Chapter 16: End of the beginning (Part 1: Abaddon's trap.)

Teri x Gumball

Goodness, would you look at time! Almost eight months! Wow, does time fly by, I mean seriously, where does it all go?

Writing this piece was a nightmare from the very beginning. At first, I wanted to write the entire finale in one, single chapter, but that would've probably resulted in a product over 200 pages in length and I'm not writing all that, plus there's still a lot of content that I wouldn't be able to squeeze in. So, with that being said, I decided to split this finale up into four parts and each one will be released sequentially. There's a lot of fun times up ahead and a lot of fights involving many characters.

Without further ado, I give you the first real engagement between the NEA and the Babyloth Republic, featuring our two heroes: Gumball and Teri.

OkamiSamurai's original character, Hiro Moonson, will be making his second appearance in this story.

Warning: This chapter contains a lot of profanity and graphic depictions of violence. I'm talking really gory stuff here, just to let y'all know.

Now enjoy your awesome murderfest and please leave a review or a like if you enjoyed the chapter.

I do not fight because I hate what's in front of me, but because I love what's behind me.

-G. K. Chesterton

-North Main street, Downtown Los Angeles, November 16th, 2013, 5:31 AM-

Feeling the cool morning air against his fur, Dimitrius Leonhart squinted hard as he scanned the dark skies above for any suspicious activity and stood ready along with the thousand men and women of Mycenae's fearsome Red Parade.

As a Greek who spent his whole life being groomed for combat and to take on a leading position among the many elite troops of the Hellenic nation, the commander was a fine build of a man. Towering over his troops at an intimidating six foot five, he bore the head of a lion with a golden mane done up in braids, clad in bronze armor painted crimson and carrying on his person a heavy round shield made of the same bronze with what looked like a crescent moon broken up into eight segments painted onto its surface, a powerful defensive rune, along with a spear tipped with Olympian gold and finally on his waist, a silver fennel stalk. Having fought alongside his brothers and sisters for both his home city and for the NEA against the malevolent spirits from the hidden world on the moon, Dimitrius's amber eyes shone with the brilliance of a tactician and the ferocity of an aged warrior.

They were Mycenae's finest, the pride of the Greek army and the NEA's most reliable allies, which is why they flew half a world away to partake in what was said to be the greatest joint operation to defend the city of angels.

Whether they were up to the task was to be tested in the coming moments as a portal ripped open the heavens and from the inky blackness within, thousands of creatures poured outwards, zipping across the sky with amazing grace and agility before they turned their attention on the city's air defenses. The AA guns stationed throughout the city's center responded to the attack with the language of fire as batteries placed on the ground, atop of buildings and mounted on the backs of trucks opened with volleys of neon blue and pink rounds that tore into the insectoid flyers with a thundering wrath. With the number of deaths quickly rising in the hundreds, the Locusts dropped from the sky, screeching as their round, teardrop-shaped bodies were ripped to shreds and slammed into the towering skyscrapers or simply plummeted to the ground before shattering.

For those that managed to pass through the threads of lethal rounds, they weaved their way towards the buildings, engaging dozens of AH-1 attack helicopters and machine gun batteries with their Doom blasts, filling the skies with red beams of energy that intersected with the bullets and several aircraft were sent spiraling out control as they caught fire while entire machine gun nests were vaporized along with their crews.

However, one building stood firm against all the attacks: the city hall. Filled to the brim with defensive batteries and covered with the strongest class of protective enchantments, the towering white building stood as an untouchable beacon of resistance against the invaders as all who tried to approach it were immediately shot down while their attacks were simply nullified. This is what the Red Parade was assigned to protect, as it was the NEA's best means of repelling the Nephilim's opening attack and the Lionite Commander swore to Iris that he would protect it with his life.

Turning to the rows of Hoplites standing next to and behind him as the world around them thundered with both friendly and enemy fire, Alexander's booming voice could be heard by all within the Red Parade's ranks,

"Sons and daughters of Mycenae! This will be our finest moment, for our enemies send us their ungodly hordes and most fearsome beasts to take the lands of those we openly welcome as friends!" He shouted, earning a powerful response from his fellow Mycenaens as they slammed their shields with their spears.

"HRAH!" They all bellowed in unison, their aggression climbing.

In the skies above, the Locusts were now being engaged by NEA fighter jets, F-84 thunderjets and F-86 Sabres, relics from the Korean war reintegrated within the Earth's Grand Army and outfitted with a magic arsenal while being powered by Amethyst power crystals, an alchemist's solution to the Nephilim's EMP's. Despite being outnumbered by thousands of white insectoid fighters, the hundreds of aircraft kept them busy with their machine guns and the deafening screams of their engines could be heard by those down below. With the aerial assault being handled by the elite pilots, NEA ground units were able to concentrate their efforts on the new series of portals opening up and unleashing a new manner of monstrosity onto the fortified streets of the downtown area.

Remaining unphased by the descending behemoths, whose cloaked forms shielded them from the harmful AP rounds, the golden haired feline continued to encourage his men with his resounding speech,

"We'll grant them no such victory! Let these lost and ancient gods know that they have no place in the world of man! That we'll drive them all back to that hell pit they call a realm with thunder and fury!" He valiantly declared, his words backed with the shouts of his men and the clanging of shields.

Having finally overwhelmed the surrounding area's weakened defenses, the giants came crashing down onto the street several hundred feet away from E 1st street, the intersection where the Red Parade stood, some crushing buildings as they landed and filling the air with dust as rubble came raining down. The one in the lead, a shrouded figure dressed in layers of purple and black cloth, whose face remained obscured by a mask bearing the four eyed logo of Babyloth, the monster stood at seventy feet in height with no visible arms or other dangerous appendages, only regarding the column of assembled Greek soldiers with a stony look and a hiss from its throat. Even though such creatures were rarely seen by those who fought the Nephilim before, many of the Mycenaean heroes recognized the distinctive masks and cloaks the monsters all wore: Quilge, or Jail gods as others would come to know them as.

A wave of unease and tension washed over the red hoplites, having heard the reports before, but Dimitrius's unwavering state kept their confidence high.

Before the Quilge could begin their imminent assault on the city hall as well as its defenders however, several NH-1 Main Battle Tanks, aka "Wasps" rolled up from behind the Mycenaeans, their treads grinding against the pavement as their cannons raised themselves upwards and pointed at the massive creatures.

BOOM!

The first shot, followed by many more, rang throughout the streets and the leading masked giant along with its companions were knocked backwards as heavy concussive rounds ripped right through them, causing many to utter a deathly howl as their bodies melted into black sludge and a foul stench filled the air. The tanks continued their barrage as the surviving giants began their advance towards the city hall and the body count continued to climb. As the cloaked figures fell prey to the armored unit's onslaught, more black puddles began to flood the streets and from them, something stirred. From the thick mess, many limbs rose and were followed by creatures that clawed their way out from the goop.

Seeing the growing horde manifesting before them, Dimitrius gave out a command,

"Phalanx!"

Acting perfect unison, the Red Parade raised their shields, forming a wall of interlinking bronze discs while lowering their spears ahead of them and a barricade of Olympian gold fangs was formed as an added defense. The monsters that had risen from the remains of their Quilge carriers were abominations in every sense; two bodies, sometimes three, facing opposite directions fused together at the waist and cloaked with rags, a pair of antlers could be seen on their heads and they each stood no shorter than ten feet in height. Brandishing blackened spears and Spatha longswords, the monsters howled as they raced towards the formation of Greeks, the chains shackled to their wrists and ankles clinking with their wild movements and the Red Parade stood at the ready.

Vincula Militum, jail soldiers; mindless beasts made from former prisoners within the Babyloth Republic, now fused together and forced to charge headlong into the enemy position.

Keeping steady, Dimitrius watched the Vincula practically stumbled over each other as they surged forward, spit flying from their mouths as they snapped at their fellow convicts while their blank white eyes burned with rage and they began rapidly closing the distance.

"Vomvardistis! (Bombardiers!)" The Lionite commander shouted, keeping his thunder spear raised.

The order was carried out to the ranks behind the defenders and the soldiers that heard pulled out from their satchels a spherical object encased in bronze engraved with strange runic markings. In a well orchestrated move, the bombardiers whispered a spell and let the tennis ball-sized grenades roll between the feet of the ones in front. The magic explosives rolled down the streets, completely unhindered and unnoticed by the charging invaders before they flashed green.

FWOOSH!

A series of green firestorms erupted at the Vincula Militum's feet, sweeping the fused monstrosities up in an emerald blaze and the immense heat that came from such a devastating attack left many Mycenaeans up front feeling as though they were being baked within their own armor. The stench that came from dozens of burning bodies was far more repugnant than the ooze they sprang from and a cacophony of hellish screams pierced their eardrums as they thrashed about wildly in the flames, many dying from the shock as their bodies melted like wax. The other prisoners ignored the dangers of the flame and pressed onwards with their crude weapons raised.

Giving out the order a second time, the impressive lionite commander watched as another row of Vincula vanished within the green hellstorm and yet, despite seeing many more fall, they still kept coming, with some even pressing on as their clothes were set ablaze.

Having barely slowed them down nor placed a serious dent in their numbers, Commander Leonhart understood that they were going to have cut them down and a roar left his lips,

"All troops, open fire!" He commanded.

With the mindless horde now in range, the Greeks let loose a round of lightning discharged from their thunder spears and one by one, the Vincula began to drop, their dark robes providing very little protection against the lances of electricity as they burned holes right through their grey, conjoined bodies. Members of the Red Parade were surprised to see their attacks having greater effect as the evil giants were slowing down and a cheer erupted from the crimson column. However, this triumphant moment was cut short when more Quilge giants dropped down from the sky, landing well beyond the range of the tanks and the masked figures launched a volley of Doom Blasts straight at the Greeks and their fellow defenders.

"INCOMING!" One hoplite up front screamed in alarm.

VOOOM!

The air was drowned in crimson as the beams darted straight towards them, but rather than leave the Mycenaeans absolutely devastated, the combined strength of their shields completely negated blast's effects and allowed for the deadly, exotic energy to splash harmlessly against the invisible barrier. However, such a move did take its toll on the shield bearers and a number of segments vanished from the moons painted on each one, signifying that the spell's strength had been reduced. Having deflected such a ruinous blow, the artillery pieces placed at the base of the city hall opened up and peppered the streets with deafening explosions that ripped the seven story behemoths to ribbons.

However, their deaths further added to the swarms of Nephilim horrors, easily ramping up their numbers to the tens of thousands and the shells continued to punch holes in their unorganized ranks, sending bodies and limbs flying about.

"We need to push them back before they try outflanking us." Dimitrius thought to himself as he blasted another unfortunate monster with his thunder spear and brought his hand up to the shielded earpiece he wore,

"I want all armored units to advance on my signal!" He stated to the Seventh armored division's commanding officer before contacting someone else,

"Alright, Vasquez, begin your run!" he signalled.

"Roger that, Commander Leonhart! Calvary's on the way!" A female voice replied over the comms before cutting out.

In the moments that followed, dozens of men and women, humans and bizarros alike, riding atop monstrous black tigers with green stripes came racing out from in between buildings on all sides, catching the Vincula off guard as their flanks were closed in by the gun-toting Outriders. Leading them was Anita Vasquez, a once notorious gangster whose Outriders used to prowl the city's underbelly, now fighting for the NEA as part of their RDF (Regional Defense Force) unit in LA. Clad in protective NEA-issued armor that covered her leather riding jacket while also wearing white trousers and long leather boots, the fearsome Hispanic woman let loose a terrifying battle cry as she filled the Nephilim jail fighters with bullets from her Thompson machine gun and let her deadly tiger mount tear into them as it leapt forward, her wild black hair flowing in the wind behind her.

As the Outriders successfully pressed in from both sides, their speed and ferocity making it very hard for the enemy to defend against (though Dimitrius saw one unfortunate rider get knocked from his tiger and was gored by a spear shortly after, his screams barely heard over the booming chaos.), the NH-1 Wasps began to roll up on the sides from behind and laid down some extra firepower on the trapped Nephilim. The tanks themselves were small, incredibly small, built to house a single gun operator while being driven by the machine's spirit called a "Nymph" and their light, compact frames allowed them to easily squeeze by the clashing forces. Activating the small rocket boosters built into the back, the tanks roared down the streets alongside the outriders and helped pick off enemy forces with destructive strikes.

The Nephilim army was in a full panic now as they tried to cover all their sides and the leader of the Greek fighting infantry took this opportunity to bring in the final push.

Raising his spear, the anthropomorphic feline with golden fur called out to his brethren and rallied them forth,

"WHO ARE WE?" He bellowed.

"WE ARE THE RED PARADE!" His troops returned even as they continued to blast away with their weapons.

"WHAT IS OUR MOTTO?" He questioned promptly, shaking the hand that held the spear up high.

"KARDIES FOTIAS! TOICHOI SIDIROU! I KOKKINI PARELASI SYNECHIZEI (HEARTS OF FIRE! WALLS OF IRON! THE RED PARADE MARCHES ON!)" Came their main battle cry as a thousand voices rang out and the men in the back banged their spears against their shields, adding more to the overall aggression with their vibrant crashes.

Now with his spear raised at the enemy once more, the Lionite set his gaze on the giants and roared, bearing his fangs as the loud guttural noise signalled to all the Red Parade's advance. As the air continued to light up with bolts and bullets, sending the tenacious Vincula sprawling and flying through the air, some whole, others in pieces, the column of red armor clad warriors marched forth, not a single step out of sync and they moved as one massive wall of bronze. Despite the number of enemies being twenty-thousand strong, outnumbering the NEA defenders twenty to one, their casualties continued to climb as the Red Parade pressed onwards and morale skyrocketed among the red hoplites.

However, things took a grim turn for the Greeks when an F-84, having been struck in the left wing by a pursuing Locust's continuous fire, came spiraling down towards them and drove itself into the building on their left.

Only a few were able to notice the danger in time, but it was far too late and the resulting explosion, along with the rain of heavy debris, came raining down on their heads. The shockwave casted aside many of the hoplites like toys being discarded by an upset child and the shower of concrete pelted many of the soldiers on the farthest sides of the advancing column, some even getting knocked out cold. Now Dimitrius was lucky enough to avoid being tossed aside or having his skull bashed by stray rubble (unfortunately, his left ear had popped from the screeching sound of the plane's metal fuselage being crumpled, along with the shattering of glass, and the other was ringing like crazy.), but the explosion had violently rocked everyone in the front rows and the phalanx quickly fell apart.

Seeing the formation now weakened, the Vincula were quick to jump at the opportunity and raced towards the weakened section of the forces that caged them in. After recovering from his stumble, the Mycenaean commander found himself staring into the cold white eyes of a towering spirit as it screeched and thrusted a jagged spear at him. Raising his shield just in the nick of time, Dimitrius felt the tip scrape against the shield's edge, sending sparks flying as it slashed the side of his face and left quite a nasty gash that bled.

"GAH!" He screamed, as he bashed the offending weapon away with his shield.

With its primary weapon knocked away, the enraged Vincula soldier spun around so it's Spatha-wielding other half could get a swing in and Alex saw his opportunity to strike. With the enemy being almost twice his height, ducking beneath the swinging sword's deadly arc was easy and the fearsome Lionite sped beneath before thrusting his spear straight into the monster's solar plexus. Another blood curdling screech left its cracked lips as it dropped its sword and wrestled with the wooden shaft that was sprouting from his lower abdomen, black blood spewing from the wound as it poured onto its clothes, leaving them stained. Grunting as it tried to push him back, Dimitrius roared as he pushed forward, driving the spear in deeper and pain shot through his arm at the incredulous amount of effort it took until the weapon's leaf-shaped tip pierced through the other side.

Once through, a bolt of lightning was discharged and the resulting stream of electricity was enough to cause both halves to explode, causing the corpse to melt away, staining the victor's armor and face with black blood.

With one down, another had quickly taken its place and the Greek was given no time to collect himself as he instinctively sprung into action. Bashing aside weapons with his shield and stabbing at both legs and torsos alike, one giant after another began to fall to the warrior's ferocity. Carving through their ranks like a red and gold colored machine of destruction, the other Red Parade members were able to pick themselves up and got back into the fight, smashing into the oncoming horde with the same determination and grit as their leader.

Soon the street had become an orchestra of mayhem as waves of red and grey clashed like opposing currents within an ocean. The sound of steel grinding against bronze was a constant ringing in the soldier's ears as spears, swords, shields, and sometimes even fists exchanged blows as hoplites smashed themselves against their larger adversaries, some even leaping onto the evil spirits, grabbing hold of their antlers and repeatedly smashing their heads with their helms or fists or just simply running their weapons through them if they had them handy. The Vincula Militum fought back with an animosity that was equivalent to their Earthling opponents, cutting them down and tearing any soldier that was unfortunate enough to be isolated limb from limb, all the while driving themselves even further into the Greek's mobilizing units with blind resilience.

As the bloody skirmish continued on, with the Red Parade starting to lose a significant amount of soldiers, Anita and her wild companions continued to provide cover fire to their flanks. Seeing the disarray her allies were in, the tiger riding former gangster thought about pulling back to lend them a hand, but several of her Outriders had already fallen and were struggling to keep the Nephilim at bay. Even the tanks were starting to get overwhelmed, with one having lost its protective shields and was torn to shreds by hordes of enemy soldiers, but before they could kill the gunner, she detonated a belt of grenades she kept handy, taking out dozens of Vincula monstrosities within the given area via a single massive plume of fire.

This left only ten tanks to keep the larger threats at bay and Dimitrius was aware of the dire situation they were in.

Driving his spear simultaneously through the heads of the monster he had thrown himself onto and frying another behind it, he contacted Anita and Luke Douglas, the commander of the NEA's seventh armored division,

"Everyone pull back, I'm going to help even the playing field a bit!" He shouted into the comms, growling as another spear was thrusted in his direction along with three swords from three surrounding enemies, forcing him to duck and roll between their legs.

"Sir, but we'll be overru-!" Anita tried to argue, but was cut off by an angry Dimitrius as he stabbed the monster behind him without looking.

"JUST DO WHAT I SAY, SOLDIER!" He retorted, snarling as a foot came in his direction, attempting to crush the red commander, but only found itself skewered and pushed back.

Hearing the snappy response from the mighty feline and nearly blowing out her eardrums, Anita begrudgingly complied and the lightly mounted cavalry officer, called to her men, waving her Tommy gun in the air as she directed the retreat,

"Retirada! Vamos!" She ordered and the outriders, atop their magnificent jungle cats, began to pull back, with many still taking shots as the Vincula Militum tried to give chase.

With both the outriders and the tanks having pulled back, Dimitrius too fell back to regroup with his forces, fading into the sea of red as they continued to fend off the ten foot brutes with everything they had. Without anyone to keep them closed in on the sides, the giant horde quickly filled the entirety of the streets and sidewalks with thousands of bodies, some even clambering up the sides of nearby buildings to get a better vantage point. It wouldn't be long until they were completely surrounded and for many to break off to go assault the fortified city hall.

He needed to act quickly.

Handing off his weapons to a fellow hoplite, the armor clad Lionite reached down and pulled a bronze dagger from his boot and held the blade against his open palm,

"Keep them busy, this won't take long." he told the soldier that held his spear and the hoplite nodded her blood soaked head before turning to deliver a series of orders to the rest.

With the Red Parade now forming a square barricade around their leader, the warriors of Mycenae continued to fend off the advancing enemy, throwing destructive spells and grenades into the mob that slashed at them as well as insults and aggravated shouts, taking extra care to make sure every soldier next to them was supported. To anyone watching from afar, this seemingly doomed force of men and women was holding out like an unbreakable fortress and soon the chants of the Red Parade's motto could be heard ringing out over the screeches of the jail soldiers and the artillery rounds that continued to blow holes into their army, leaving the streets pockmarked with blast craters. As they continued to valiantly face down their fearsome opponents with enchanted gold and courageous chants, Dimitrius had slashed open his hand, feeling the stinging pain as the metallic smell of his own blood filled his nostrils, yet it didn't bother him in the slightest, for he had performed this ritual before.

Placing the knife back into his boot, the amber eyed commander used the same hand to grab the fennel stalk hanging by his belt and hold his bleeding hand over the opening, letting the thick, red liquid pour into the small hole.

On the side of the small cylinder, a rune shaped like a sun with seven rays and a vertical line bisecting the middle began to glow and from the hollow opening a brilliant silver flame erupted. As soon as the flames light had basked his face within its cold glow, he held it up for all to see and the sight of the torch whipped the surrounding soldiers into a frenzy as hope filled their hearts like a light in the darkness. With a single order being given, the inner layers of the square moved about, placing their round shields above their head and forming a pathway for their mightiest warrior to run across.

Leaping onto the walkway of shields, still holding his torch high for all to see, Dimitrius took a deep breath, brushing the hair that had fallen across his brow out of his eyes and he stood for a moment as the sight of the grey sea bristling with crude spears and swords lay before him. A seemingly unstoppable force when compared to the small island of red.

