Page 70 of Crimson Skies

Dryad magic flowed through the battalion as they charged the monsters.

Morgan, Victor, and Boreas found themselves surrounded by a group of evil spirits from the Underworld.

A giant ice spear grew in the Winter God’s left hand as he looked past the spectral figures to the vanguard of their army. “I hope our plan works.”

Morgan followed his gaze, his pulse racing with equal dread and hope.

* * *

Darkness ignitedthe air around Elios as he clashed swords with Cassius. He glared at the one he had loathed his entire life, hate bubbling in his veins.

“I will crush you, Awakener!”he spat.“I will end everyone you cherish before your eyes and make you weep tears of blood, just like that time in the Nether! I swear upon my—”

Heat seared his back.

A triumphant expression brightened Cassius’s gaze.

Elios snarled. He lashed out at Atropos before she could cut him again, the corrupt bands shooting from his body immobilizing her blades and wrists.

He yanked her close, outrage choking his throat. “How dare you?!”

The Moira lowered her brows, her pupils blazing gold. “I dare because you need to be stopped.”

The Goddess headbutted him. Stars filled Elios’s vision.

Heaven’s Light scorched his eyes the next instant. He squinted and recoiled, ready to fend off another attack.

“Eden!” Cassius barked.

Elios blinked, confused. He froze as the sky parted on a red glow that carried a familiar, sulfurous reek.

The Magus emerged from the portal, her brow furrowed in an almighty scowl and a storm on her heels. “How about you and your shitty attitude take a hike, youzogganigx!”

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The magic throbbingthrough Eden from her bloodcursed soul and the Nine Hells raised sparks on her flesh and tainted the air above San Francisco the color of blood. Woody vibrated in her grip, his runes etching his power onto her skin. The devilwood staff’s bloodlust echoed her own will to fight.

The dark God’s eyes widened in incomprehension.

For a moment, Eden felt pity for the deity. But only for a moment. Today was not a day she and Woody could afford to show mercy.

A roar left Eden as she blasted Elios with the full force of the magic they wielded. The shadows shrouding the God exploded into a thousand inky strands upon impact.

It was the opening she had been waiting for.

Eden inhaled deeply and screamed out a command. “NOW!”

A second portal opened beneath the stunned God.

Galliad and Elwyn emerged inside a veritable maelstrom with Strickland, Wallace, Ortega, and Yuan, the violent currents swirling around them and their summoning staffs charged with the sickening power of the Nine Hells.

The vortex they’d created sucked Elios’s scattered fragments into its sphere as they rose past him.

Eden plunged on a burst of speed and drove her shoulder into the God of Darkness’s coalescing figure. She shoved him inside the rift before he could take on a solid shape.

His scream of rage choked off as he plummeted inside the closing portal, body half formed.

Her stomach lurched when the doorway wavered. She jerked back. An inky tentacle shot out and latched on to her ankle before she could get away. She gasped as she was dragged toward the opening.

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