

"Aeric, you're the Seeker! Go!" Celestia shouted, trying to get up on her feet.

Melina made her Nightpanther to place a paw on top of her, causing Celestia to fall flat on the ground again.

"What are you doing, Melina?!" she cried.

"If you run, I'm gonna squash your little girlfriend," Melina threatened, and she didn't sound like she was joking at all.

A flash of anger flared in Aeric's eyes. "Why you lunatic whore!!!" He grabbed Sylver's reins tight. "Sylver! Ultra Attack Mode: Howl of Terror!"

A silver energy suddenly began to build up within the beast, and instantly, he let out a bone-chilling roar. With that roar came a blaze of this silver energy, and the sound force hit the Twilight Twins and Moonlight Daughters like a wave.

They all scattered backwards, hurled by the rupturing waves. Even their beasts couldn't stop the force, giving Celestia a chance to break free.

"Hurry, get on!" Aeric urged her as she tried to get on her Beast Companion.

The Pegasus whined. Celestia pet it gently, worry on her face. "Lumi's hurt pretty badly. She's going to need some time to rejuvenate."

"Shit!"

Meanwhile, Aryanne was already dragging herself up. She lifted her head and saw that Aeric and Celestia were about to escape. Her eyes clenched with anger. 'You're not going anywhere.'

Stretching her hand, she grabbed her Dreadland's reins and commanded. "Draxon! Tactical Mode: Rewind!"

Suddenly, like a TV being rewinder to an earlier scene, Aryanne and her Beast were dragged by an unseen force and placed in the exact position they were 40 seconds ago.

Now, she was sitting on the Beast's back, just like she was before the Howl of Terror, and she was fully prepared for an attack.

Aeric's eyes widened with fear and his entire body seemed to freeze. Sylver took control, ignoring Aeric's order and going after the Dreadhound which he now had formed a rivalry with after their clashes.

Celestia was pushed out of the way as Sylver growled angrily, running towards Aryanne and her Dreadhound.

"No, no. What are you doing Sylver?! Stop! Stop!" he pulled hard on his reins but the Beast had already lunged at the Dreadhound — who even though wanted to fight, knew to obey Aryanne's command because of their high levels of synergy.

As Sylver jumped, Aeric saw Aryanne raise a hand, her Divinity flaring around her in the colors of misty silver. Then she unleashed a powerful blast.

Blast!

It struck Sylver square in the chest and the explosion from the collision hit Aeric hard, causing the pain to vibrate through his body.

They were sent crashing into the ground. Hard. Rough.

"Ugh!" Aeric groaned and cried as pain tore through him. Breathing became difficult and his vision blurred a lot. Sylver lay beside him, motionless.

"Ha ha ha ha ha!" Aryanne's sharp laughter rang in his ears. She came down from her Beast and walked towards him.

"I gotta hand it to you, bastard. Your plan was smart. Instead of having your Protector follow you from behind, you had her follow you from beside, using the walls as coverage. That way if I attack you, thinking you're alone, her own attack becomes an ambush."

She was getting closer towards him. "Really clever, I'd say. I wonder how you could come up with that since this is your first time playing Heart Hunt. Was it even your idea, or was it Celestia's?"

Aeric continued to groan, rolling on the floor.

"It doesn't matter. Fact is, you lost. Like the pitiful abomination you are, a desecration of our Divine world, you... lost. And from today, you'll always continue to lose. Until I chase you out of this world, or until you die."

Through the haze of his vision, Aeric saw her approaching, a cold, victorious smile on her face. Soon she was standing before him.

His own sister, Rosette, was there too, standing above him, as so were Nyx, Nyssa and Melina.

Aryanne pointed down at him, her eyes blazing with contempt. "Remember what I told you before the game started? I told you — you're the only enemy here."

A magical energy danced around her outstretched arm and then, ethereally, her Divine Weapon materialized in her hand. It was a long, double-bladed staff that gleamed with deadly intent.

'She's already crafted hers?' Aeric thought with a squeeze of his heart.

Aryanne raised it high, ready to strike.

And then, with a glint of metal and a fierce shout, she brought it crashing down.