"It's do or die. We all must face the odds, no matter how impossible it may seem." The words of his mentor reminded him and he clenched his teeth before crouching down for a sprint.

With the flame filling his body with strength beyond strength, his confidence soared and with another roar, he charged down the line of shields that held him aloft, a pleasant reminder of how his brothers and sisters were supporting him. As he neared the final shield, he could see the hungry white eyes of the Vincula as they anticipated an easy kill that was about to leap right into their awaiting jaws, but none of that was enough to deter him as he leapt upwards and into the horde. Finding a small space to land in, the Lionite rotated the torch so that its head was facing downwards and upon landing, drove it into the ground.

"Othrys Impact!" He shouted, calling out the name of the spell.

FWA-DOOOM!

As soon as the flame struck the asphalt, Dimitrius released the charged blast forwards and a wave of silver fire erupted outwards. The enemy was instantly consumed within a burning hellstorm that stretched a hundred feet into the sky and widened to cover the whole street. The force of the silver torrent was strong enough to blow away everything that stood in its path, entire buildings were stripped of their outer layers before their steel skeletons were melted in the wake of the flames, the streets and sidewalks reduced to glass by heat that surpassed the surface of the sun seven times over (yet somehow left the Red Parade unscathed.), and twenty thousand abominations that threatened to overtake downtown Los Angeles vanished in an instant under the crushing force of a Titan's wrath.

When the flames subsided, all that was left behind was a single massive trench of black glass that stretched on for half a mile and left many structures that were lucky enough to stay clear of the fire's devastating wake partially melted.

Obviously this was going to be a nightmare in the PR department and while the Greeks were given permission to use whatever means necessary to eliminate the enemy, Dimitrius knew someone was bound to tear him a new one should he manage to survive this battle. For now though, as he remained kneeled before his troops, slightly out of breath and sweating, he listened to the cheers of the victorious army as they banged their shields with their swords and spears, showering their leader with praise. Smiling a bit, it definitely felt earned, but unfortunately the golden haired feline knew that they weren't out of the woods yet and the proud warrior stood as another wave of threats started to descend upon them.

There were only six of them, colossi that towered over houses and wore fierce expressions as they laid eyes on the devastated landscape below where their armies once stood: The Republic Knights have arrived.

Striking the glass floor with enough force to leave a web of cracks, the seven hundred plus army of Greeks grew silent as they observed the newcomers and quickly formed up again in a phalanx, spears raised once more to deliver death while the combined forces of the Outriders and seventh armored division moved to reinforce their comrades. Staring up at their new challengers, the Red Parade's torch wielder noted the one in the lead and demanded his shield and spear be brought to him. The command was carried out quickly and within moments, he was fully armed again. Taking a moment to combine his torch and spear, he formed a new weapon whose tip burned with silver fire.

As he prepared himself, the Nephilim in the lead stepped forward, a monstrous creature that walked upright like a man and stood as tall as a five story building. He had not a face, but instead a barred helm with yellow flames that spewed out from within, like a furnace, his thick muscular frame resembled black glass that revealed a fiery core where his heart should be, spreading throughout his body in glowing yellow veins and at the end of his arms were a pair of steel balls covered with spikes and holes where more flames leapt outwards. For clothes, he wore only a battle skirt made of a brown leather material with elaborate emerald markings woven in around the belt and a pair of sandals on his feet.

Glaring down at the Greeks with non-existent eyes, the giant hissed and a slew of sparks erupted from the helms vertical openings,

"Very impressive, Earthlings. For such a small folk, you've really caused quite a mess of things and you brought my armies to ruin. Most unfortunate.." He remarked with profundity while three helicopters shot by overhead, their rotors nearly blocking out his last words,

"I am Captain Dragis of the Mutas squad and we- ACHOO!" He sneezed before he could finish his introduction, causing a flurry of sparks and embers to fly out from his helm as he violently shook.

This left everyone standing around in awkward silence, save for the constant gunfire in the background, as Dragis wiped the lower portion of his "face" with his forearm.

"Damn allergies! That was so stupid." He grumbled before turning to his fellow Nephilim,

"KILL THE VERMIN!" he snarled.

Taking the first shots, the burning glass Nephilim threw his hand flails straight at the Red Parade, both balls swinging on fiery chains that connected to each of his wrists and sailed towards the Greeks at frightening speed. Standing at the ready however, was Dimitrius, feeling strength flow through his body like a river of pure power, he raised his shield and bashed away the first red hot flail before using his spear to effortlessly knock away the other, sending up a cascade of sparks each time a weapon struck. With both flails successfully diverted and crashing harmlessly into the ground, the lion-headed bizarro turned to his Mycenaean kin with a courageous look in his eyes.

"Take down the others, I got this one!" He ordered, confident in his own abilities.

With a series of affirmative responses along with a few cheers of encouragement, the Red Parade split itself up into five smaller battle groups and engaged the other giants, each one looking just as hellish as their leader. Like a group of ants, they swarmed around them and the walking skyscrapers tried their hand at vaporizing the miniscule creatures with their Doom Blasts, but the red beams were simply deflected by the combined powers of their shields. Thunder and lightning filled the air with magic fury as the Red Parade attacked and the Nephilim responded in kind by engaging them up close, three of which were protected by their own shields that flared in a series of interlocking blue hexagons whenever lightning struck.

Entering the fray once more on their bestial steeds, the Outriders rode in, hollering as they fired upon the giants from afar and following close behind were the ten tanks of the seventh armored division.

Seated within the cramped cabin of his NH-1, Sergeant Luke "Axe" Douglas, an African American male with golden irises wearing the standard green American army uniform that all GAE (Grand Army of Earth) members wore, viewed the battle through the main monitor and observed a wolf-like Nephilim that stood on six legs while a pair of arms on its back slashed away at the hoplites gathered around it with short curved daggers, sending dozens of men flying with each strike.

They were having a bit of trouble dealing with the monstrosity mainly due to its shields soaking up whatever damage the soldiers could dish out,

"Janna, keep our distance at fifty meters and circle around the target. Don't mind the others." The sergeant carefully instructed the Nymph that controlled the vehicle.

"Copy that, sarge!" Came a feminine voice from within his own head, as the driver and gunner were telepathically linked.

Feeling the engine behind him rumbling to life, Luke was pushed back into his seat as they began to pick up speed and after seeing that Dimitrius was engaging in close quarters combat with what had to be the enemy squad's leader, he considered himself lucky that they had one less target to deal with.

Pressing a button on his comms, he signalled to rest of the armored units and issued forth a series of commands,

"All units, split into two groups and spread out. Pick your targets carefully and if they have shields, use your anti-barrier shells. Class four's should get the job done. Gibbons, Prendrick, Howler and Vega, you're with me and Karlton, you take the others and provide support for the units on the right." He directed, his brass voice loud and clear over the radio.

As soon as he had gotten confirmation from all his squadmates, the two groups veered off and began encircling one of the small skirmishes happening within the ruins of North main street. The wolf-like Nephilim took notice of the approaching tanks and after snatching up a red soldier within its jaws to toss him at a faraway building, the black furred beast tried to demolish the vehicles with a red beam of energy fired from its mouth. Seeing the blast directed at him, Luke called out for evasive action and the nimble tank swerved out of the way just as a trench was melted into the ground where his vehicle once stood, nearly striking Gibbons too.

"Spread out and circle around in different directions, we need to make ourselves difficult to target. Let's show this overgrown pooch how a real wolf pack hunts!" he snapped into his helmet's mic, sweat rolling down his forehead as he counted his lucky stars for that close call.

Working in sync, the team quickly split up and began encircling the Red Parade army at wider degrees, causing the wolf to snarl in agitation as it couldn't deal with the changes in formation nor handle the constant attacks from the pests gathered at his feet. Getting a clear shot now, the dark-skinned gunner's fingers flew across a keyboard connecting to a very old computer installed within the tank, scrolling down until he landed on the "Anti-barrier" armament option and selecting class four, he then proceeded to get his gun sights trained on the beast itself. Prendrick had done the same, while Gibbons, Howler and Vega had armed themselves with basic flame drill incendiary rounds and were preparing to fire once the shields had been taken down.

Desperate to ward off his attackers, the eight limbed wolf monster whipped its head upwards, howling into the air before a red glow emanated from its mouth and from it, a geyser of fireballs shot upwards, falling all around the battlefield in a devastating rain of burning death.

Luckily, the Red Parade managed to keep themselves sheltered against such a widespread attack and the Wasps were also well protected with their enchanted armor as the earth rumbled from the impacts, but the temporary distraction allowed the thirty foot canine to escape its entrapment by leaping over the Mycenaeans. Once it landed, the monster was just a black blur of shining white fangs and slashing bronze blades as it crushed Gibbon's tank within its jaws and cut Howler's in half with a single clean swipe of its curved dagger before it exploded. Seeing two more of his squadmates get decimated in a manner of seconds, Luke felt a surge of panic grip him like a vice and several confused screams could be heard over the radio as the other two remaining armored units tried to recollect themselves, yet failed to grasp the fact that their friends were dead.

"Holy shit!" screamed Prendrick.

"You… YOU BITCH!" Vega raged, filled with anguish.

An explosion was heard followed by a plume of fire that blossomed against the protective barrier that surrounded the Nephilim as it turned with its red eyes now locked onto the other tank that had fired upon it and Vega angrily fired three more shells, all of which had no effect. Howling once more, the giant wolf scrambled with its six legs towards the attacking vehicle with the intention of crushing it, kicking up shards of melted earth as it opened its dripping, fang filled mouth and prepared to snatch her up. Seconds before the kill, another shell slammed into the wolf's barrier and the blue hexagons flickered erratically, causing the towering beast to halt in its tracks.

The attack came from Luke's wasp and he loaded another 75 mm shell into the barrel as a pair of red eyes now focused on him,

"Vega! Keep it cool and conserve your ammunition. Prendrick, I need you to get into position and standby." Luke spoke into his mic as his thumb pressed onto the firing stud of his joystick.

"Copy that, Axe!" Came Prendrick's voice over the comms and Vega's too along with a short apology.

Baring its fangs at him once more, the black hound lowered its head, keeping both blades raised at its sides and charged forth, its crimson eyes gleaming with malice as it prepared to squash the annoying bug.

Realizing there was no way to outmaneuver the speedy hunter, an idea quickly sprung up in the sergeant's head and he contacted the vehicle's driving spirit,

"Janna, put everything we got into the thrusters and bring us forward!" shouted Luke, as he got a bearing on the creature's face.

"You're crazy!" Janna retorted inside his head, but followed along anyway and ignited the small tank's rear rocket, blasting the tiny vehicle forward.

With the two now engaging in a deadly jousting match, Luke had only one chance to make this shot and he hoped that both his comrades were already in position, ready to take their shots should he fail.

Seeing his monitor quickly fill up with the beast's gruesome visage, Luke let loose a battle cry of his own and jammed his thumb down on the firing stud. Bursting from its chamber with a controlled explosion, the shell raced through the air, whistling its deadly tune before colliding with the solid energy field, it's own magic effect activating the instant before collision and a purple barrier formed around it, cancelling out the other in a shattering display of annihilation. That was moments before the rapidly approaching NH-1 shot past its opponent's snapping jaws, but was immediately swept aside by its paw and sent tumbling across the barren landscape, it's human occupant dizzily smacking around the small cabin, held in only by his seat straps.

"AGGH!" He grunted as his helmet covered head smashed into the metal walls several times while glass from his monitor cracked and the sounds of the metal hull scraping the ground was deafening.

After several very frightening, harrowing, moments of being tossed about, the tank finally screeched to a halt on its side and Luke could finally hear the screams of the driver, his friend, in his head as several systems went haywire. Meanwhile, the behemoth was making its way to the trashed mini-tank underfoot and was close to doing so when its front set of legs were pierced with a concussive shell fired off from the side. Feeling its severed limbs go flying, the hound stood on its hind legs and arched its head back to let out another howl, only to have its noggin taken off by a shot from behind as Vega, the female leopard seal, grinned with morbid satisfaction upon finally seeing her friends avenged. The Nephilim's corpse dropped to the ground before its body was consumed by purple flames and the hoplites that fought it let out a resounding cry of victory as the other Republic Knights began to fall too.

Inside the downed tank, everything was a mess. Electronic systems sparked and filled the dark cabin with smoke while its occupant slowly lifted his head, blood trickling from his nose, as he looked about in confusion. He felt slightly disoriented thanks to the tank being flipped on its side and having served once as an American tank commander in the Kuwait oil wars of '95, the middle aged man from South Carolina was not fond of crashes. Once he was finally able to see straight, Sergeant Douglas grabbed the submachine gun from the holster next to his seat and called out to Janna,

"Janna, are you okay?" he asked, his voice laced with concern.

"I'm fine, albeit a little banged up." she replied with a humorless chuckle, seeing as she is the tank,

"The good news is we're safe for the time being, Lieutenant Vega and Prendrick have eliminated the target. The bad news: I'm not sure if I'm gonna be running the marathon next week." She stated, earning a sigh of relief and a slight grin from her companion.

Undoing the safety harness that held him to his seat, the gunner coughed a few times as he struggled to get up and Janna could sense his injuries,

"You're hurt!" she exclaimed, unable to hide her concern.

There was no doubt about that, Luke was feeling slightly light-headed, probably had a slight concussion, blood was still pouring from his nostrils and his right arm was molten lead at this point, most likely a fracture,

"Eh, I've been through worse. Ever hear what happened on my twenty-first birthday? Well, not gonna go into the full story here, but let's just say Ben's driving could've been better." He chuckled as he shrugged off the pain, recalling some old memories from when he was stationed in Kuwait with his old tank crew.

Damn, they were such a great team back then.

After carefully pulling himself out of the seat, he flipped the backrest downwards, revealing a hatch that allowed access to the engine and he began to undo the latch.

"I'm sorry." Janna apologized, feeling bad for not being able to get out of the way in time. Her pride as a tank was deeply wounded and she hated feeling useless.

Once the hatch was open, Luke reached inside before sliding out a glass canister containing a glowing amethyst stone that was both the machine's power source and the soul of his friend, a precious piece that allowed them both to take on their spiritual foes despite their attempts to knock out their electricity,

"Don't be…" He coughed, feeling his lungs filling up with the acrid smoke as he placed the energy core onto his back and grabbed his gun once again,

"...you did great, Janna. You carried me into battle and kept me safe. Let me return the favor." He replied reassuringly.

Such was the relationship between the man and the Nymph. Having been in this war for three years now, the missions they had partaken in forged an impressive bond between the two. A driver and a gunner, both combining to form a fighting force that brought the fight back to the enemy when they thought they had them outmatched.

The fact that Luke was willing to go through with the burden of carrying her around in such a dangerous place while also keeping her safe would've brought a smile to her face, if she had one.

"I would be flattered, but given your unstable condition, you don't inspire a lot of confidence." She replied with a bit of snark.

Feeling a vein popping in his forehead, the golden eyed soldier snorted and shook his head at her backhanded compliment,

"Shut up! In case you haven't noticed, I'm literally the only person that's gonna save us." He huffed, reaching up to undo the turret's exit hatch.

"Until one of those giants decides to step on us." She sniped, making Luke wish he couldn't hear her thoughts.

Once the hatch finally popped open, light came pouring in, basking the metal container in the dawn's warm glow and fresh air came rushing in, relieving the poor man's lungs with sweet, cool air. What came in next was a face that was partially obscured by a red helmet with a flowing white plume on top and Luke was startled at first, nearly raising his gun at the sudden newcomer before recognizing that it was only a soldier from the Red Parade. Reaching inside with a wing covered in blue feathers with the tips tainted black and a distinctive white stripe a bit further up, Luke was able to recognize this person as a blue jay, plus the long, dark beak poking in between the helm's opening was another indicator.

"Glad to see that you're still alive and in one piece…" He paused to read the patch on his uniform before finally noticing what rank he was,

"...sergeant." the avian hoplite commented, his singsong voice feeling unnaturally cheery for someone who spent their whole life training to fight.

Taking the hand (wing?) that was offered to him, Luke smiled graciously as he was pulled from the wreckage and soon found both feet planted on the ground. He was quite impressed with how strong the blue jay's grip was, but after taking a good look around, the African American soon found himself surrounded by other Red Parade soldiers, many of which were towering over him as they passed them by and suddenly, the bird man looked incredibly shrimpy next to the rest; then again, so was he and that was kind of embarrassing to admit.

"Name's Luke Douglas, but my comrades refer to me as Axe." He nodded as he introduced himself.

"And my name's Janna, the driver. Though, some would refer to me as the marvelous and most illustrious Nephilim slayer in the entire division." came the Nymph's sassy response, though that last part was untrue and both of them knew it.

He made a quick note to introduce her and did just that, pointing to the crystal strapped to his back.

Nodding back, the Mycenaean placed a feather appendage on his chest and presented himself to the NEA gunner,

"Jayson Ariti. You two are incredibly lucky to have survived that skirmish and I would like to say that we are in your debt for your brave actions. I'm sorry for the loss of your comrades." He stated respectively, letting his head drop in respect for the two survivors standing before him.

Feeling his face drop a little at that last part, he could feel his heart tearing a little as he thought of Harry Gibbons, Mica Howler and the one that was lost at the start of the battle, Valery Peterson, all three good soldiers and good teammates. People who will not be forgotten for their sacrifices. However, now was not the time to mourn for their loss as another series of explosions ripped across the landscape, among the other chaotic sounds of battle, and Luke's head snapped in the direction of massive, horned knight wielding a golden halberd with a purple aura surrounding its tip as it tried to cut down the incoming wave composed of foot soldiers and mounted cavalry alike, but was quickly downed by a series of well placed shots and explosives.

The death of this Republic knight meant that only two remained: the captain that Dimitrius was currently engaging on his own several hundred meters away and even further away, a shielded serpent covered in white feathers with a red mane surrounding its head that breathed a frigid mist from its maw.

There was already a force engaging that one and that was where the rest were heading, but Luke was looking over at the Lionite with the flaming spear as he nimbly danced around the two burning flails that constantly spun around Dragis like two heavy balloons that wouldn't stay afloat.

Despite the fact that he seemed to be doing well on his own, instinct told the sarge to help out those who were in trouble and he began to take his first steps towards the dueling pair, ignoring the pain gained from the earlier crash,

"No time to worry about losses, Jayson. We need to help your commander." he stated, holding his gun up to his chest.

Suddenly, a wing snapped out in front of him, barring him taking another step and the American turned his head, regarding the armored avian with a vexed expression, but listened to the soldier speak,

"No need. He's got this." He proclaimed, every word brimming with confidence.

Now he was really confused. No matter how skilled, well equipped or strong one man is, there's no way they can single-handedly take on a monster that is fifty feet tall. However, Jayson seemed to be reading him like an open book and this brought an even bigger smile to his face as he further elaborated,

"Not only is Commander Leonhart the mightiest man the world has ever seen, he's also a soul warrior." he stated as a matter of fact, before pulling at Luke's arm and tugging him in the same direction as his comrades,

"Now let's go. We have a battle to win."

As the morning sun began to rise, Dimitrius noticed how Dragis's glass hide managed to catch the light, offering a radiant golden brown shimmer and saw that the nefarious spirit was covered in intricate, wavy markings that made it appear as though his skin was rippling. Such fine details failed to escape the warrior's sight even as he was fighting for his life, using his torch spear, shield and wit to hold his own against what should've been a superior opponent. Despite a lifetime of rigorous training, discipline, and a weapon that granted him strength and speed akin to a demigod, both were relatively evenly matched and the symbol of Mycenaean might found it very hard to land a serious blow on his opponent.

All of his ranged attacks did very little to practically nothing in terms of damage, he couldn't get close because Dragis would swing his hand maces around in a sequence that would always ensure he would get a hit in even if the first one missed and whenever his main weapons were nowhere near enough to counter a charge, a simple Doom Blast would be enough to halt the jungle cat in his progress. He could even feel the crazy amount of heat this guy was giving off and the red armor that protected him became a bizarro grill whenever he got too close.

He needed a better plan, but unfortunately, he was too busy trying not to die at the moment and watched as a spiked ball the size of a car came sailing towards him like a comet.

Clenching his jaw, the smaller warrior took the attack head on and rushed with his body placed behind his shield towards the incoming flail. He practically body slammed the blistering iron with the slab of bronze that served as the only thing keeping his fur from being singed as well as from being impaled and with a powerful push from his enhanced legs, he knocked it aside with only a slight pause in his run. Then came the second one, following close behind the first, and after noticing how the chain connected to a thin hitch, he got an idea and continued his crazy charge forward. Seconds before impact, he leapt straight up, clearing himself from the pathway of the killer ball and chain before twisting himself in the air so he was upside down, the tip of his spear now aiming directly at the hitch.

"Thundering Fire!" He exclaimed, feeling another rush of energy.

From the flame coated gold tip flew a bolt of lightning the color of silver and the combo power struck the points connecting the weighted portion and the chain, snapping it off completely before flying off somewhere else. Landing gracefully on his feet, Dimitrius wasted no time spinning himself around and placing the spear along his shoulder blades so that the tip was pointed in the direction opposite of where he had originally been facing before shooting another bolt of magic lightning at the retreating flail. His aim was true and in a matter of seconds, the other mace was sent flying free of its restrictive leash before smashing itself into a million tiny shards while a small fire spread itself against the glassed street.

With both his primary weapons disabled, Dragis could only look on in absolute shock before he noticed the tiny nuisance now racing towards his feet and raising his weapon up next to his fluffy head. Not wanting the enemy leader to come any closer, the fire-glass giant turned his masked visage so that the brow's pointed section was directed at him and a red orb of energy began to form at the tip. Noticing the change in the air's intensity as well as the telltale hum and crimson color shift, Dimitrius raised his shield at the last moment before a column of red light came crashing down on him. Normally, a class three barrier rune like the one painted on his shield wouldn't last long after a couple uses, but this one was a special case that allowed wielders with high levels spiritual energy eight uses before being depleted and against this level of magic, Dimitrius had finally used up all the magic he had in that single defensive spell.

Once the Nephilim's attack subsided, Dimitrius tossed the disintegrating shield aside and charged towards the giant's ankle with his torch spear raised, heart racing in his chest, before driving the sharp point into the wavy glass surface, cracking it on impact.

What should've been a damaging blow wound up turning into a near fatal mistake as a jet of golden flames spewed out from the small wound, nearly melting the feline's mug off had he not leapt away in time and rubbing at his eyes as they were now temporarily blinded,

"Agh! Curses, that really does sting!" He grumbled, trying his best to wipe the darkness from his vision while also listening for any danger.

Watching the tiny warrior recover from his little fumble, Dragis felt the damage done to his ankle seal up and heal itself and the behemoth crossed his arms as the chains dangling at his wrist swung about without their weapons, feeling quite impressed with his opponent. Had he possessed a face, he'd be smiling right now, but all he could do was cackle and snap as the helm continued to burn like a furnace.

"You have my respects, warrior of Earth." He applauded, causing quite a stir within Alex,

"What is your name?" He asked out of respect.

With his vision now returning to him, Dimitrius could now see that the fire glass colossus hadn't attacked him and that he was still disarmed, quite literally in fact, so he took a deep breath before answering,

"I am Dimitrius Leonhart. Commander of the Red Parade and wielder of the torch of Prometheus, the first soul warrior." He announced, holding his spear up above his head as the fire continued to lick the air with its silver tongues.

Now Dragis was amused. He'd heard of the soul warriors before in some earlier reports on the Earthling's folklore and supposedly there were four of them, each one wielding a weapon that was embedded with the wrath of the Jade Emperor himself that grants the wielder unfathomable power. Prometheus was said to be the first, followed by Sun Wu Kong, Chaandee Kee Aankhen, and finally Kassius, the reaper knight. It was said that each one would reincarnate and take up the mantle as protectors of mankind during times of great turmoil.

The one who wielded Prometheus's torch was said to be the most powerful because he is the oldest and seeing as he was standing before him now, there was no end to the captain's joy as he now had the honor of fighting a legend in person,

"A soul warrior, eh? That explains your unbelievable battle prowess, for no single man can ever hope to stand up against the children of Heaven! Now this is quite an honor!" He excitedly remarked, more embers and sparks billowing from the helmet's slits as he laughed with glee.

Hearing this fiend dare say it was an honor to fight him left a sour taste in the Lionite's mouth and the torch wielder's eyebrows knitted themselves together as he took up a serious stance,

"You have no right to speak of honor, savage! You've pillaged the unsuspecting for years, laid claim to what is not even yours and then you send your slaves out to fight us! You Nephilim have no right to call yourself warriors, nor should you claim any honorable title for yourself!" He pointed his spear menacingly at the giant's face and the flames began to burn brighter with his righteous rage,

"I have come here to burn every last one of you to cinders for your crimes, you hear! You have no place here, coward!" he spat, his tone full of venom.

His retort seemed to only earn him nothing short of apathy from the five-story monstrosity and the creature remained silent for a moment before letting his arms fall, his chains striking the ground by his feet.

Then he brought on his own rebuttal and lay it into his challenger,

"Says the one who fights amongst child soldiers and conscripts. You have no say in the matter of what's right or wrong." He growled, his fiery core glowing brighter every second,

"Who cares how victory is achieved, as long as we win and what I want is to take anything I can, to make a name for myself…"

His chains began to glow and at the ends, the mace heads began to form and were eventually restored to their former glory, much to Dimitrius's irritation, as he began to swing them around once more,

"...starting with your demise!" He vowed, raising his voice with excitement as he began the next set of attacks.

With a new set of spiked balls streaking towards him at a hundred miles per hour, Dimitrius simply didn't move, not because he was scared or too slow, but rather that he was finally done with this boisterous knight. Raising his spear in a lateral position above his head, the spiked mace smashed into it, causing a crater to appear at his feet and after the first was yanked away, the second one struck, driving him in even deeper but with no damage done whatsoever. This didn't prevent Dragis from going all out, as the fire glass giant continued to swing his hand flails over and over again, each blow causing the wind to snap as steel collided with Seraphium as the red warrior only moved to block which ever attack was coming at him, sometimes using only his bare forearms, though the burns he received were terrible.

Seeing him not move from that one spot despite getting constantly wailed on, was starting to get on the Nephilim's nerves and he began shouting hysterically,

"What's the matter, soul warrior? Has the fight gone and left you? Are you left in awe by the amazing power of my kurse magic?" he shouted down to him, hoping to elicit some kind of reaction, only to be disappointed when he simply kept on deflecting his attacks with his spear, not once saying a word nor taking his angry amber eyes off his opponent's face.

This caused the monster's attacks to pick up in speed and the flaming flails glowed an angry red as they pounded the Lionite with the force of a thousand meteors,

"96. 97. 98. 99…" he counted in his head every strike that bounced off, noting that the third rune on his spear that resembled five triangles forming into a mountain range, glowed a brilliant yellow as more energy was captured and stored,

"Almost there…" He thought as he continued to hold his own against the thunderous onslaught.

While expecting the attacks to become more fierce and vicious, the unexpected took place when Dragis reared back his foot and drove it straight at the unsuspecting Mycenaean, catching him when his arms were raised above his head. Feeling the impact of the giant's big toe against his body was like getting slammed into by ten semi-trucks on the freeway at full speed and for an instant the world lit up in Dimitrius's eyes as he suddenly flew several hundred miles per hour towards the city hall. With the sheer amount of air resistance keeping his body locked in place, Dimitrius thought he was being crushed and tried to scream, but couldn't as the air had been stolen from his lungs.

The scream of wind tearing by only ended after he collided with the grassy lawn a few dozen meters away from the city hall's main entrance, not far from the gun batteries that continued to rain hell down upon the invaders and several soldiers standing guard were scared shitless upon seeing something throw up an enormous cloud of dust and dirt clods as it carved a trench within the solid earth.

Following close after him, was none other than Dragis as he leapt from his original position out on the battlefield, clearing the unbelievable distance with a single leap and with arms raised as his flails trailed behind him, ready to bring about the finishing blow,

"The age of heroes is over, child of Earth! Now the giants will reign-!" he spouted with a child-like glee.

Before he could finish however, a hand, far larger than himself, shot out from the cloud of smoke and wrapped its massive fingers around the Nephilim's body before rearing back to pitch the shocked giant into the ground. Despite the Testa, a protective shell worn exclusively by Republic Knights that took on the shape of the Nephilim's metamorphosis form, augmenting his own abilities, like preventing him from feeling pain, Dragis still felt the impact from the fast collision with the dirt and was effectively buried halfway in a massive crater. The one who was responsible for this, rose up as the smoke cleared and revealed the mighty torch wielder, completely unscathed, now standing at a monstrous three hundred feet in height, making the trees, the cannons, the soldiers that stood in awe of his glorious transformation and several of the surrounding structures, save for the city hall itself, seem miniscule in comparison.

Seeing the world from a whole new perspective, Dimitrius was surprised that he actually grew this tall, but concluded that the multiple strikes from Dragis, plus his unceremonious crash landing must've placed an enormous amount of energy into his torch's Titanica rune; a spell that absorbed damage inflicted upon the weapon itself and converted all that collected force into a spell that altered his size and strength to awesome degrees.

"Huh, I guess my Othrys Impact did a lot more damage than I had intended. Iris won't be pleased." Dimitrius gasped, the building-sized bizarro now seeing the devastation of the battle in its entirety while also seeing that his forces had defeated their final opponent on the frontlines along with individual skirmishes being fought between NEA ground forces and more Republic Knights that had just dropped down in the surrounding streets.

The chittering of blue bullets and the vibrant hums of Doom Blasts being exchanged left a colorful display of flashing blue and red lights. Smoke rising from the burning buildings in the distance began to cover the sky in a thick blanket that snuffed out the rising sun's light and shadows belonging to both Earth and Babyloth aerial units continued to weave about in the open air, forming a deadly dance between enemies as scores of them fell. Within a span of minutes, the Red Parade's strongest warrior could see that all of downtown Los Angeles had been reduced to a mess of collapsed buildings, cratered streets, burning wrecks of vehicles, charred, crushed corpses and the fading remains of both friend and foe alike who had been wiped out.

Dimitrius had been commissioned to fight for the U.N. back when the war broke out in '08 and later the NEA after the discovery of a massive invasion force was waiting on the enemy's homeland. He'd fought the Nephilim during those five long years, leading the Red Parade in a hundred campaigns all over the world and he had seen just how destructive the enemy could be. Nothing could compare in that half decade with what he was seeing now and the lionite felt a sense of dread wash over him upon realizing that what he was seeing now was only the beginning.

Then a noise brought his attention back down to the captain, who had managed to pull himself out of his hole and was now gazing up at the Earthling that was now easily six times his size, causing a sweatdrop to roll down the back of his head as fear gripped his body like a vice.

Gazing down at the Nephilim in a manner that must've matched how he once did, Dimitrius's fierce amber eyes were partially obscured by the golden locks of hair that had come undone from the braids that once held the mane back, but his contempt was still there and he sneered at his stupefied attacker,

"What's the matter, captain? Not feeling so hot anymore? Has that little scuffle already taken the fight out of you?" He asked in rhetorical fashion.

The glass fire Nephilim didn't even answer, unable to grasp just how a tiny, insignificant speck was now towering over him and with a silver aura that burned around him like a raging inferno, a symbol of his incredible spiritual strength that simply smothered his own. When he was selected for this mission, he had been ecstatic, believing that he'd be fighting along the Quilge and Vincula Militum against inferior insects. Nothing in that contract stated that he'd be facing a monster.

There was no fighting this titan, he needed to escape and now.

Raising his shaking arms in front of his helmeted face, he backed away slowly and tried to look as non-threatening as possible,

"P-please d-d-don't hurt me… I promise that I'll leave and-!" he stammered.

"You cowards picked the wrong warrior, the wrong army, the wrong planet, to mess with!" Dimitrius roared, spinning his torch spear above his head before holding it with the flaming sharp tip pointed downwards, ready to smite the shivering spirit that looked about ready to take off screaming, but was locked in place by an incredible force that pressed down on him like an ocean, a force exuded only by the goliath that stood over him,

"BEGONE, FOUL SPIRIT!" He bellowed out one last time.

Then the spear came down like a righteous strike from a wrathful god and with only a scream leaping from Dragis's throat, was quickly silenced after the sharp tip pierced through his barred helm, tearing a clean line straight through the rest of his body. The glass exterior shattered under the tremendous force exerted by the weapon, causing the fiery core within to burst outwards in a violent hellstorm that expelled blistering heat in all directions, setting the trees and lawn ablaze with both yellow and grey flames that eventually faded to violet before vanishing completely. Like all the ones that fell before him, whether it be by spear, sword, or torch, nothing remained and Dimitrius yanked his spear out of the ground before placing it against his right shoulder.

Suddenly, a terrible pain cut a terrible web of white hot nails into said shoulder and the blonde bizarro winced before letting out a yelp,

"Ow, shhh-! Must've pulled a muscle somewhere while deflecting his attacks. Damn, that hurts!" he hissed, rubbing the sore spot with his free hand.

He could for sure ignore it and keep on going until the day was done, but he was definitely going to be feeling that one in the morning. Another pain he had yet to add to his ever growing list. Then it occurred to him that he was being watched and turned to see the still-astonished soldiers and gun crews of the cannon's staring up at him with their mouths agape, one soldier had even dropped his rifle in surprise.

Feeling slightly embarrassed for showing such weakness in front of his allies (even though that hardly registered in their minds), he composed himself in a more soldier-like profession and saluted the few standing before him,

"Gentlemen, keep up the good work!" He stated in a deep tone, seeing them nervously return the salute themselves.

Sighing inwardly, the soul warrior mentally slapped himself for such an indignant display of infirmity and turned to face the battle once more. From the smoke-choked skies above, more Republic Knights descended, some as big as buses and others as large as skyscrapers, all bearing terrifying weapons as they prepared to bring destruction down upon the tenacious defenders that poured in from the streets in columns of armored units, support vehicles and troop transports bearing hundreds of fresh GAE and RDF troopers, all here to stave them off. The city hall was safe, but many other areas had been cleared of their air defenses, allowing for the Nephilim to engage from above without much trouble.

Ready to return to the fight, the giant warrior began to march his way back to the awaiting Red Parade and kept his grip tight on the spear's handle,

"Alright, who's next?" He muttered in anticipation to no one other than himself as he rushed off into the chaos.

As if on some kind of cue, storm clouds began to gather, blotting out the sky entirely with speed that was unnatural for typical weather phenomena followed by a heavy rain shower and eerie red lightning that cut across the sky in jagged scars of plasma. Indeed, this storm was quite unnatural and to those weary enough to notice, it bore only bad omens. No one would've guessed that this storm marked the arrival of something large, something from the world beyond and that a pair of eyes were watching them from a spectral plane unseen.

-Abaddon's pocket dimension, 6:02 AM-

Indeed, a peculiar pair of individuals were watching as the city itself burned.

Standing in a void that seemed to be a well of eternal darkness, the only source of light came from a window that peered out into the world outside, president Nimrod and another Nephilim, one of his nefarious Seraphim's named Abaddon regarded the ongoing battle with careful scrutiny. Both could sense the souls of the vermin that defended their vile nest of concrete and glass, finding to their surprise only fifty thousand present. With his forces currently outnumbering the ones congregating in the government districts by a factor of two with even more constantly pouring in, Nimrod couldn't believe his eyes when he saw a single individual among the ten thousand units protecting downtown Los Angeles, demolishing one knight after another and bringing his armies to ruin with waves of silver fire.

A series of reports once delivered to him flashed through his mind and a single name remained consistently branded among these images: Prometheus.

Having come prepared for battle himself, Nimrod stood in his basic form, donning a simple combat tunic and a cape. There was no need for him to shift into his combat form yet, as he was in no danger of being attacked and so the ten-foot tall, antlered entity remained standing with his arms folded across his broad chest. As he viewed the giant soul warrior effortlessly turn his finest soldiers into ash, his frown deepened and his dark eyes bored into the image with disgust,

"So they brought him to the forefront, hm? Tch! I suppose I should've expected nothing less from the NEA's preparations for our arrival. At this rate, we'll lose one third of our invasion force before their second wave arrives." He stated with mild frustration, disgusted by the Earthling's deceptive tactics.

For several months, Nimrod and his fellow commanders watched from Babyloth as the city's occupants were evacuated by the American military forces. However, things became slightly trickier when the NEA arrived and put up a camouflage to keep unwanted attention from peeking in on them. Not even Babyloth's greatest scouting units were able to penetrate the city's defenses and Nimrod found himself increasingly aggravated by Iris's cleverness.

As casualties continued to climb, the Nephilim president was pained at the heavy losses his people were suffering and turned to his companion in the dark,

"Is the trap ready, Abaddon?" he asked, raising an eyebrow quizzically.

Abaddon Berra Lucius of the Lucius tribe was not someone you would consider intimidating upon first glance. Without his Testa, he was a lanky individual, whose tunic clung loosely to his thin frame with thin, wispy arms and grey skin so light, dropping two more shades would result in him being as pasty as flour. His brown eyes were hidden beneath the bangs of his round, light brown hair while the antlers that protruded from either side of his head were darker in color and his shoulders were covered with circular tattoos that indicated his membership within his home group.

He hardly spoke to anyone, being rather timid as an individual and offered a slight nod before simply stating,

"Almost. Still gathering magic energy. There's so much of it here though. It won't be long, sir." his voice was a hollow whisper and the shortened sentences he spoke in made him sound broken.

Nodding back in approval, Nimrod snorted at the prospect of having to wait here while thousands of his fellow Nephilim were dying and the president ran a hand through his wild mane of black hair, being careful to avoid the branches sticking out of his head, out of stress,

"Hmm, that's good, I suppose. Once the wretched creatures have been removed from the city, we'll take control and form a perimeter to keep the enemy reinforcements at bay until the weapon has been activated. I'll be sending you in along with General Gorothim, my brother, Ramiel, Haze and Arael to help keep the city under our control. We'll also bring in the Terraformers to leave a permanent mark for these vermin to remember us by." he explained, though he grimaced when mentioning the accursed Supreme General of Babyloth's army, as both of them were not exactly on good terms with one another.

But, as much as it soured his mood to admit it, he needed Gorothim in order to ensure this operation went smoothly and even if he did manage to find some way to demote the general, there was one person that he couldn't afford to anger and that person was Metatron.

He did not want to piss him off.

A quiet grunt was the only response he received from Abaddon and Nimrod had expected as much from him. He probably just wanted to get this over with so he could go back home and sleep, something that always seemed like a prime desire of his. They continued to watch the battle in silence and Nimrod reached out with his senses, trying to see if he could pinpoint any noteworthy souls he should be concerned with.

Among fifty thousand worthless pieces of trash, a surprise, no, two surprises suddenly caught his attention and a wild grin broke out across his face.

Out in the county the inhabitants called "Santa Monica" (stupid name.), Nimrod could feel their spiritual signatures and his hungering for revenge began to burn from within again, threatening to cause the Nephilim president to abandon his post in order to pay them a visit. It was Gumball watterson and Teri Pepakuma, his son's killers. Disregarding the fact that he was shocked to see them here among the enemy's first wave of defenders, all that mattered to him was that they were here now and he had an opportunity to exact a much needed personal justice.

Placing a hand on Abaddon's shoulder, Nimrod shared his vision through a spiritual link with his surprised subordinate and pointed out to the western county,

"I have a special task for you, bring them both to me when you capture the rest of the NEA forces down below and prepare a stage for our confrontation." He instructed, giving his shoulder a firm shake as Abaddon nodded with affirmation, accepting his president's request without any complaint or judgement regarding his choices and stowed this away in the back of his mind.

With that being all he needed to say, Nimrod turned and retreated into the darkness. Snapping his fingers and summoning Gabriel, his bodyguard who'd been standing by, awaiting further orders. Bowing respectfully, the fine blonde haired warrior of the Lilith tribe smiled and kept his head low,

"What is it that you require, Mr. President?" he politely inquires.

Happy to deliver him the news, Nimrod could hardly contain his excitement as he stood tall to his bowing servant and spoke,

"Prepare to meet an old friend of yours…" he started, a dangerous glint in his eyes.

-Santa Monica Boulevard, Santa Monica, 6:15 AM-

The lazy streets of Santa Monica offered any casual driver or adventuring tourist an easy route through coastal county, often allowing one to relax and enjoy the drive in warm weather.

For the men and women of the 112th brigade however, this simple drive was anything but pleasant or easygoing. The unnatural cloud cover had brought about a heavy rainstorm that reduced the drivers of the convoy's vision to only a few feet in front of them with their headlights barely even penetrating the thick shower and all around them the buildings stood like shadowy tombstones within the dim, gloomy backdrop, briefly illuminated by streaks of harsh red lightning; leaving many to regard the upcoming confrontation with the foreboding sense of terror. Once it had been confirmed that the Nephilim had launched their attack on Los Angeles's central defenses, several Republic legions have been seen approaching from the coastline and were headed eastwards in an attempt to capture the whole county before reinforcing their allies on the frontlines.

The garrisons guarding the coast, including Attila company, had been completely wiped out and the 112th was being sent in to push them back.

Upon reaching 20th street, the convoy came screeching to a halt and from the troop transports dozens of troops disembarked, their camo uniforms making them appear like a thick stream of green that moved quickly towards the front. Over the pouring rain and howling wind, orders were given in the form of shouts as the soaked soldiers began to set up a heavy defense along the intersection. They worked quickly, braving the cold as they set up deployable cover shields and machine gun turrets while marksmen crews vanished into several nearby buildings only to reappear on the rooftops or in the windows with their weapons pointed at the vacant streets.

A couple humvees were also parked at the defense front with their gunners manning the .50 caliber guns to be used as extra fire support and all around them five thousand figures began to fill in the empty spaces, packing in like sardines with their weapons at the ready.

Not too far back from the leading trucks, the back doors of an APC were flung open and out jumped Sergeant Mason Brickshire, a cigar chomping, foul mouthed soldier with a face so mean-looking he could make the hardiest of men cry. Whether it be intentional or mere coincidence, the sarge was a bizarro with a body that was essentially a wall of bricks stacked in human form, giving the NEA soldier a sturdy and intimidating presence that bought a lot of respect from those under his command. Dressed in the typical American Army BDU (Battle Dress Uniform), Mason's red stone figure was protected by a combat vest fitted with six ceramic plates inscribed with class one Aura runes, a protective spell that was excellent for blocking physical attacks, but somewhat weak against magical ones, with a class three variant worn on a metal slab within his cap. Considerably well armed with his choice of weapons being an M16 machine gun that fired Howling Death Anti-Specter rounds fixed with a spring-action, Stygian iron bayonet blade, a combat knife, several Thorn Bush grenades and a pair of mechanical brass Concussion gauntlets he wore on each hand.

Taking one good look around at the grim environment, Mason could see flashes coming from the battle in Los Angeles and after taking one long puff from his cigar, the brick man flicked the smouldering butt away before calling to his platoon,

"Alright, troopers! Git yer asses movin! To the front, double time, double time! LET'S GO!" He barked, his stone lips grating against each other and making his already sharp voice sound cut through the truck's passenger cabin.

One by one, the men and women of Fort Alexander's 13th light infantry platoon filed out and splashed down in the puddles that covered the asphalt. There were a number of complaints about the rain, but most of the soldiers weren't too bothered and were glad to finally be free from the underground domain of Jeruzalem. Almost all of them were conscripts of the GAE, most being no older than fourteen with the only adults being the squad leaders, and with so many fresh faces now about to receive their first taste of combat, there was a considerable amount of tension among the ranks.

Among these individuals were the members of the recently formed urban combat unit, Moon Lance, with their captain, a panthrotaur named Abu Ghadafi, leading privates Candi, Teri Pepakuma and Gumball Watterson right behind the marching column of twenty.

Having once fought for the Persian military police, Abu Ghadafi was quite familiar with the urban landscape and dressed lightly, should the situation call for immediate mobilization. This personal philosophy of his was exemplified by the single piece of armor he wore, a golden breastplate made from golden threads woven together in tight strands, a leather satchel carrying imperial gold coins, and on his panther-like hind quarters, he wore a military-grade bag like a saddle that carried important equipment. His only weapon appeared to be a standard issue M4A1 carbine, a fully automatic assault rifle commonly used by the US Army that housed Howling Death bullets and was also tipped with a standard issue Stygian bayonet.

Trotting along on all four paws, his long black tail swishing, the male panthrotaur's round ears twitched every time a raindrop struck them and his nostrils flared at the scent of so many people gathering around them, he could sense their anxiety building much like his own. He always dreaded battle, even during the numerous insurgencies that threatened to tear his home country apart, but now was not the time to be apprehensive and he needed to stay upbeat. Turning to his own team, he waved them along and shouted words of encouragement,

"Come on, Moon Lance! Let's show those savages just how great a professional standing army is!" He cried with his emerald green eyes shining, hoping to lift their spirits.

All he got instead were a couple of blank stares from Candi and Teri as they continued to march along and Gumball simply smiled a bit before clearing his throat,

"By showing them how we can save money on chairs?" He responded in a teasing fashion, earning a couple snickers from his squadmates and a few other members of the platoon.

With a tick mark forming on his furrowed brow, the Persian panther reached out and swatted the blue jokester on the back of his head,

"One more joke out of you, Watterson, and I'm sending you on ahead to meet the enemy as a one-man frontline, you hear?" He snapped back, his normally silky smooth Middle Eastern accented voice captured by his rage.

Nodding his head and ignoring the harsh remarks along with the slap, Gumball saluted,

"Sir, yes sir!" He dutifully responded, causing Ghadafi to turn away and grumble to himself.

Having completed the trials and survived the grueling month-long training regimen, Gumball Watterson was officially a fully fledged member of the GAE. Wearing the standard uniform himself, the blue kitten was decked out with a camo military jacket that displayed his rank and unit on the shoulders, some dog tags that hung around his neck along with a blue armband bearing the NEA's logo and a pair of pants that matched the rest of the uniform in color, having taken a liking to the sheer number of pockets the outfit possessed. For protection, he wore a helmet that covered his head in a protective casing, leaving only his face exposed, with cat ears molded onto the top fitted with advanced audio sensors and a receiver for his ears and a combat vest fitted with the same protective spells along with some pouches that stored extra incendiary rounds for his Benelli M3 tactical shotgun. He kept his folded scythe strapped behind him on his belt, refusing to part with the weapon he'd grown quite attached to and the shotgun he used came without its stock for greater portability.

Wearing all this gear and carrying his weapons, Gumball felt like a force to be reckoned with, his confidence already high from having fought so many giant foes in the past.

"Ugh, great! This rain's gonna make it really difficult for me to use my origami!" Teri groaned, feeling quite upset at the drastic change in the weather forecast.

Given her unusual anatomy and the unique nature of her powers, Teri's uniform was tailored to fit her requirements making her stand out a bit from the soldiers surrounding her. Fitted with a jacket made from a very thin, lightweight material that was styled in the same standard uniform, the paper bear was given a wider degree of freedom when it came to movement and the armor she wore over it was simply paper written with six Aura runes to keep her safe. Underneath the jacket, her whole body was covered in black ink except for her head, palms and thighs, making for a very cute dress that also gave her ink powers more material to work with. As for equipment, she carried in her bag blank sheets of paper varying in size for origami usage and strapped to her wrists were two crossbow-like shuriken launchers fitted with canisters that held ten origami shurikens each. To add further diversity to her weapons stock, her right launcher was fitted with petrification rune shurikens for anti-personnel usage while her left contained explosive projectiles and could cause greater damage.

Unfortunately, the unexpected change in the weather limited her options for fighting and ultimately, their escape from the NEA.

Whipping his head around so fast his helmet nearly fell off, Gumball eyed his girlfriend with skepticism and saw from her serious expression that she wasn't kidding, causing his eyes to widen with shock,

"You're kidding?! What about your weapons? Will you be able to use them?" He fretted, not wanting to march into a battle while she was ill-prepared to fight.

Shaking her head and sighing, Teri fiddled with the launchers as she grumbled,

"Technically, I should, but their range will most certainly be affected and I can use my ink if I have to. I'm just mad that I won't be able to fly." She finished inspecting her weapons and gave her boyfriend a hard, yet reassuring smirk.

There was something else in her eyes and Gumball understood that this was going to be a major setback in their escape plan. A whole month they spent in Jeruzalem, endearing a rigorous training program, practicing drills, combat maneuvers in the Venator arena's simulated environments and taking night classes at Lantern academy left both of them feeling tired and frustrated. A day before they were abducted, they became a couple and barely had any time to do anything they wanted together. They also missed their homes, their families, their friends and longed to be free from this place.

Watching as a flash of red lightning ripped the sky in half, Gumball knew this storm wasn't natural by any mundane standards and came to the unfortunate conclusion that in order for them to follow through with their scheme, they will have to survive this arduous episode.

As he tried to think of other ways to possibly escape, he felt a hand grab his own and saw that it belonged to the paper bear marching next to him. When his eyes found hers, he saw that she was scared, something he could relate with and that's all it took to remind him that they were here for each other. It was a single, fleeting moment that ended almost as quickly as it began, but the two were able to find a little bit of solace as they continued to march on.

Once they had reached their given formations, the entire 13th light infantry platoon was packed in with all the others and staring on ahead as the rain continued to pelt them with heavy, cold drops. Seeing as they were situated several rows back from the barricade, most couldn't even see the front and nervous chatter began to cycle through the crowd. Some even took a notice of the empty skies above and realized that there were no aircraft.

"Hey, sarge! Sarge! Where's our air cover?" One soldier, Captain Eren Alphonse of Lancelot squad, an anthropomorphic dragon-alligator hybrid who mostly resembled an alligator with brown scales, save for a pair of leathery bat-like wings folded on his back and a spiky tail.

Checking back with him, Brickshire could hear his men also speaking up in regards to the lack of support craft and he cut them off with his gruff, grating voice,

"Command called in a few minutes ago, most of the NEA's assets are being sent to deal with the Nephs attacking downtown. The enemy we're fighting is ground force only, but we have a few Little birds on standby if we need some air support." He explained, listening as a few of the soldiers whispered amongst themselves.

"Do we have any intel on the enemy force?" Asked Private X-488, an anthropomorphic black army ant that stood on two hind legs while using the other four to wield two AK-47 assault rifles, a double headed axe and a wooden shield inscribed with more runes.

Upon being asked, Eren hesitated and took a moment to scratch his head, his bronze gauntlet making scraping sounds against his stone temples, as he mentally went over what Brigadier General Matthew Grant told him over the broadcast before shaking his head,

"We've lost contact with the garrisons stationed at Santa Monica Pier and reports all along the coastline have confirmed at least three Republic legions making their way Eastwards towards the inner city. One of those legions is making its way up the boulevard and is being led by a knight codenamed: Crystalla in what is presumably a campaign of rapid dominance. If they reach the checkpoint station at Centinela Avenue, the entire county falls and the defenders dealing with the enemy in downtown will be forced to fight on two fronts. In other words, bad news for everyone!" He cracked his knuckles and sneered as he cracked his neck too,

"Orders are simple: stop Crystalla's advance here and drive them back to the coastline and by Jade if we're lucky, maybe we'll hold them off long enough until reinforcements arrive along with our overseer's secret weapon." Sergeant Brickshire concluded, wishing he had another cigar to light.

Hearing how the entire coastal defense was annihilated sent a wave of murmurs coursing through the crowd and Gumball could feel a lump of lead within his stomach while Teri began to fidget nervously. Everyone knew that a typical Nephilim legion numbered at ten thousand combatants each and given that their force was only half that size, not everyone was up for a slugging match with the giants. After asking around a bit, the soldiers learned that the other two legions were being intercepted by all available NEA units within the given area and that brought some relief, if not any.

Feeling unbothered by all the rain and the unbelievable lack of space the formation provided, Candi stared on ahead for a minute, her optics picking up the stress present in all those around her before letting out an electronic sigh,

"Man, when we get back to Jeruzalem we should all go to a cafe together and just hang out for a bit, you know? Just enjoy the atmosphere." The fluffy, inflated panda bot remarked.

Due to how stiff the outfit felt on her, Candi had forgone the army fatigues and came only as herself, wearing only two armbands that signified her rank and unit as well as her role within the GAE. As the team medic, the Chinese robot had stored within her an array of medical items to assist her comrades in emergency situations and for her armament, she had her ruby stone amulet while also carrying an army-issued M9 pistol tucked away in a quick-draw holster strapped to her leg. Luckily for her, not having a uniform wasn't necessarily uncommon for soldiers working in the paramilitary organization, mainly due to many non-humans having bizarre anatomy or specific requirements when it came to dress, so no one really batted an eye when they saw this six-foot, balloon-like medical droid sporting bright colors walking about their ranks.

With an eyebrow now raised, Abu, Gumball and Teri all turned in unison to their cheery comrade with the latter leaning forward a bit and asking the obvious question,

"Why would you want to spend time at a cafe? You can't eat, drink or even smell would you even do there?" Her airy voice was mixed with confusion and cynicism given that she had absolutely no intention of returning to the underground city and this very sentiment was shared by Gumball.

Shrugging and wearing a carefree look on her blue face monitor, Candi wasn't too bothered by this setback,

"I know. I just wanna experience the sensation of enjoying some quality time with friends. I never really had friends during my time within the Supernatural Commission's custody and no one really wanted to hang out with me after I was recruited in the NEA, probably because I was too shy to ask or because everyone thought I was useless." She stated, suddenly becoming very quiet on the last part before her screen flickered to a bashful expression and she took a sudden interest in her pudgy fingers.

This struck a chord with Teri, as the paper girl knew that feeling all too well and was brought to her many lonely years of elementary and middle school. She felt kind of guilty for constantly keeping her distance during training sessions and acting somewhat cold whenever she tried striking up a conversation. She could definitely say things were less tense between them than they were between Gumball and Abu, both of which constantly got on each other's nerves.

Speaking of, Abu could see as clear as day the distress his subordinate was in and tried his best to help alleviate her,

"Pfft! Cafe? No, after we get back we'll celebrate with a night of partying and dancing, that's what real soldiers do! I think I even know of a few karaoke clubs we can hit up back home." He suggested with great enthusiasm, his green eyes shining bright.

Snickering at the thought of the panthrotaur trying to dance at any club, Gumball wondered if his panther hindquarters would take up too much room while his humanoid upper half would be waving his arms about and then doubled over as he began laughing outright, catching the attention of his captain,

"May I implore as to what you find so amusing, Watterson?" The middle aged Persian growled as he clenched his fists.

Still chuckling like he heard the world's funniest joke, the blue feline held up a finger and gulped in some fresh air,

"With all due respect, sir, but you dance like you have two left feet!" Gumball wheezed, gesturing with his arm towards the captain's two left legs before bursting out laughing again.

If he could blush, Abu would've been red enough to match the side of a barn and his embarrassment was quickly replaced with rage as the kitten's neverending witty comebacks struck again,

"Well, joke's on you because you haven't even seen me dance before and trust me, I can dance, boy!" He retaliated, while the other two began laughing much to his chagrin and he felt his temper starting to boil over once more,

"How about you and I have a dance off as soon as we get back, hmm? Loser's gotta do a thousand push-ups and the winner-!" He betted.

However, his declaration was interrupted when Teri stopped laughing and shot the other cat a baffled glare,

"Wait, are you sure that's a good condition? You can't even stay awake during drills!" Teri reminded him before freezing up and quickly uttering out,

"With all due respect, sir." She corrected herself.

Abu's mouth stopped moving. His round ears flattened against his head and his tail began to angrily swish back and forth. Feeling a vein nearly pop in his temple, Abu's inner rage climbed to such degrees that the water coating his luscious fur could be seen boiling away into steam and Teri knew she was in for a severe reprimanding.

Turning towards the paper puppet with a look that could only be described as pure malice with a dark aura hanging around his bizarre form, he smiled sinisterly and inhaled before verbally tearing into her,

"My narcolepsy isn't that severe, Pepakuma! And don't you dare remind me of the effects either, you're not my doctor!" He snarled, holding a finger up to her face as a warning.

However, Candi couldn't stay out of this banter for long and she was quick to also turn on the captain with some cold, hard facts,

"With all due respects, sir." She started, having practically made that line into a joke now, she waited for him to direct his attention towards her and saluted,

"Apart from your daily sleeping routine, you have fallen asleep approximately 719 times in the past 30 days during our scheduled training sessions, with a combined time of approx-!"

"I DON'T REMEMBER GIVING YOU PERMISSION TO SPEAK, YOU MARSHMALLOW!" He exploded, nearly alerting the whole brigade to his little outburst.

For a brief moment, everyone was silent and then the three started up again with their laughter, louder this time. Realizing he couldn't win, Captain Ghadafi felt his shoulder's slump as a wailing groan slipped past his lips and he realized with burning mortification that he was probably going to get reprimanded for this later on by the sarge, if not now perhaps. Before he could lay some serious discipline into the squad he commanded, his earpiece bursted with static and a voice could be heard on the other end.

It beared with it a grievous warning,

"We've got contacts, up front and approaching fast!"

With everyone receiving this transmission from one of the lookouts, Sergeant Brickshire stood at the ready and ordered his platoon to do the same. There wasn't a moment's hesitation in between the sarge's orders and the light infantry's response as they quickly brought their weapons up to bear, all light conversations ceased and everyone's attention was placed solely at the front of the living cluster. No one knew what was to come next, but the foreboding sense that filled the air and the chilling silence that washed over the army caused many to become hyper aware of every little detail in the surrounding environment. Hearts were racing, adrenaline was high, nerves steeled as the young and inexperienced were gripped with both the excitement and anxiety of their first battle while those who had fought before could only stand fast and wait as the seconds slowly ticked by.

Sitting on the rooftop of a nearby building, a lone NEA soldier whose body resembled that of a woman's except for her head, which was shaped like a pair of binoculars with the lenses forming her eyes and she was peering down the long and empty road with her finger on her earpiece.

Her name was Chelsea "Specs" Nermaka, a proud lieutenant within her rifle squad and renowned for her excellent marksman skills, the binocular woman carefully observed with her enhanced vision as the large, shadowy silhouettes made their way down the road,

"General, this is Lieutenant Nermaka of Lookout 7. We have several hostiles closing in on our position. Over." She reported, speaking loud and clear despite not having a mouth.

There was a burst of static, followed by General Grant's voice on the receiver and there was a hint of worry in his voice,

"That was fast. What's your read on the enemy force? Over." He responded.

Checking carefully, Specs could make out around fifty large crab-like creatures that skittered along on four legs and made their way towards the fortified position with unnatural movements. A flash of lightning illuminated the area and bathed the transport units in a crimson shine. Standing at forty feet in height, each had a flat, round body covered in a protective reddish brown shell lined with spikes, three glossy black eyes nested within a natural groove on top kept a lookout for any airborne predators while two on its bottom half searched the ground for prey with a salivating mouth in between that glowed orange and its legs were so sharp that every step it took punctured the asphalt. On its flat top sat a Nephilim driver in its basic form, wearing a red tunic with a special symbol painted on its head that allowed for control over the war mount and behind them was a tent that housed ten troops commonly referred to by the Republic military as "Guardsmen", common foot soldiers that served to guard both Babyloth and supposedly the Earth too from its natural enemies.

While five hundred guardsmen was something they could handle, albeit with some difficulty, their mounts, the Cancros, were not to be trifled with and made for quite the effective cavalry as well as infantry support platforms.

She took one last sweeping gance to further verify that what she was seeing was correct and Specs called up the general again to give her report,

"Fifty Cancros bearing a rider and ten troops each, most likely vanguard units. Five hundred meters and closing. ETA: two minutes until they're upon the barricade." She confirmed, holding her breath as she lifted her rifle to her shoulder and awaited a reply.

"Copy that, Lieutenant." General Grant replied before sending a broadcast to every unit within the formation,

"All forward units, you have permission to engage the enemy. Give them hell! Over." And then the radio went silent after a click.

At the front, intel was fed to squad commanders regarding the Nephilim's position and assets before bringing several lines of NEA soldiers up behind the deployable cover shields with their guns raised towards the street. As the first firing teams set themselves up, a squad of burly Orcs wielding powerful guns and crude, magical melee weapons made their way past the green crouching figures. Leading these olive-green skinned brutes was Thrax Mordan, an Orc that could be best described as a pure-blooded killer and monster.

Having been raised along with his kin in the most remote regions within the vast wilderness of Washington state, the constant danger brought on by the harsh elements and frequent monster attacks shaped Thrax into a nine-foot tall, muscle bound killing machine completely laced with crisscrossing scars on his green hide that told stories of his numerous death matches. His face was the stuff of nightmares with sharp fangs the length of a man's finger jutting out from his lower lip, a round nose as sharp as bloodhound's, and small, black eyes like that of a shark's that penetrated deep into the gloomy landscape ahead of him. With no uniform in the GAE's inventory big enough or sturdy enough to accommodate his bulk, Thrax, along with his brethren wore make-shift armor that was simply slapped together for some basic protection along with simple animal hides that wrapped around their thighs and tied around their shaven heads was a blue bandana bearing the NEA's logo.

Hefting a modified six-barreled, belt-fed chain gun with a thick, curved Stygian blade fixed at the base that jutted out the back for some brutal close-quarters-combat, Thrax stomped his way forward and grinned with delight as the unmistakable sound of clattering feet was getting louder by the second; the enemy was close and he was burning with bloodthirsty anticipation.

"Thrax, do you read? Over." General Grant's voice burst from the Orc's earpiece and the green skinned giant pressed to reply.

"Loud and clear, boss!" Thrax grunted, rolling his eyes in irritation after losing his train of thought.

"Good. We need you and your brothers to keep the enemy from reaching our position. If those barricades fall, we'll be left exposed to any number of devastating magic spells. Do you understand? The enemy must not be allowed to reach the barriers. The rest of us will provide cover fire. Over." He carefully instructed.

Nodding his head in an affirmative response, the Orc leader was smiling again and he spat on the road before answering,

"You got it, boss! We'll smash the stag-heads real good!" He chuckled with murderous glee as he took his hand off the earpiece and gripped the lateral support handle of his cumbersome weapon,

"Aight, boys! Hunting time! First one to bring back ten Neph heads gets to lead tomorrow's war games!" Thrax bellowed, tilting his head a ways while keeping his eyes glued to the vanishing road.

There was a resounding war cry from the thirty seven Orcs as weapons were raised and meaty hands thumped chests loudly in collective noises to contest their aggression. For these hardy boys, their life was the hunt and it didn't matter whether they were providing for their village up north or working for men in suits, as long as there was a monster to kill, everything was a sport to them. Luckily, they needn't wait long for the monstrous lunar giants to show their faces and a series of looming shadows quickly made themselves known to the awaiting army.

"YAAUUGHHH!" A thundering roar leapt from Thrax's throat as he snapped his chain gun into a firing position and gave the trigger a squeeze.

BRRRRRRRTTTTTTT!

From the rotating six barrels, orange fire belched as thousands of Molten Nail rounds sped towards the rapidly charging Cancros units, each round embedding itself into its dense chiton before transforming into a white hot nail shaped by magic energy and pushing itself in deep. The first one to fall let out a shrill scream of pain as the towering crustacian's front legs snapped at the joints, causing it to collapse immediately thereafter and the driver was sent tumbling off onto the wet pavement before his fate was sealed when a stream of bullets fired from Thrax ripped his body asunder. The ten Guardsmen hiding inside the carrier tent were also sent flying as soon as their ride came crashing down, but were able to right themselves before landing and were already on their feet.

When compared to the knights that led them, the Guardsmen seemed rather puny and plain. Standing at only ten feet in height, garbed with simple brown tunics, leaving only their arms and legs bare while their faces were obscured by plain white masks with pointed beaks and two dark eye holes; they were unarmored and light on their feet. In their hands they held strange rifles that resembled a bunch of tree branches woven together in the shape of a gun with glowing leaves that stuck out from the stock and their only other sidearms appeared to be simple short swords strapped to their belts along with a few explosive devices.

These were the vanguard units.

As soon as they got a bead on the Orc pack leader, the antlered giants wasted no time trying to gun him down and the air was quickly filled with solid projectiles in the form of purple spikes with an eerie glow. Thrax didn't even flinch at the vanguard's attack, with most of their rounds striking his armor and bouncing off the protective shield it produced while others whistled on by overhead. Tsking, the massive brute returned in kind with some fire of his own and swept his minigun in a wide arc, cutting down every guardsmen in a concentrated burst. The Nephilim's bodies violently shook as molten nails punched straight through the thin cloth they wore and punched burning holes into their flesh, breaking bones, causing their glowing white blood to boil and burst from the extreme heat. The ones lucky enough to die on the spot collapsed immediately while the few who were unfortunate enough to somehow remain conscious after all that were left in a crumpled, broken heap, screaming endlessly at the pain that ravaged their shattered forms.

As Thrax's mind was driven into a state of pure, bloody bliss, he continued to fire away at the incoming transports and his brothers stood by him, joining him in this battleborn frenzy while the round from their guns continued to knock the Cancros down one by one.

Behind the brutes, the soldiers of the 112th brigade watched from their defensive positions in sheer awe as they continued to push back against the colossal creatures and their disembarking passengers, while taking only three losses of their own so far. It was inspiring to say the least and the guarding infantry units felt courage brush through them along with a wave of adrenaline as more vanguard troops dropped from their hard-shelled mounts. With their commanders keeping track of the opposition's movements, some of the Nephilim began to slip past the Orc platoon and raced towards the mixed army with their weapons poised to fire.

"Light them up!" A sergeant ordered from his position behind the deployable cover's metallic sheet.

Through the peepholes of the four walls and from their laying positions on the ground, there was a slew of insults thrown at the Nephilim before bullets were discharged. Dozens of muzzle flashes lit up the frontline in bursts of bright cyan as Howling Death rounds leapt from the barrels of M4s and M16s, filling the ears of everyone close by and far back with the repetitive chittering of machine gun fire. The small arms fire from the forward firing teams was further supplemented by the combined firepower from both .50 caliber M2 Browning heavy machine guns that covered their flanks and the turrets mounted on the parked Humvees brought overlapping fields of high caliber rounds onto the converging giants.

In what resulted as a complete massacre of dozens of Republic combatants, the grey skinned entities simply disintegrated as the death magic brought onto them by such rounds came in contact and left behind nothing as their ashes washed away in the flowing rivers created by the rain.

A few managed to get some shots in before they were taken down however, and while most of their rounds either missed or struck the solid metal barriers that protected the army standing behind it, several NEA troopers took a few rounds. Several were unaffected as the spikes failed to pierce their armor, a few others were struck in places that weren't protected and one unfortunate young man who was lying on his stomach was killed after one of their rounds was shot into his left eye. With the wounded being brought back and replaced with members of the next wave, the skirmish continued as the boulevard quickly fell to the chaotic chorus of mutual slaughter brought on by both sides.

Within the battle's opening two minutes, over a hundred Nephilim had died and the losses continued to rise dramatically as the Orcs continued on with their murderous rampage.

Throwing himself into the thick of it, Thrax had already run out of ammo and charged in with nothing but his blade and fists. Spotting his first opponent, the mighty orc rushed straight at him, a stream of incoherent growls leaving his mouth as he swiped the Nephilim's gun aside and drove the blade into his abdomen, slashing his stomach open. With his entrails spilling out onto the ground in a pool of glowing white blood, the masked vanguard trooper screamed, his eyes wide with horror as he dropped his gun and fell on his back, his hands holding on to his intestines in a vain attempt to pull himself back together. Ignoring him, Thrax left the giant to his agonizing fate and continued to cut his way through the enemy lines.

Left and right they continued to fall, the powerful NEA warrior remained an untouchable powerhouse, cutting down everyone he came across, watching as his gun's fixed bayonet trailed streams of white blood and everything from limbs to heads went flying as he moved with incredible speed. Even though the continuous fire from their guns was chipping away at his defenses, the former monster hunter wasn't slowing down and his intense battle prowess left many of them shocked as well as terrified. Behind Thrax, the other Orcs were carving a bloody trail into the vanguard's ranks, but some faced trouble with the Cancros and started seeing some casualties of their own.

The four-legged crabs were quite a nuisance in Thrax's eyes, skewering anything that got too close with their sharp legs while spewing a revolting liquid from their mouths that melted anything it came in contact with and from a series of small holes on their backs, they fired off peg-shaped projectiles straight at the NEA's holding position.

The organic mortar rounds arced high up in the air before they came crashing down on random targets, exploding with enough force to cripple the barrier and taking out many of the nearby buildings. Specs and the rest of Lookout 7 squad were killed in the resulting collapse of the structure they were on and more casualties for the NEA followed as several of the mortars flew over the barrier, striking deep into the brigade's formation. Teri screamed and cowered while Gumball just covered his ears and gritted his teeth as an explosion was set off behind them, sending one of the transports along with dozens of men and women flying in a fiery plume of burning debris.

Having seen and heard the devastation caused by the remaining Cancros, Thrax's attention was turned to the colossal creatures,

"Come on, boys! Let's knock 'em down!" He shouted, earning him another round of war cries from his remaining hunters.

Facing the closest Cancros with two of his brothers, the burly fellow wielding the bladed minigun saw a new wave of troops drop down from its back and come charging towards them brandishing swords and mystical firearms. Snorting at the sight of those that wished to challenge them, Thrax figured it would be best if he dealt with them himself while the other two took care of their mount. Turning to his woodland kin, he hiked a thumb towards the oncoming squadron and relayed instructions to the two,

"I'll take care of them, you two take care of the big one!" He didn't wait for confirmation afterwards as he just stormed off while expecting the two to do their job, which he knew they would.

Watching him go, the first one, a lime-green Orc with two horns sticking out of his forehead and a hunched posture named Jathral, let out a snort,

"Great. Why does he always leave us with the most difficult jobs?" He groaned, raising his twin slashing blades he kept on his person, with each one connected to a chain that wrapped around his arms.

Eyeing the Cancros that was preparing to dissolve their war chief in acidic spit, the second one, a short, stout Orc with skin darker in shade than his partner's mottled with dark spots and a massive wart on his long, beak-like nose named Bork, plucked a throwing axe from his belt before raising it over his head,

"Quit yer belly achin', Jathral! Yer such a whiner!" He shot back before throwing his axe at the driver.

"Am not!" An offended Jathral snapped back defensively.

The axe head embedded itself deep into the face of the Nephilim driver, causing his body to convulse in a death spasm before the giant tumbled from his ride and the Cancros went berserk after losing its mental connection with its rider. Screeching loudly and throwing both its front legs in the air, its underbelly's beady eyes glaring down at the two, the monstrous crab brought its front half down in an attempt to spear both Orcs where they stood. Rolling to the sides, both managed to avoid certain death by impalement and the resulting attack left the monster immobile with both legs stuck deep in the ground.

Getting up on his feet, Bork pulled a heavy two handed axe decorated with a bat's skull on top in between two wing shaped blades from his back strap and took a powerful swing at the nearby appendage,

"HRAAUGH!" He roared as he swung with all his might.

Cutting through the tree trunk-sized appendage with ease, the same glowing white blood gushed out from the stump and the Cancros let out another ear-splitting screech that caused the ground to rumble. Covering his ears at the loud noise, Bork gnashed his fangs together and was caught off guard when the broken limb came swinging his way. Smacked to the side, the black and green Orc was thrown onto his back and Jathral watched in horror as his brother was engulfed in a stream of acidic spit fired at him from the monster's glowing mouth.

"BORK, NO!" He screamed, raising a hand towards him.

Despite his cries of anguish, there was nothing he could as he watched in horror as the orange goo stripped the screaming Bork's bones of their flesh, dissolving the mighty fighter in steaming mess of melted living material and leaving only a skeleton in a matter of seconds, its body twisted in the same agonizing position that clawed at its own face. Feeling the loss of his brother weighing down on him, Jathral was stuck in a single position for a moment as he looked and saw all around him the chaos and destruction both sides wrought upon each other. He could see the remaining twelve Orcs of their war band giving it their all, guns blazing and blades swinging as their enemies bore down on them with their own guns and swords. On the ground all around them, were the heaps of bodies from both sides and Jathral could pick out the forms of his family in the rain as they lay silent and broken.

The sight of which quickly filled the horned Orc with rage as he turned on the Cancros again, quietly vowing to avenge Bork and the others that had fallen one monster at a time, starting with the one in front of him.

Smashing its last front leg downwards, Jathral spun around in an elegant dance to avoid the deadly limb and brought both blades up to slash the offending appendage to pieces. Upon losing yet another part of itself, the circular crustacean pulled itself back with its hind legs, making agitated gurgling sounds as acid spilled from its thin mouth and the heavy-set fighter made his move to finish the creature off. Throwing both of his chain blades straight at the Cancros' flat underside, both blades traveled far as the chains quickly unraveled from his arms until they struck a chink within its armor and one of its eyes, just like he intended.

Howling, the forty foot moon monster reared itself backwards, yanking Jathral off his feet as he clutched the chains tightly and felt the rain striking his face as well as the wind while he sailed upwards. Once he had reached his peak, the muscular bizarro yanked both blades out of its hide, tearing its eyeball free as he did, and caught both in his hands while the angry mount attempted to blast him out of the sky with several mortar rounds fired from its back. Bearing his fangs at the fast approaching peg-like bombs, Jathral put his body in a spin as he sliced through every single one before they could explode and threw a blade straight at the Cancros once he was free of danger.

There was nothing the monster could do as the curved chain sword sank itself into its middle eye like a single claw, causing more blood to spew outwards like a geyser and with a good yank, Jathral had pulled himself onto its smooth, reddish brown, chitinous surface where he eagerly began to slash away at its soft spot. Down below, Thrax took notice of the Cancros' erratic movements as he continued to single-handedly deal with the vanguard units and worked to quickly dispatch the remaining five surrounding him. With a sudden move, a single vanguard soldier rushed him with his raised, aiming to slice into his head and Thrax spun around to counter with his bayonet, only to have the weakened blade shatter like glass against the strike.

"Curses! I've overexerted myself again and now my magic is weakening!" He realized, having spent a considerable amount of energy to get himself here in the first place.

Tossing his useless weapon at his attacker, the red tunic wearing Nephilim was sent flying backwards while his sword flew from his grip and into the hand of his adversary, which he used to quickly stab him in the lower abdomen. With his back turned to the others, Thrax heard the gunshots and felt something pierce his shoulders and back several times causing warm blood to trickle down from the wounds, his own blood. Ignoring the pain screaming in his backside, the burly Orc leader snapped his head around and slashed at the one who shot him, forcing the soldier to jump back while two more sword-wielding giants charged from both his left and his right.

Meeting them head on, Thrax wasted no time attacking and took the one on the left first, seeing as he was closer. The masked entity tried for a lunge, but failed to land a strike as the green-skinned warrior proved to be far more skilled than he initially appeared and after simply side-stepping, cleaved the Nephilim in two before catching the second one with his free hand. With the grey moon spirit's head secured in his oversized mitt, Thrax's thumb moved over his forehead, listening as the soldier howled while applying an immense amount of pressure that shattered his mask and cracked his skull with a sickening crunch. Once the poor sod's eyes were rolling back in his head, Thrax effortlessly tossed his body at the remaining riflemen, who jumped back and looked at one another in astonishment.

The moment was short lived when the Cancros they were fighting under let out its final death cries and came crashing down on top of them.

Moving fast, Thrax slammed his shoulder into one of the marksmen, sending him flying off while his rifle fell from his hand while the other was grabbed by the collar and tossed over the Orc war chief's shoulder like a sack of potatoes where he was instantly crushed beneath the crab's carcass. Once the dust settled, the soldier he sent flying earlier got back up and looked around to see his forces were on the verge of annihilation with most of the vanguard laying slain at their enemy's feet and the Cancros were being finished off with both .50 caliber rounds and RPG's whose missiles morphed into balls of molten lava that melted through their shells with ease. Within moments, the entire frontal assault unit had been cut down and destroyed, leaving him to be the only one left.

Turning a hateful gaze towards Thrax as he wiped his brow and took a moment to catch his breath, he spotted him, and the surviving Nephilim soldier curled his fingers into fists as a growl was uttered from his throat,

"This accomplishment means nothing, Devil worshipper!" The masked soldier proclaimed, tearing off his face covering to reveal a pair of glowing red eyes surrounded by a series of linear tattoos and a scarred visage that regarded the Orc war chief with scorn.

Raising his arms upwards, the Nephilim's body was engulfed in a bright light so intense, Thrax's sensitive eyes were assaulted with its brilliance and was forced to shield them with his calloused hands. Once the light subsided, the woodland bizarro was about to look again, but was greeted with something smashing into his face and sending him flying backwards. Crashing into the hard shell of the Cancros behind him, pain flooded his face and the metallic taste of blood was present as it trickled down from his lips along with his nostrils.

With his vision filling with spots, Thrax spat out a mouthful of blood and started to get back up, albeit dizzily, but was immediately knocked back down with another punch. Grunting, the second punch felt harder than the first one and Thrax was surprised such a strike could hurt so much, but wasn't given much time to think about it as he was repeatedly pummeled by a pair of massive fists that belonged to the transformed Nephilim. In his metamorphosis form, the vanguard trooper stood at a startling eleven feet in height, sporting a build similar to that of a gorilla's only covered in white, plated armor with a head shaped like a hatchet and the same markings were present along with a few new ones on his back.

With no visible facial features other than a mouth filled with shark fangs that split his narrow face in two, the evil spirit spoke as he continued to throw punches at the downed Orc,

"You're foolish to believe you can defeat us with brute strength alone! There are more of us on the way and we are far stronger than you vermin!" He raged as he drove a sledgehammer fist right into Thrax's gut, causing the green-skinned bizarro to gasp and cough out more blood,

"I am Xanna Zelos and I fight for the rightful inhabitants of Earth!" He declared, raising both fists up to smash down on his opponent's head and Thrax could do nothing except, close his eyes as the inevitable darkness came.

THWUMP!

Before he could bring an end to the downed war chief, a pair of blades shot out from above and buried themselves into Xanna's chest. Screeching in surprise, the Nephilim soldier forgot about his attempts on the Orc's life and fell back as his hands raced up towards the protruding sword handles. Seconds later, a massive body slammed itself into the white monster, knocking him on his back and an angry Jathral snarled as he pulled his giant-slaying weapons from his chest,

"You mess with the boss, you mess with all of us!" He roared, socking Xanna in the face for good measure.

Over and over Jathral stabbed the Nephilim, each slash breaking the armor and tearing into the soft flesh beneath, his strong arms working like pistons as a black liquid spewed outwards in small geysers. Seeing his innards being carved out from his thoracic cavity, the vanguard soldier thrashed out in desperation, placing both of his meaty hands around the horned Orc's neck and squeezing as tightly as he could, but Jathral sensed the danger early, cutting open Xanna's wrists with rapid slices. Still unwilling to give up, the evil giant rammed his hatchet shaped head into Jathral's, causing the Orc's noggin to snap back as his nose bled profusely from the heavy impact and with this opportune moment, Xanna struck.

"GET OFF!" He bellowed in respite.

The black ooze seeping out from his wounds shot outwards and formed into a pair of claws wielding curved swords, much like the monster hunter's own, that sank themselves into Jathral's chest. Gasping in shock, the hunched behemoth felt the cold steel enter through his pectorals, snapping his ribs like twigs and piercing his lungs, stealing his breath away. As he desperately tried to regain the air that escaped his failing lungs, the pain he felt was unlike anything he'd ever felt in his life and after dropping both blades, he clawed at the appendages driving themselves deep into him.

Even though his opponent lacked eyes, Jathral knew he was staring at him intently while his mouth broke out into a jagged grin and the helpless creature was trapped in a state of fear.

Grabbing both his arms, Jathral finally met his fate when Xanna pulled and ripped the Orc in half as easy as one would a paper bag. Lungs, heart, entrails, bones and gallons of blood splattered to the ground in a gruesome mess while the two halves were tossed over the Nephilim's shoulder as his blades retracted back into his chest, psychotic laughter playing past his lips upon the unfortunate soul's death. As a soldier of the Republic, Xanna lived to see his enemies fall and took pleasure in feeling Earthling blood within his claws.

Having witnessed the death of his brother, Thrax, having recovered in due thanks to Jathral's valiant sacrifice, slowly rose to his feet and coughed a few times while Xanna continued to laugh his hollow, merciless laugh. Nostrils flaring, the massive Orc could smell the fresh blood of the young warrior that fueled his ever growing rage and searched the ground for something to use as a weapon. Spotting a discarded grenade near one of the fallen vanguard units, Thrax scooped it up and turned on Xanna, who was just starting to take notice of the risen figure.

Rushing towards him, the nine foot-tall-killing machine tackled his taller adversary by the waist and pushed him backwards. Startled by the NEA soldier's sudden rush, the white giant dug his heels into the ground and attempted to throw him off. Not one to be discarded so easily, Thrax fought back viciously against his opponent and proceeded to pummel Xanna with rapid jabs and hooks, smashing the Nephilim with all his strength.

"Like I care if you're stronger or have us outnumbered! I've been fighting monsters my whole life and you're just like the rest!" He retorted, grabbing him by the head and slamming his knee into his face multiple times, causing Xanna to become dizzy with pain,

"I'll kill you and the rest of your kind! For all my brothers!" He boldly declared.

Upon hearing their boss's shouts from afar, the eight remaining Orcs came rushing over and spotted the two wrestling for dominance. Watching as the towering ape-like monster delivered a series of punches to Thrax's gut, the green-skinned brawler doubled over and violently coughed up blood, his body weakening from all the hits he was taking, but his resolve was higher than before. Joining their boss, the rest of the woodland bizarros raced in and slammed themselves against Xanna, who hadn't expected reinforcements.

Thrashing about against the bodies that held him down, the eyeless Nephilim screamed as he felt blades and fingers start to pry apart his armor,

"Get away, you savages!" He cried out, smashing his arm against one that was close to his face and killing him instantly.

Using his ability, the frightened monster's chest exploded into a cluster of limbs that clawed and slashed at his attackers, killing half of them within seconds, but the others continued to rip him to shreds. Still clutching that rock of his, Thrax's blood was boiling and with a bloodthirsty scream, he braved the multitude of deadly limbs by leaping straight in himself. Knocking most of them away, the brute ignored the ones that were cutting into his flesh and grabbed hold of Xanna's neck, clasping it tight in his vice grip.

Choking and spitting, the malevolent spirit could only "watch" in terror as Thrax lifted the grenade and smashed it down on his skull. The crack that resounded from the strike was brutal and Xanna's hard exterior was split open. Repeating himself, Thrax continued to bash at the Nephilim's head, causing bone fragments and brain matter to splatter against the asphalt, his enraged screams cutting through the air while his followers continued to tear into their victim's body, ripping out organs and coating their blades and fingers with his blood.

As Xanna's mangled body was wracked with grievous injuries, his life started to fade and following several moments of pure agony, the convulsions stopped.

After his enemy's misshapen head ceased its cries of mercy, only then did Thrax stop his relentless strikes and the burly warrior found that the last of the vanguard was dead. Dropping his rock and pumping his fists into the air, he let out a triumphant roar that was quickly joined by his comrades, the remaining four of their party as they celebrated their victory. Five hundred enemy combatants and their terrifying war beasts were simply no match for their indomitable will and battle prowess.

From far behind, the soldiers of the 112th heard the victorious cries of the advanced skirmishers and they too began to celebrate as the Nephilim's first wave was decimated.

However, as Thrax was about to stand and order his boys to return for rearmament in preparation for the next wave, a feeling suddenly came, causing the war chief to break out in a cold sweat despite the pouring rain. Turning his attention towards the hazy darkness that stretched beyond his field of vision, the hulking fighter focused his hearing in said direction and began to pick up a faint sound over all the thunder and cheers from his brothers. It was heavy and repetitive, like something large was approaching and a twinge of fear nestled deep within his being started to blossom into something far greater in magnitude as he snapped his head back to warn his fellow Orcs.

"Fall back! They're coming!" He ordered, making sure his throaty voice could be heard over all the commotion.

To their shock however, a force like an immense ocean began to press down on all of them and the hardy woodland dwellers were locked in place, unable to lift even a finger. As they struggled against their invisible bindings, grunting and cursing in response to this unusual phenomenon, a glowing red orb appeared from up high and a shadowy figure that towered high above any of the nearby structures appeared from within the darkness. The monster, this looming shadow that was the stuff of nightmares continued to charge its attack, painting the surrounding environment red and heating up the air around it to near intolerable degrees, boiling the rain into mist, while a vibrant hum continued to grow in intensity.

"They're here." Were Thrax's final thoughts as a beam of immense red energy consumed him and his remaining kin.

VA-DOOM!

The Doom Blast swept across the battlefield, cutting through the weakened barrier with ease and dozens of NEA soldiers vanished in an instant within the sweeping red column of light. The Humvees that helped guard the front were also caught up in the blast, their crew members and gunners vaporized with a scream, the metal exteriors melting off like wax and the rest exploded shortly after, flinging white hot bits of molten metal into many soldiers unlucky enough to be caught near the wreckage, causing severe burns that left many immobilized. With the forward defenses in ruins, the members of the 112th were in a state of panic, with many frightened individuals trying to flee back into the crowd, some were trying to get the wounded away from the frontlines and others just simply began shooting into the haze where the blast came from.

For the members of Moon Lance, who were lucky enough to avoid the blast, they stood in awe, paralyzed with fear upon witnessing the deaths of so many people and watched as shadowy figures began to emerge from the darkness.

There must've been thousands of them, a wave of rushing bodies without end, and each one carried a large, single edge spear with a glowing red crystal placed on the shaft, making the approaching formation appear like some sort of beast with deadly spines protruding from its back. Standing at ten feet in height, clad in black tunics while wearing silver breastplates emblazoned with a three petal flower marking, bracers and greaves like warriors of a classic era. With their ashen skin and antlers, they were a menacing sight to behold as they raced towards them with angry faces, screaming profanities as they did.

The Republic assault force had arrived.

Behind this oncoming horde of spear wielding spirits were the greater units of the legion, the Republic Knights, the very same monsters Teri and Gumball had been fighting at the very beginning, twelve colossal beings whose heights rivaled the buildings they came to lay waste to and their terrifying leader, Crystalla. One hundred ten feet tall, she stood on three long, slender legs whose feet were just extra hands while her torso was humanoid, possessing porcelain skin covered in a number of exotic, geometric markings, mostly on her arms and chest and her face had a beautifully sinister look to it, round, cherubic with a mask completely obscuring her eyes. Where her antlers should've been, a pair of crystals could be seen poking out of her wild purplish blue hair and a number of these crystals were present in various other areas too, namely the hollow space where her torso and legs connected.

She was the leader of the attacking Nephilim legion and the one responsible for Thrax's death, among many others.

Letting out a roar, she urged her soldiers to press onwards as he herself sheathed her arms in purple crystals and brandished the sharp tips menacingly,

"Kill them! Kill all the vermin!" She shouted, earning a roar of approval from her troops as they continued to race towards the awaiting brigade.

Watching the Nephilim starting to close in, Sergeant Brickshire, the only one left on the front to assume command, raised his M16 and harkened to his troops,

"Open fire! Don't let them past this intersection!" He shouted, squeezing the trigger and letting several Howling Death rounds fly,

"Mages! Get some barriers set up and someone contact General Grant immediately! We need heavy ordnance up here, asap or else those knights are gonna tear this brigade apart!" The brick man shouted as he eyed the lumbering giants traveling slowly with their smaller underlings.

Jumping into action, dozens of brave GAE troopers took a crouching position while the ones behind them raised their rifles and machine guns, their barrels flashing blue as they fired upon the Republic Guard. The chittering of machine gun fire was deafening and hundreds of overlapping rounds streaked towards the enemy, some falling short while many exploded harmlessly against their armor. This presented a frustrating conundrum for the defending NEA troops as whole magazines were spent and several cries of despair could be heard throughout the brigade's frontal formation.

"Just die already, you ugly bastards!" One soldier screamed in rage as he snapped in another magazine and kept firing blindly into the crowd.

"Son of a bitch, these guys aren't dying!" Another despaired.

"Are they invincible?" Questioned Captain Alphonse, as his squad's firearms seemed to have the same effect as the others.

Bringing his M4 up to bear, Captain Ghadafi, turned to his three subordinates and barked out commands,

"Moon Lance, to the front! Show them no mercy!" He cried out as he waved them forwards.

At the behest of their captain, Moon Lance squad also took up firing positions, with Teri, Gumball and Abu taking shots with their own weapons while Candi just stood there, monitor displaying her shock and horror as she remained rooted to the spot.

Unfortunately, none of their rounds appeared to be having any effect on the incoming giants as Teri's petrification shurikens fell short due to the rain and both cat's weren't having any luck piercing the enemy's armor. As fortune would have it though, one of Gumball's incendiary rounds fired from his shotgun struck a Guardsmen in the thigh, where there was no armor to protect it and the grey-skinned spear wielder burst into flames, screaming as his flesh melted off his bones. A few other soldiers had also stumbled upon this weakness within their defenses and the howling bullets that struck caused the unfortunate sods to explode into dust.

"Their armor's too strong at the top! Aim for their legs! Use suppressive fire and don't waste your ammo!" Sergeant Brickshire screamed over his shoulder as he corrected his aim and took out three charging infantry units in succession.

With new orders being delivered to the men and women up front, casualties began to mount on the Nephilim's side and two whole rows straight up vanished under the onslaught. The cheers of the NEA were quickly cut short once the Nephilim started shooting back, firing glowing red bolts from their spear tips much like a Knight's Doom Blast and instantly atomizing anyone struck by these Kurse rounds. Watching three teenage soldiers vanish right next to them, a frightened Teri stopped trying to attack and formed two double moon barrier runes on her palm before raising it to form a half dome of protective glass in front of her team. As the incoming Kurse bolts smashed into the barrier with no real effect, Gumball and Abu would duck out from behind cover every now and then to fire off a few shots.

All around them, several magic users were following Teri's lead and forming barriers of their own, some from the elements, others made from pure energy as more fire teams took cover behind them. As fire continued to be exchanged between the two sides, Crystalla carefully observed the strengths of the individual NEA soldiers and ordered her knights to fire down upon the shielded Earthlings. As Doom Blasts, glowing wisps of energy, spikes and even crystal shards fired from the three-legged giantess began to bombard the NEA's hastily cobbled fortifications, several collapsed under the stress and entire squads were wiped out in a series of fiery explosions that swept through the streets.

Surprisingly, Teri was able to hold out against the heavy barrage, but the force of three magic crystal shards slamming continuously into her barrier brought about a tremendous amount of stress upon the paper girl and she screamed in pain as the purple crystals began absorbing her spiritual energy,

"GAH!" She screamed, as the runes on her hand glowed a bright purple and began to burn.

"Teri!" Gumball shouted in alarm as he grabbed her by the waist and pulled her back, causing the barrier to collapse.

"Everyone, get away from the crystals! They're dangerous!" Abu warned after seeing its effects on Teri, firing wildly at the Nephilim as he backed away and retreated slowly.

Upon seeing so many deaths and the devastation brought on by the enemy, Candi finally snapped. As the team's medic, she thought she was prepared to take on any task, no matter how dangerous or gruesome it may be, but the robot panda wasn't ready for this, for any of it. They trained for a whole month against monsters, whose worst capabilities only caused minor injuries and disqualification depending on the nature of the mission and none of it was really that dangerous for any of them.

But this was different.

People were actually dead now and many more were dying all around her. Through her optics, she could finally see just how terrifying their enemies truly were and how their devotion to see all them wiped out was absolute. What's worse was when she looked at the faces of the charging Guardsmen and found most disturbingly that they looked human, that these so-called monsters were actually just people like themselves, but filled with rage and bloodlust that was matched only by their enemies who rained death themselves.

None of this made sense to her, it all felt so unreal and for once in her life, Candi forgot about those around her as fear took hold, causing her to turn and flee back into the crowd, dropping her pistol as she ran,

"We're all going to die here!" She screamed as she disappeared into the fresh wave of bodies that raced in the opposite direction.

Seeing this, Abu was shocked as well as the two kids from Elmore and after a brief moment of stunned silence, the captain called out to her,

"Where do you think you're going, private? Get back here, now! THAT'S AN ORDER, CANDI!" The Persian Panthrotaur bellowed at the top of his lungs, his silky smooth voice consumed with rage.

"What the what?" Gumball remarked with bafflement as he watched Candi flee and fired his remaining rounds into the charging horde.

"I'll go get her!" Teri volunteered, ready to chase down their comrade.

However, Captain Ghadafi wasn't having it and ordered the paper girl to stay put,

"We need you up here, Pepakuma! I'll deal with Candi in a moment, but for now we must hold the line!" He exclaimed, keeping his sights trained on the enemy.

Looking back one last time where the other bear had fled and Teri worried for her safety.

It was all pointless however, as she was long gone and those around her were too busy trying to stay alive. There was no going after the fleeing Panda girl either as several rounds whizzed by and her attention was turned back to the rapidly approaching legion, now closing in at less than a hundred meters and the three could clearly make out the features of the front row, an array of fierce dark eyes along with gnashing teeth as the Nephilim regarded them with fanatically driven hatred. Ordering them back into a firing position, Teri was finally able to use her shuriken launchers to their best effect and started firing explosive rounds into their ranks, sending many flying, some in a scattered assortment of limbs and organs while those closest were incinerated.

Right next to her, Abu pulled out three coins from his satchel, whispering an alchemist's chant into the golden discs fitted between his finger, and tossing all three into the air like frisbees before they exploded into a net that ensnared several Guardsmen's spears, much to their frustration.

As the five soldiers stopped to try and disentangle their weapons, Abu snapped his head towards Teri as his green eyes flickered,

"Pepakuma!" He shouted, getting her attention.

"On it, sir!" She snapped back in response.

Raising her hand and manipulating the ink from her sleeves into the open palm, Teri formed a lightning rune that glowed a brilliant white as the paper bear poured her spiritual energy into the symbol.

KRA-KOW!

A single bolt of lightning shot outwards, streaking towards the five hapless foot soldiers in a jagged lance of white plasma before striking all five of them and with the golden net acting as an excellent conductor, sent waves of electricity surging through them. Howls of agony leapt from their throats as they violently jerked about, their skin sizzling and letting out steam as their bodies cooked from the inside while bursts of electricity lit up their armor and connected their teeth in glowing whit bands. Collapsing to the ground in a smoking heap, the surrounding Guardsmen wore looks of surprise, but continued to march forth and left the bodies as they were, this time focusing their fire on the ones who did it.

As a storm of Kurse rounds filled the air with lethal crimson, Gumball swapped out his shotgun for his scythe and hopped in front of his squad members, spinning his weapon about and knocking away any round that came too close,

"Oh sugar honey iced tea! They're really mad now!" Gumball cursed as his arms and scythe blurred from having to keep up with so many projectiles being fired all at once.

Firing several explosive runes and forming another lightning rune in her other hand, Teri continued to devastate the enemy ranks,

"Language, honey!" She scolded, shooting her boyfriend an angry glance.

"Oh quiet you! You're not my mom!" Gumball shot back, earning a look from Teri.

"No, I am! Now stop bickering you two and fall back or else you're all grounded!" Abu shouted, picking off one Guardsman after another with small, controlled bursts from his carbine and slowly made his way back with his team.

With the situation looking increasingly dire for the 112th, the combined attacks from both the Knights and the Guardsmen continued to push their lines back and Sergeant Brickshire, who'd miraculously survived the initial bombardment, could see that they were close to being overrun. They were coming in too fast and their rounds weren't even slowing them down, plus heavy ordnance hadn't arrived yet to help take down the larger monsters. But if they continued to fall back, the Nephiim would take the intersection and start sending more units to the other strongholds.

They couldn't afford to lose this position and with a dreadful realization, Mason knew they were going to have to advance forward to drive them back, so he turned his blocky head towards his comrades before shouting,

"BAYONETS!"

With his order rippling throughout the retreating army, many soldiers suddenly wore expressions of trepidation, but did as he was told and with a click of a button, Stygian blades sprung out from the barrels of their rifles while some even brought out their own melee weapons more suited to their individual skills. No one was particularly eager to go toe-to-toe with their much larger grey adversaries and it showed, with many looking quite hesitant, but with the gap already starting to close, a clash was inevitable. With Teri producing a hydro-trident, Abu wielding a bayonet of his own and Gumball with his scythe, the three readied themselves for the next order to be given as the Nephilim became more enthralled once they realized what was to come.

Slinging his M16 over his shoulder and bringing his mechanical bronze gauntlets up before pounding his fists together, a hollow clang rippled through the air as the living brick wall cracked his neck while squaring his shoulders, his icy blue eyes staring down his opponents with sheer determination,

"FORWARD!" He shouted, pumping his fist in the air and from all around him hundreds of rifles and weapons joined his own in the air as the soldiers of Earth let out a battle cry.

Surging forward like a green wave, the sound of boots thundering across the pavement nearly drowned out the various aggressive roars of the GAE troopers as they stormed the front, taking the enemy head on with their bayonets forming a wall of spikes and a fighting spirit that seemed to burn like a wildfire. The Nephilim, seeing this valiant, yet seemingly futile charge themselves, did not falter and met their cries of challenge with their own, confident in their might and overwhelming numbers. Shots continued to ring out from both sides as the distance between them continued to shrink with every step they took and shouts ceased as both prepared to meet one on one.

And then, both the armies of Earth and the Moon, like waves from different currents, clashed.

Slamming into one another, steel met iron in a series of bloody engagements and many fighters on both sides fell in the first few moments. Even though the evil spirits from Babyloth were far larger than their Earthling counterparts, they found that they were quite hard to kill as they were rather nimble for their clumsy spears and their armor proved somewhat effective against physical strikes, allowing hundreds of NEA troops to merely slip by while stabbing at the Nephilim's exposed thighs. As the skirmish dissolved into a hectic mess of brutal close quarter fights, spears and guns jabbed and parried one another, some breaking under a lot of stress, and it wasn't uncommon to see giants tackled to the ground as both humans and bizarro's pummeled them to death while others ended their opponents in a number of morbid ways.

As the streets ran thick with the blood of the dead and dying, Moon Lance, much to their namesake, drove themselves into the army of lunar spirits, carving a bloody path through their numbers.

With Gumball taking the lead, he found his target, a hulking Guardsman with a thick set of brown antlers, tattoos that ran along his fingers and a head full of curly red hair, glaring down at him with black eyes as he thrusted his Doom spear straight at the small feline. With extraordinary speed and strength, Gumball quickly caught the spear within the crook of his scythe's blade before slamming into the concrete, burying the spear tip into the ground. With his weapon incapacitated, the Guardsman stood no chance as the blue cat spiralled upwards and took off his head with a single precise swing, causing the body to crumple as blood spurted out from the neck stump.

With one down, more came to replace him and Gumball, still airborne, decided to help give his team a bit more elbow room.

Charging up his scythe up at one hundred percent, the crescent blade was engulfed in silver flames as a wellspring of power coursed through him and he raised the weapon upwards as several Nephilim soldiers charged with their spears aiming for his heart,

"Moonfire…" He started, grinning at the incoming giants as a mischievous glint showed itself within his eyes,

"SLAAASH!" He roared, swinging the blade downwards.

Leaping from the scythe's deadly edge, a thirty foot tall crescent arc of wild, uncontrollable silver flames shot through the legion with ease, vaporizing hundreds and wounding many more as the raging inferno tore its way through the terrified armed mob. Not even the Knights were safe from Gumball's wrath, as one of them, a white cephalopod with a triangular body, surrounded by four tentacles wielding blue plasma blades at its tips, ten blue eyes vertically aligned on its face and standing at two stories in height, was ripped in two by the deadly crescent of burning energy. Never before had the Nephilim witnessed such destruction in their own midst, as a wide pathway consisting of melted asphalt and charred bodies ripped through the frightened mass as many who had been wounded filled the air with their screams of agony, their bodies burned beyond recognition as some were even fused with their armor by the intense heat.

Landing on his feet, Gumball swung his scythe around until he was holding it at the front again and admired his handiwork as the Nephilim were left scrambling about in a state of panic and confusion, some even throwing down their weapons to try and desert the army altogether.

From the GAE, thousands of soldiers erupted into a chorus of triumphant cheers as many began to shout out their praise and astonishment towards Gumball's spectacular display of force,

"Holy shit, what was that?" One cried out in surprise.

"Is that a soul warrior?" Questioned another.

"It's Kassius, the reaper knight!" A female soldier with a British accent called out in recognition.

"No way in Tartarus are we going to lose!" Shouted another.

"Come on, men! Let's tear these guys a new one!" Sergeant Brickshire shouted from the forefront after seeing everyone around him becoming rife with courage.

With morale skyrocketing, the soldiers of Earth pressed forward, fighting harder than ever and no longer seeing any reason to fear their enemies, slaughtering hundreds of Nephilim under their crushing charge. To make matters worse for the invaders, dozens of armored vehicles began arriving with .50 cal turrets blazing away at the enemy forces while mortar teams and rocket launchers set themselves up in secure positions, raining heavy ordnance down upon the attackers, punching holes into their vast numbers. With two more Knights falling under the heavy firepower, Crystalla roared in anger and quickly covered her entire upper body in a shell of thick crystalline armor as she fired a rapid stream of crystal shards at the incoming vehicles.

"Guardsmen! Stand your ground! Do not let these despicable creatures and their puny devices deter you! Use metamorphosis and kill any who stand in your way!" She shouted as several molten lava rounds and icy comet spells fired from the rocket launchers collided with her armor, but failed to punch through the hardened layer of rock.

At the three legged titan's commands, a new wave of terror met the NEA forces as hundreds of Nephilim foot soldiers glowed like stars and emerged as terrifying beasts, the likes of which were too numerous and terrifying to behold. Despite the diverse set of forms and skills both humans and bizarros possessed, the Nephilim were able to match this with their vast array of deadly transformations and the powers that came with them. In a matter of moments, both sides became locked in a difficult struggle as flying Nephilim took the skies and were met with flying members of the GAE, whether they be Avian, Insectoid, or just people with powers that enabled flight, while the ground was transformed into a hellish brawling pit as soldiers from both sides were continuously ripped to shreds.

As Crystalla watched the bloodshed continue to unfold, she knew it would be a matter of time before the NEA's forces were simply overwhelmed by their superior numbers and began to search for the one from earlier whose silver flames had devastated her army.

Using his grey fire, Gumball continued to lead the charge, ravaging the enemy like a raging inferno while Teri and Abu followed close behind, picking off anyone closing in from the sides. The Nephilim, enraged at the sight of the soul warrior and other NEA soldiers, fought back ferociously, their numbers seemingly endless and for every single one they killed, many more would just take their place. It looked as though they were in for a long, bumpy ride and Gumball wondered if he would have any energy left once they finished wiping these guys out.

"Give it to them, soldiers!" Abu shouted encouragingly, thrusting his bayonet into a Guardsman thigh and tossing a few coins at three others closing in, fashioning themselves into throwing stars that cut into their necks, leaving the antlered entities to collapse as their jugulars spewed white blood.

As a dragon-like humanoid covered in deadly spikes came spinning towards them, Teri raised another shield and knocked the enormous entity back, causing the reptilian giant to land on its back,

"RRAAUUUGH!" Teri screamed as she formed another water trident and stabbed it into the Nephilim's belly, forcing the monster to screech as the icy tips ruptured its internals.

Facing another transformed Guardsman who took the form of a spinning wheel with two cyclopean archers sticking on either end that fired poisoned arrows his way, Gumball did his best to deflect the arrows, catching many of the deadly projectiles within his swinging arc, but several got through and broke his aura armor. As one sailed towards his unprotected heart, Gumball raised an arm and caught the arrow, a web of purple glowing veins covering its surface that prevented the poisoned tip from piercing his skin. Feeling another surge of power racing through him, the blue cat gritted his teeth and raced towards the twin archers, who did their best to slow down his advance, but found that the tiny feline would vanish before their arrows struck.

Pulling out his shotgun before jumping, Gumball spun through the air, yelling in rage as he sliced through the first cyclops's neck and pointing the gun at the other, shooting him at point blank range.

Landing behind the headless wheeled moon spirit as it burst into flames, Gumball felt his armor grow lighter and his frustration grew once he realized his protection was gone. Now he was going to have to rely solely on his skills and allies to keep him safe, not that he wasn't used to that. As more soldiers shot towards him with spears ready to run him through, Teri and Abu appeared next to him to help fend them off, but a voice from above caught their attention.

"This is the end, soul warrior!" Shouted Crystalla, who made her way towards them.

Seeing her so close now, the members of Moon Lance squad were stunned at how big she was, her hand-feet being large enough to crush two pickup trucks lined end to end while her three long legs stretched upwards like super-sized pylons and the crystals that encased her upper body was like a glimmering, indestructible shell, shrugging off all manner of projectiles hurled at her by the ants. With her sights zeroed in on her insignificant prey, she raised a rocky arm and from it, sprouted dozens of sharp spines. Tossing his gun aside, Captain Ghadafi placed himself in between his comrades and Crystalla while touching his hand to his heart, whispering another spell as the golden threads covering his vitals began to snake themselves down his arms like a million veins.

"Stay behind me you two!" He instructed as a rounded shield inscribed with a peacock, the national bird of his people, formed itself around his hands with the bird's tail feathers making up the edges and was held up in preparation for the inevitable storm.

And then came the stream of crystal shards, hundreds of shimmering purple lances the length of a single Guardsman slamming into the shield and shattering into a million fragments on impact. The stress of a thousand rounds being shot faster than bullets from a rifle took an immediate toll on the Persian alchemist, pushing him back as the golden slab of metal continued to take a pounding and Ghadafi felt his arms burn from having to push back so hard against the continuous onslaught, yet he still held out. Watching with awe, Teri and Gumball wouldn't stand by as their captain continued to shield them from the relentless assault and pushed themselves against Abu's back, keeping him steady.

After fifteen thousands rounds were discharged with no effect, Crystalla aborted the attack and tried for a more direct method when dealing with the pests.

Raising her colossal foot upwards, the crystalline monstrosity hovered over the three cowering soldiers and brought it straight down onto them, ignoring the fact that several of her own soldiers were about to be crushed too, their lives meaning nothing to her. With their doom fast approaching, Abu lowered his shield, his eyes wide with alarm and his voice caught in his throat, leaving him unable to do anything to help his squad survive. Looking around for a solution, Teri realized there was nowhere for them to run and she wouldn't be able to produce a barrier quick enough to protect them from being splattered like bugs against the pavement (she might survive, being flat and all), though even if she could, she wasn't sure if it would be enough to hold back all the weight brought onto to them by the titanic tripod.

With only seconds until impact, Gumball came up with a plan on the spot and called out to his comrades,

"GET DOWN!" He shrieked as he raised his hands upwards, holding his scythe in between them.

On his orders, the monochromatic duo dropped down into the wet, dirty floor, making Teri nearly gag from the thought of all the mud and blood she was lying in, and Gumball forced as much energy into body as he could while the ceiling that was the Nephilim's foot came crashing down on him. All around them, the surrounding sound was cut out and darkness was all consuming, as if a thick, heavy cloak had been dropped while dozens of unlucky Nephilim soldiers were instantly killed. Now while Gumball had his fair share of near-death experiences, some of which involved crushing, nothing really prepared him for the sheer force he met when Crystalla's foot came in contact with his arms and the blue feline's knees buckled under the weight.

"Nnnngh!" Gumball grunted through clenched teeth as the weight of a eleven story building pressed his arms into noodles of burning iron and pushed his tiny form into a squatting position.

Never before had his body been put through so much pain as each passing second placed decades of post-workout muscle burns within every square inch of his being while his bones rattled and creaked, his mind reducing itself into a single track narrowly focused on one task: preventing this ungodly mass from crushing him completely. Surprisingly, the herculean strength his weapon provided pushed back with enough force to cancel out the weight of the murderous giantess's foot and after feeling the immense heat emanating from Crystalla's mottled purple-black skin above them, Teri and Abu looked up to see their smallest member crouching in the dark, his legs and arms trembling beneath the stress.

"That's… incredible!" Teri wondered with surprise, her eyes wide with amazement and her jaw dropping in accordance to seeing her boyfriend pull off such an incredulous feat hither to unlike anything seen before.

Abu was in the same park as her, though a sense of pride was swelling up from within as he could see the fruits of his training were showing and as a former instructor at the University of Baghdad, nothing could've made the middle-aged jungle cat happier than seeing his pupils succeeding.

Straining to repulse the Nephilim, Gumball could feel the immense power above him pressing down harder and he knew that he needed to make a move, fast,

"Teri… shield… NOW!" He grunted, his face now red and bulging with veins as sweat poured down his forehead, stinging his eyes.

Realizing what was about to go down, Teri scrambled to Abu's side and wrapped both of them in a protective sphere of magic while a jet of grey fire shot from Gumball's scythe. Yelling as loud as his lungs would allow, the young scythe wielder pushed with all his might and unleashed another wide-spread arc of fire upwards into Crystalla's foot. Like a hot knife through butter, the amplified spiritual energy sliced through her foot, cutting the hand-like appendage in two and liberating the three from their living prison.

Down a foot, Crystalla lost her balance and the legion's colossal commander stumbled backwards before falling backwards into the street with a thunderous crash. As such a mighty creature, the dark-haired spirit's immense size proved to be quite hazardous to those around her as three Republic Knights and hundreds of Guardsmen were caught in the path of her fall, compressing all of them like a monstrous hydraulic press. With such devastation wrought on the Nephilim army and seeing the soul warrior responsible for downing another powerful member within their ranks, morale dropped to unbearable levels among Babyloth's forces, causing several to drop their weapons while fleeing in fright.

In the wake of Crystalla's disgraceful stumble, her armor cracked and shattered in various areas all over her body, but the majority remained intact. Groaning in embarrassment, the three-legged entity glanced about in confusion and tried to right herself shortly afterwards. She was damaged, dishonored and utterly humiliated after being forced back by such an insignificant creature, causing the proud general to grind her teeth in rage as her eyebrows furrowed beneath her mask.

"That little cretin! I'll kill him!" She vowed, pushing herself up into a sitting position with the support of her elbows, debris and corpses raining down from her backside.

As the members of the 112th continued to route the fleeing soldiers, Mason downed one Nephilim after another with a series of well-placed rapid jabs and lethal blows from his concussive gauntlets, crumpling any giant that dared to face him. He was really getting into the thick of the fight as the brick man had already lost count of how many soldiers he single-handedly brought down, probably around seventy, and only paused to catch his breath or eject his knuckle pods once the runes engraved on them were used up. As a beast with the head of a tiger and a serpentine-humanoid body covered in orange scales and black stripes lunged at him with claws capable of slicing solid objects down to the molecular level, the hefty sarge moved in fast, ducking underneath the monster's swipe before delivering an uppercut that completely obliterated the beast's head with powerful shockwaves.

Kicking the body over, the blue eyed brawler laughed a hardy laugh and gave his cap a little adjustment with his finger on the brim,

"Hah! Superior race my ass! Look at them run!" He chortled, turning to see Captain Alphonse and the remaining members of Lancelot squad taking on a Guardsman that was giving them trouble.

The enemy combatant in question, was a levitating sphere made from black polished glass, divided into two hemispheres where a number of glowing red strands originated from and at the tips of these wiggling attachments was a sharp barb used to pierce the bodies of nearby GAE troopers. For those unfortunate enough to have been pierced by these barbs, their bodies were no longer under their control and the captured soldiers acted as mere puppets under the Nephilim's will. Covered in glowing red veins, these living marionettes attacked their fellow soldiers and half of Lancelot squad had already fallen to this monster.

Barking at his troops to keep their distance, the alligator-dragon hybrid was wary of attacking his own soldiers, but the Nephilim had already wiped out half of his squad and he needed to take action,

"Damn it!" He cried out regretfully, dodging a zombified soldier's attempt to skewer him with a bayonet.

After all attempts to shoot it down were met with failure and the number of beings under its control continued to increase, Eren made his final move to finish it off. Taking to the skies with the aid of his leathery wings, the flying reptile hovered just above the demented puppeteer and sucked in a huge breath. From his flat, pointed snout, he belched out a stream of blue fire, dragon's fire, one that his other half granted him and as the Nephilim was engulfed with cyan flames, the floating sphere's glossy hide was melted down into oblivion as well as the soldiers it held prisoner.

Once all that remained were ashes, a downtrodden Eren landed with the rest of his team and the five remaining riflemen were wrought with remorse as they observed the blackened scorch marks with grief.

Feeling their pain, Mason turned away and focused on the battle itself. The legion was in complete disarray, as fleeing Nephilim soldiers were being met with superior officers and numerous bloody clashes ensued between the groups, resulting in many Guardsmen getting gunned down by their own kind. There were still quite a few fighting back against the NEA and the Knights that remained continued to cause trouble for the support vehicles that rolled across the field of corpses. Looking back at his own men, the rocky sarge couldn't say for certain what their losses were, but given the sparse number of active units running about, he could estimate at least a thousand were lost in the initial skirmish.

Not good odds when considering there were still thousands of enemy combatants in front of them, but they still had a shot at turning this battle around if they could get those barriers back up.

As he pressed on with the attack, a familiar sound was heard over the storm and Sergeant Brickshire needed to give himself a moment to listen carefully as his attention was turned to the sky. It was hard to make out with the weather being rather uncooperative, but as the noise became more apparent, hope rose within the brickman as he recognized the chopping sound of helicopter rotors and soon could make out a whole squadron of attack helicopters descending on the war-torn intersection. Housing two riders within a bubble cockpit, one pilot and a door gunner, the MH-6 "Little Birds" were impressive little aerial machines, sporting a pair of fixed machine guns and rocket pods containing unguided munitions hanging from their small, stubby wings.

With such an impressive armament for such fragile-looking craft, the pilots swung themselves into position and unleashed their deadly payloads onto the enemy forces.

Machine-guns blazing to life and rockets screaming from their housing, the smaller giants were ripped asunder as they fell to the deadly rounds while their larger units faced the Neptune Stallion rune missiles and were washed away when the deadly spells activated, transforming into a raging watery rapid in the shape of galloping horses. The arrival of the airborne cavalry spelled disaster for the ground-based Nephilim as scores of them were trampled underfoot by the crashing waves and not even the Knights were capable of withstanding such unrelenting force. With their shock troops now completely vanquished, save for Crystalla, the Nephilim were at the mercy of the Earthling's combined armored and aerial supports as commanding officers desperately tried to rally their scattering forces.

Several of them took to the skies in an attempt to bring down the aircraft of Echo squadron, but their door gunners began to pick them off and many more flying NEA combatants took off to assist them, filling the air with bodies that dropped like stones upon death.

Things weren't going so well for Crystalla either as Moon Lance was charging up one of her legs, with Abu literally carrying the team on his back as the two kids from Elmore had mounted him like a horse and were making steady progress up towards their target, the cold from the falling rain drops biting into them with bitterness. However, their crystalline enemy wasn't quite so keen on letting them get any closer and the three found themselves weaving in between bursts of flying shards while also holding off incoming infantry as they clambered aboard in an attempt to intercept them. Should any of these ten-foot spear wielding proud soldiers of the Republic fail to stop them or get knocked aside, Crystalla would impale the failing soldiers with a crystal to absorb their energy while providing a morbid incentive for the others to try harder.

As spear was hurled at his face, Abu used his newly formed shield gauntlets to deflect the incoming weapon while several Doom Blasts were blocked by another shield, courtesy of their talented ink user, and any antlered creature that got too close was either blown away by Gumball's shotgun or cut down with a single slash from his scythe,

"You got that sendoff package ready, Pepakuma?" The Persian feline barked as he snapped a spear from a charging Guardsman's grasp, deflected three incoming shards and stuck the heavy weapon into another one's knee, causing her to fall off the ledge, screaming as she vanished into the darkness.

Inserting a paper shuriken inscribed with a vortex rune into the launcher's loading mechanism, Teri snapped back the drawstring and nodded,

"Armed and ready, captain!" She replied, her drawn on expression serious.

Nodding back in acknowledgement, the panthrotaur's four legs picked up speed and they started to near the Nephilim's mid-section, encountering more threats along the way,

"Aim for her middle! Just one of those should be enough to get the job done and once she's taken care of, mopping up the rest should be easy!" He proclaimed.

"Provided we don't get overrun first." Gumball shot back with a bit of cynicism, not liking their odds when facing the oncoming horde of silver armor and glistening spears that were pointed at them, like claws of a ferocious beast awaiting its prey.

Counting at least fifty giants between them and their target, the panther bizarro found himself begrudgingly agreeing with his snippy passenger,

"For sure. Alright, Watterson, on my mark, grab Pepakuma and leap as high as you can over them. I'll keep them occupied while you two focus on destroying Crystalla. You got that, private?" He said, casting a curious glance back at him.

Both he and Teri's eyes widened with shock as they shared the same gaping expression and together shouted in disbelief,

"WHAT?!"

As the Nephilim captain rallied his troops with a waving hand and pointed a curved sword towards the incoming NEA soldiers, one of the grey giants sprung up in the air before transforming into a worm comprised of spherical segments colored obsidian with a red stripe running down its dorsal side, a single yellow eye set in between a pair of snapping mandibles regarded the three with hunger as it snaked its way towards them with its comrades following close behind,

"Welp, that's your cue." Abu remarked nonchalantly before bucking the two off his panther hind quarters,

"Have fun kids!" He shouted as he waved the two screaming middle-schooler's good-bye.

Flying through the air at high speed, both Teri and Gumball sailed like cannon balls over the advancing horde, some of whom tried to bring them down with red lances of energy, but the odd couple remained unharmed and landed behind the group. To say it was graceful wouldn't be honest, as Gumball face-planted, hard, and Teri followed close behind by landing on top of him, unintentionally using his body as a cushion for her rear. For the most part, it was a pretty terrible flight and both were shaken by the tumultuous experience.

Slapping her own face and shaking her head, the feeble hypochondriac was brought back to her senses,

"The nerve of that guy!" Teri grumbled, turning back to see only the horde of ten-foot-tall bruisers hustling around what had to be their squad captain, as bodies were flying left and right, some with sharp coins sticking out of their necks, and the various sounds that erupted from the brawl mostly belonged to him,

"Wow." She gasped, staring in momentary shock before looking around for the other vicious cat she came with,

"Gumball?" She called out, unsure of where he went.

"Don't mind me, take all the time you need. Not like I mind being your chair or anything." Gumball groaned after lifting his head up, his vision spinning like a top and his stomach doing flip-flops.

Looking down and seeing that she had somehow wound up sitting on her lover, Teri's face went red for a moment as she quickly hopped off, making a little squeaking sound as she did so,

"S-sorry! I didn't see you down there!" She apologized, waving her hands frantically in front of her, feeling completely flustered.

Pushing himself up off the ground, Gumball shook himself off and turned to see that his girlfriend was okay, though what she said caused him to choke back a snicker,

"I'm above that joke. I'm above that joke. I'm above that joke." He reminded himself while covering his mouth, his eyes starting to water, not wanting to risk her wrath by saying something he would come to regret.

However, Teri did catch on and shot him a stern look, as she leaned forward with her hands on her hips,

"I know what you're thinking, dork, and if you so much as say anything, I'll have you know that I know where you sleep." She warned, not impressed with her shorter companion.

Still snickering, the mischievous kitten tried to play it off and shook his head while waving his paw about dismissively,

"But I didn't say anyth-!"

THUNK!

Barely missing the two, a large crystal shard bounced off the ground in between the bickering kids and the two were brought to face the threat that was literally looming over their heads. Still sitting up, Crystalla's shielded, shadowy visage leered down at the two, the mask's smooth, angular surface pouring streams of rainwater, bullets and missiles colliding like cherry bombs against its solid surface and below that hardened exterior, a sneer was forming on her lips. She had the soul warrior and his paper wench in her sights, with no support to rely on.

She could end them right there.

"It's over Kassius! The legendary reaper knight dies here!" She proclaimed, her harsh voice booming over all the gunshots and explosions.

Raising an eyebrow, Gumball was confused and wondered who she was talking to,

"Kassius? Reaper knight? Is she talking about me?" His inner voice questioned as he reached up under his helmet and scratched his head.

Meanwhile, Teri was also quite pensive and she could've sworn that she heard that name before,

"I know it was from a long time ago, but I think I heard about him once… I think it was from an old English tale." The young paper doll wondered, her attention being brought to the very scythe resting in her classmate's paw.

During this brief interjection, Crystalla brought her head back and after seeing that most of her forces were already retreating in wake of the NEA's reinforcements, the tripod scowled at their cowardice,

"Running away so soon, my comrades?" She snapped, reaching her hand out and from it, a purple glow resonated,

"I don't think so! Your commander needs you!" She beckoned.

The spell emanating across her fingertips grew into an all encompassing radiance that washed over the entire Nephilim army and the cacophony of a thousand screams was deafening to everyone present. On the ground, Sergeant Brickshire stood and watched in abstract horror as every single Guardsman caught within the spell's range was converted into crystal structures, glowing purple spines of rock jutting out from their bodies, bringing about endless pain for the poor souls as the conversion overtook them. Soon, the boulevard was a mass grave for the Republic Guard and the eight thousand humanoid sculptures that stood in their place acted as tombstones, a gruesome mark of their betrayal.

Brimming with magic energy equivalent to an entire legion of souls, Crystalla's shell shattered as a bright light illuminated the surrounding area, basking all those who stood in awe of the Nephilim's glory and with eyes now uncovered, she glared at the impure souls covering the landscape with their filth.

In a final call of judgement, she raised her arms and called out to the heavens, the name of her final attack,

"Lacrima Quasar!"

From the core of her being, the blinding rays that shot outwards formed themselves into sharpened spines that expanded themselves outwards before fully encompassing her body in a spiky orb that glittered like a thousand diamonds and a humming sound could be heard getting louder every second. In the final moments, the shining star burst to life and from this enchanting spectacle, columns of larger crystals shot outwards, snaking their way towards the unprepared brigade before smashing into them at high velocity. No one was prepared for the amount of destruction she would bring, as entire squads and platoons were swallowed up in the splashing waves of amethyst before hardening indefinitely.

Nothing, not buildings, trees, people or even helicopters were spared as the twisting pillars attacked without discrimination and another wave of terror was brought about the fleeing GAE troopers in the form of a shower of sharpened spines that flung themselves from the central core.

The only man to stand his ground was Mason, knowing full well that this was the end, he blindly punched and smacked every projectile he could out of the air with his enhanced gauntlets, not caring in the slightest at how his brick-laden body was being chipped away by the merciless hail of rock,

"RRRGH! Do your worst, bi-!" His voice cut out after a spike smashed its way through his head, obliterating it completely and he silently fell.

As Crystalla brought about her apocalypse, Teri and Gumball were caught up at the forefront of the storm, facing this blinding entity on their own and braving the onslaught with their bodies. With nothing he could do except stand in front of his companion and defend her with everything he had, Gumball swiped and swung at every single incoming projectile, but he couldn't see anything coming towards him. One by one, the large spikes struck, but instead of running him through, the second rune on his blade kept him safe, working overtime to fill his body with enough magic to block the incoming projectiles.

"Teri!" He shouted over the howling rounds that shattered against him, already feeling significant pain start to course through him with each impact.

He wasn't going to last long if he overused this spell.

Hearing his voice, Teri ducked down and reached out to him, grasping his shoulder,

"Gumball!" She responded, pulling herself against his back, clutching him tightly as continued to shout over the hellish nightmare happening all around them,

"Get us as close as you can! I can still destroy her!" She ordered, shuddering as she felt several crystal shards colliding with her boyfriend and hearing a pained grunt that soon followed, leaving her feeling worried.

Happy to know that she was there with him, Gumball nodded and placed himself within a sprinting position, ready to propel both of them towards the deadly crystal star,

"What if you miss?" He questioned critically, worried that such a course of action would doom them.

"I won't!" Teri replied with confidence, hopping onto his back and readying her launcher.

Having faith in his girlfriend's promise, Gumball swallowed hard and the tiny kitten gave her hand one gentle squeeze before launching himself forward, carrying them both through the storm. As massive columns of energy and cascades of high velocity rounds passed them by, the two sailed like a bullet towards the all-powerful Nephilim, the number of earlier impacts granting Gumball power unlike anything he wielded before. Despite the fear he felt as he blindly shot forward, taking hit after devastating hit, he felt invincible and a sense of glee could also be felt within his being. Teri on the other hand, needed to hold on with everything she had in order to prevent herself from being flung off into the unknown and felt their increasing velocity tear at her, causing her cap to go flying.

As they neared the death-dealing crystal star, the paper doll carefully did some calculations within her head prior to their jump and after counting down the seconds within her head, took aim before firing a single shuriken off to the side.

In a single instant, they cleared the giantess's mid-section and a powerful singularity formed from the flying paper projectile. Like a collapsing star, the Lacrima Quasar was subjected to the indomitable force of gravity, pulling apart the entire structure atom by atom and subjecting a significant portion of the Nephilim's body to oblivion. The screeching winds and sound of matter being annihilated was hell on their ears, feeling the pull of gravity even start to drag them backwards.

However, as quickly as it came, it vanished and all that remained were two separate halves of a once-powerful entity, whose crystal shell shattered into a million fragments while her light faded. As her body fell, the dark-haired Nephilim looked up at those darkened clouds and just wondered to herself the absurdity of being defeated so swiftly in such an extraordinary state. In the end, the mighty Knight was glad death came, for nothing could atone for her failure here and crashing down into the streets below, her sprawling arms crushing dozens of nearby houses, her colossal form burned away before dissolving with the rain.

Having narrowly survived being crushed by her falling corpse, both Teri and Gumball stood where they landed, eyes wide with shock and jaws dropping in astonishment. Neither of them could believe that they just did that and waves of emotions washed over the two, but not one of them dared to speak. For Teri though, a sense of pride was welling up from within and the feeble hypochondriac from Elmore saw this moment as a major triumph, something she wanted to jump up and down for in celebration, but all she could do was smile with delight as the remains of Crystalla dissolved away.

However, as time slowly passed on by, the effects of Gumball's defensive spell finally overtook him and the tiny cat boy hunched over as pain ravaged his body, coughing violently at the ground as he clutched his stomach.

Seeing the sorry state he was in, Teri regarded her partner with alarm and with a cry, she crouched down beside him to get a better look,

"Gumball! Gumball! What's happening? Are you hurt? Let me see your face!" She demanded, her airy voice raising a couple decibels as her eyes lit up with concern.

Using her hand to tilt his chin up, the paper bear got her first good look at the kitty and found that his nose was bleeding profusely while his eyes appeared dull and lifeless, his body trembling as another groan slipped past his lips. The rain seemed to pick up speed and was pouring buckets onto the two children, leaving them completely drenched and shivering from the cold. Looking back towards the brigade, Teri knew she was going to need to get him back and seek out medical attention, feeling terrible for what he was probably going through.

"He always puts himself in harm's way for me. I wish I wasn't so frail, I could save him a lot of trouble and also keep him safe as well." She thought bitterly to herself, though she was also grateful to have someone who cared so much for her and was always looking out for her.

Repaying the favor for carrying her, the pale schoolgirl placed his arm around her shoulder and allowed for him to lean on her as she started to haul him back to the devastated frontlines. She honestly wanted to leave right now, but with this terrible weather plaguing the city, there was no way they would make it far and the tired couple had no choice, but to limp back to the others. Looking around to see the amount of destruction the battle had caused, she could only wonder how many people survived and if any of their squadmates were still out there. Candi was probably safe and maybe Ghadafi got away too?

How were they going to survive more of this?

As Teri pondered this within her own mind space, Gumball's head suddenly snapped upwards, his eyes lighting up with fright and for the first since Crystalla's death, spoke up,

"Something's coming!" He exclaimed with urgency.

Turning her head and studying his expression, Teri saw that him searching the skies as though trying to spot something, which only further confused the skeptical paper girl,

"What? Do mean like reinforcements or another-!" She questioned with great intrigue.

Teri's questions were soon answered once a yellow bubble suddenly manifested itself around them and the surprised couple were lifted up in the air by an unseen force. Moments later, a large shape soundlessly dropped out of the sky: sixty feet long, shaped like a tear-drop, body covered in white, segmented armor and forked bow housing a gaping maw surrounded by sharp teeth, it was one of Abaddon's Locusts. Terrified beyond measure, the two tried to escape, but all attempts at doing so were met with futility and the sphere containing them was pulled into the beast's mouth, where it swallowed them whole.

Then, spinning about in complete defiance to gravity, the Locust sped off and disappeared into the stormy cloud cover.

-Watterson residence, Elmore, 6:47 AM-

"Mmm-hmm… okay… thank you, that means so much to me... Okay, I love you, mom. Okay, bye." Nicole said into the phone before politely hanging up on her mom.

Sighing, the older cat woman tossed the phone onto the couch and flopped down onto the cozy cushions. Allowing her tense muscles to relax themselves, Nicole hadn't slept a wink last night thanks to the long conversation she had with her mother, but her exhaustion extended far beyond that as she had been worried sick all month. Both her sons were still missing and words could not even begin to describe how dearly she missed them, people were still asking questions about their absence, she was still out of a job, planning the trip to Tibet was very stressful (Though Yuki was kind enough to cover some of the expenses as a kind of compensation for losing her job and because she wanted to do everything she could to help out a friend), and if all that wasn't already weighing down heavily on her psyche, today was the day of the rescue operation Grendella was planning on carrying out. The idea of her baby being caught up in a warzone was an unimaginably horrifying thing to think of and she prayed to every god out there that the little troll and Rob were capable of bringing him back.

She'd been getting calls from the Pepakumas and they too were worried beyond belief for their daughter.

Nothing seemed peaceful around here, even with all the free time she had now and the absence of Elmore's two most notorious troublemakers, even Anais was acting rather suspicious, though Nicole could chalk that up as possible grief for losing her older siblings. Unsurprisingly, the middle aged woman found herself wishing from time to time that things were back to what they once were, no secrets, no lies, no invisible threats lurking around the corner; just to have all this somehow erased and forgotten. Nicole knew there was no point in wishing for such things and the reality they lived in has been happening everywhere else for over five years now.

Still, it brought her some solace.

DING-DONG!

The sharp ringing of the door bell snapped the blue cat out of her worrisome thoughts as she sat up quickly and peaked out the living room window. Unable to make out the silhouette standing on their porch, Nicole grumbled to herself as she got up and made her way towards the door. She didn't feel like greeting anyone today, her fur was a matted mess, the bags under her eyes were noticeable along with the dark circles beneath them and all this combined with her slumped posture made her look half-dead.

Still, she put on a mildly polite expression and answered the door,

"Good morning, sir. Sorry we're not accepting-!" She paused mid-sentence as she eyed the individual standing within her doorway.

He was a tall, young wolf sporting a red bandana, a loose-fitting vest that barely concealed his muscular frame, simple trousers and leather sandals. Most curiously, his arms were covered in several strange black markings that Nicole couldn't tell if they were tattoos or natural markings on his grey fur. On his back, he carried what appeared to be a stave made from solid metal and that too was covered in mysterious symbols, the likes of which Nicole had only seen in fantasy books.

His bright blue eyes were friendly and he greeted her with a charming smile,

"Need a Hiro?" He asked, raising his arms and flexing his biceps in a showy manner.

Blinking a few times and staring at the wolf blankly, Nicole cocked her head to the side a little,

"Huh?" she replied, completely flabbergasted.

Instead of giving her an answer, the stranger pulled out an Ipod from his pocket and selected a song before hitting the "play" button. From the device's speakers, "I need a hero." by Bonnie Tyler began to play and the wolf started to break dance on her front porch. His moves were fluid and concise, flowing well into the beat of the song as it played.

I need a hero,

I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night,

He's gotta be strong, and he's gotta be fast,

And he's gotta be fresh from the fight,

I need a hero,

I'm holding out for a hero 'til the morning light,

He's gotta be sure, and it's gotta be soon,

And he's gotta be larger than life.

Larger than life!

Finishing the song by spinning on his head and windmilling with his legs, the wolf hopped up with jazz hands spread, panting heavily,

"I swear I don't usually get that winded when I do that, but I was so worried that I was going to fail somehow." He wheezed, putting on a nervous smile.

Seeing such a strange, yet stunning performance put on by a complete stranger left Nicole at a momentary loss of words and she couldn't tell if she should applaud or start asking questions or just simply shut the door, go to bed and hope this was some kind of dream.

Aiming for the second option, the blue cat woman folded her arms across her chest and wore a serious expression, her tail waving about behind her,

"Um, pardon me, but who are you exactly?" She questioned politely, though her tone and face didn't look particularly cheerful.

Not looking the least bit offended, the newcomer placed his hands behind his back and bowed his head in a respectful manner,

"I am Hiro Moonson. I've traveled all the way from Tibet on behalf of Shifu Yoshida and am here to train your son, Gumball Watterson." He answered in a nice fashion before lifting his head and looking the older woman in the eyes,

"You are Nicole Watterson, yes?" He asked, hoping he didn't just embarrass himself in front of a person whom he had no business with.

In less than a moment of pondering, Nicole's face went from stern to surprised and the ex-Rainbow Factory employee was struck with a bout of excitement as she stood up straight,

"Oh! You're the one sensei sent!" She exclaimed with rejoice, taking his hand and giving it a firm shake,

"Yes, I'm Nicole, welcome to Elmore, Mr. Moonson! Please, come on in, make yourself at home and I'll make you some tea." She greeted him enthusiastically and with a welcoming presence.

Mentally breathing a breath of relief, Hiro returned the friendly handshake (surprised at just how firm it was for such a petite woman.) and nodded towards her with a bright grin,

"I appreciate it, Mrs. Watterson, but you can just call me Hiro, if you prefer, and I gotta say, you're the most friendly person I've met so far on this trip. The TSA guys at the airport leave much to be desired and I was worried they were suspicious of me because I'm a wolf." He stated, remaining somewhat bitter about the way the airport security gave him a hard time after landing and then having to locate his misplaced luggage afterwards, a process of which took him two hours to accomplish.

Responding with a lighthearted, chuckle Nicole showed him inside and carried in his luggage. Once inside the living room, Hiro was very impressed at just how tidy everything was and admired how cozy the whole setup looked, he even marveled at how the dining room was right next to the main room with no walls to separate the two. With his sharp nose, Hiro was able to pick up all kinds of scents and most of them were quite sensational, causing his bushy tail to wag back and forth as he continued to take it all in.

"I gotta admit, she really knows how to tidy up around here." He thought to himself in appreciation as he counted the chairs in the dining room and saw that there were five, making for quite a moderately sized family.

He had his own hotel room booked for the entire duration of his stay, but he had to admit nothing beat living in a nice place like this, a commodity he so rarely got to enjoy as a cub, but he had people to take care of him back then. Parking his rear on the couch, Hiro settled himself in and waited patiently for Nicole to finish making the tea. Spotting a few family photos on the wall, the weary traveler figured that the large pink bunny was Nicole's husband and the three smaller figures, two of which were probably their children given their near identical appearances with their parents, but wasn't so sure about the fish with legs. A friend, perhaps, or an adopted child?

They all looked so happy in the photo and something told the wolf that these folk were quite the rascals, of which he found amusing.

He hadn't seen anyone else around though and he wondered what Gumball was like, which he assumed was young male cat in the photo,

"Alright, tea's ready, but I'm afraid all we have is Lemon, so you'll have to forgive me if it's too bitter." Nicole said as she entered the room with a tray in her paws.

Handing one steaming mug over to the martial arts expert, he nodded again in appreciation and smiled warmly at her,

"Thank you, Mrs. Watterson, it's fine and you have a lovely home too." He replied.

Returning the smile, the tidy feline sat herself down in a chair and set the tray aside before taking a sip from the hot mug,

"Thanks. I've had a lot of free time and it's been rather... quiet around here." She grimaced, not just at the bitterness of the tea, but at the pain she felt and the sorrow she held deep within,

"So how's sensei doing?" She asked, changing the subject in order to avoid thinking about her own issues.

Taking a long sip from his cup, the liquid warmed his innards and left a pleasant sensation within his mouth that he savored whilst thinking about the question asked of him,

"Hmm? Oh, shifu! He's doing great. He's been living in Tibet for some three years now, says he wants to learn more and try to reach enlightenment, but if we're being honest, he falls asleep most of the time he's meditating. He hasn't taken on many students either." He explained with a chuckle, also remembering that Sanda was from Japan and that most of his students address him as "sensei" and not "shifu", like he did.

He lived most of his life in China as an orphan before being taken in by the old cloud and he's always addressed him with a Chinese dialect.

Eyeing him curiously, Nicole did admit that he was very well built, more on the lean side and undoubtedly boasted a formidable amount of skill alone, though that she could see through other observations. He seemed genuinely kind and humble, if not a bit laidback, but as a highly trained fighter herself, she respected this individual as a potential teacher for her son. However, one thing that did bother a bit more than the other things she noticed, was that he appeared to be very young, probably eighteen or younger and this brought about some intrigue.

Swirling the teabag around in her drink, Nicole kept a casual appearance and gently spoke to him,

"I see. So that's why he sent you here?" She asked, rather bluntly.

An awkward pause filled the air as Hiro stared at her with a blank expression, as if unsure how to respond to that and suddenly Nicole noticed how she worded that may have appeared somewhat hostile, causing her to correct herself as soon as she realized her error,

"U-uh, erm, I'm sorry! I didn't mean for it to come out that way. I was just confused because you're so young, probably not even a master yet, and I was wondering why he would send someone so..." She trailed off knowing that what was about to come next was going to sound equally condescending and she pursed her lips.

Having patiently listened to her however, the young wolf let out another laugh, a soft one that made the room's other occupant stare in surprise, and the Chinese traveler brought a paw back behind his neck as he started scratching,

"Oh no, I understand! Please, I take no offense and you're right, I am just a student myself. I don't know whether or not I am capable of the task beset upon me by my master..." he said, his eyes becoming downtrodden despite wearing a confident look and he finally relaxed himself as he finished his thoughts,

"...but I've done everything he's asked of me, no matter how difficult it always appeared. I promise you this, when I say I'll train your son to become the best fighter he can be, you can bet everything that I'll get it done." He proclaimed, his blue eyes brimming with confidence and determination.

"He's got spirit, I'll give him that." She thought with the slightest hint of a smile.

She was glad that Gumball was going to be set up with a determined teacher, but she was quite bummed that she won't be around to do so herself. Perhaps it was just her pride talking, but then again, maybe Hiro and Gumball will do a better job at connecting, she could detect a free spirit within the wolf, so who knows, maybe they can learn from one another. Of course, there were still many doubts going through her mind at this very moment, most regarding the constant attacks in Elmore and her simply not being around to lend her support to her family just sounded like a recipe for disaster.

If both her sons came back, they were stepping into a world they won't recognize anymore and they'll mostly be on their own when that happens while Anais might also struggle without her, despite her amazing intellect.

How could she not be terrified?

She knew that in the end, what she was doing was for the good of the family and should she possibly return to them, she'd be far more capable of protecting them herself. It was a harsh truth, but in this world, only the strong survive, one of her first lessons taught to her as a kid by her own parents and she was too driven to let herself as well as those she cared about die. At least she had help too, another strength she learned growing up, she already had people here willing to help out while she and Richard were going away.

Like the person sitting in front of her.

Speaking of, the bipedal canine was now searching around the living room with his nose and wondering about something that's been bugging him ever since he arrived,

"So, out of curiosity, when will I be able to meet my soon-to-be pupil?" He asked, having not seen nor sensed anyone here except another figure he believed to be the husband, whom was slumbering away in the bedroom.

Now came the bad news and Nicole cracked her knuckles in nervous anticipation as she stared at the floor, her ears drooping and her face grim,

"About that... there's something I need to tell you." She replied, speaking in a somber tone.

Given her disheveled appearance and sudden loss of light in her eyes, Hiro suddenly knew he was in for some unfortunate news.

-Santa Monica Airport, Santa Monica, 6:54 AM-

In the month following the predicted invasion, the Santa Monica airport had been repurposed into a forward operating base and a launching site for all numbers of military aircraft. Since the battle's beginning at over an hour and a half ago, the airport was a rally of absolute mayhem as Air Traffic Control scrambled to get as many planes up in the air and damaged ones on the ground as their repair crews hustled about, carrying whatever tools they had to get the job done while officers of greater rank raced from one station to another, relaying or delivering orders to the frontlines. Comm stations were abuzz with reports as they streamed on in and it wasn't uncommon for entire units to just straight up vanish before any response could be given.

The whole entirety of the modified building stank of sweat and musk from a hundred bodies crammed together, sidling past one another to get by, but the outside was much worse.

The bizarre weather had reduced visibility down to basically zero, radar was constantly being jammed and the ground crews witnessed several mid-air crashes or worse, the occasional airborne enemy unit coming in for a strafing run that would decimate grounded aircraft or any unprotected member standing out in the open. Most of their AA guns had already been destroyed and there were often reports of invaders attacking the outer perimeter, but no large scale forces have been spotted yet. On the other side of the busy airport, hundreds of soldiers marched off to awaiting transports and were ferried off to some other wartorn sector in need of reinforcements.

Standing at the head of a table completely covered in a sprawling mess of maps marking various formations and enemy sightings was a living Greek statue of white marble, carved in the likeness of Ares, the war god. With a powerful physique giving him an impressive height of six-foot-five, the stone figure stood over his fellow officers, quite literally, because his feet were fused together on a pedestal that provided an extra six inches and forced him to hop everywhere. Decked out in full decorated Hoplite armor with a helmet permanently fixed to the top of his head, Ares looked fierce and battle ready, his blank white eyes giving his enemies quite the scare.

As commander of the entire American Southwest Division, Ares was placed in charge of directing the first wave in the defense of Los Angeles and the marble veteran had fully committed himself to the task.

Stroking his curly beard as he carefully studied the map, he didn't act like the mythical deity he shared a visage and namesake with, but approached the battle carefully,

"What's the status on the three legions spotted along the coastline?" He asked a nearby sergeant.

The officer in question was a living tomato with a small face and a bulbous nose, whose body was round, almost too thick for the combat fatigues he wore as everyone could see his jacket being strained to its absolute limit, tomato leaves for hair and he stood on a stool with his stubby little legs.

Sergeant Ernie McGulch was his name and the pudgy little fruit looked up at the commander before shaking his head,

"They've advanced about two klicks eastwards. Our forces have already engaged and the enemy force designated "Crystalla" has been completely neutralized, but the 112th brigade has taken heavy losses. Both the 109th brigade and the 12th mechanized divisions are still engaging the other two, but they need help." He reported, sounding out of breath, like he just finished running a marathon.

Feeling a smile tug at his thin lips, Commander Ares worried that one of the advancing legions intended to strike at the airport, a fight they had no chance of winning even if their numbers were halved, and was compelled to do something about it,

"Send the rest of the 112th to assist the 109th. Tell Brigadier General Grant that they need to prevent the Nephilim from advancing any further or else they might wind up striking our position." He requested, his powerful voice spurring those around him into action.

However, the living Helenistic statue wasn't given a break as a human female with blonde hair and brown eyes bearing the rank and name of General Christina Madison, approached the commander bearing bad news,

"Commander, requesting permission to speak, sir!" She said, offering up a respectful salute.

Returning the salute, Ares' attention was back on his maps and listened carefully,

"Permission granted, general. What's wrong?" He asked, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

Bobbing her head quick, Christina marched up to his side, her smaller frame largely overshadowed by the war hero's physique and spoke in a crisp, clear tone,

"Commander, we've received word from the frontlines. Downtown Los Angeles is facing fierce opposition, Commander Leonhart and his forces are being pressed in on all sides, our combined air defenses are down by thirty-seven percent, we've lost contact with our forces in Montebello, El Monte, and six other districts in the East. Analysis claims that the enemy force numbers at 120,000 and that our casualties are already rising past twenty thousand." She explained with a grim realization,

"At this rate, we're going to be overrun within the next hour." She concluded, swallowing a large lump in her throat.

Clenching his fists and furrowing his brows, the sound of nearby explosions rocked the building as several fighters shot by overhead in pursuit of a Locust, main cannons blazing as they tried to down the oversized bug,

"We can hold out for another half hour, but we must start withdrawing our forces from the East and setting up tighter defenses along the central urban landscape. We can use the smaller buildings as cover until Iris arrives along with-!"

"HOLY SHIT!" One random officer cursed in alarm.

All eyes were suddenly drawn towards the building's fortified windows and all the staff within were bestowed a sight that was simply unearthly.

Through the darkness of the clouds above, red lightning streaked by and a massive silhouette had taken shape within the dense cloud cover. To say it was big did it know justice, the thing was absolutely gargantuan! Stretching what had to have been easily two miles in length, a levitating octahedron (a geometric shape consisting of two pyramids attached at the base), its smooth surface covered in a web of red, glowing lines and runic symbols, making its shape all the more distinguishable and around it, clouds of Locusts swarmed, many even emerging from the structure.

Watching this floating fortress with both awe and terror, the heavy presence of the flying Nephilim units had to mean only one thing,

"Abaddon." Ares cursed under his breath,

"There's no doubt about it. That powerful electromagnetic surge that's disrupting our advanced sensors must be coming from him and if Nimrod sent a member of the Seraphim squad here, that must mean…" His thoughts trailed off in alarm as his white eyes widened under the sudden realization.

Wasting no time, the Greek god statue sprung into action and hopped his way over to the communications center where dozens of officers were seated in front of radio stations, his stomach growing restless as fear took hold. Knowing they had little time before something terrible occurred, the burly commander pulled a young man out of his seat and placed himself in front of the radio transceiver, ignoring the startled NEA soldier's protest. Flipping a few switches on the device, Ares found the correct channel and pulled the mic close to his lips,

"Wing Commander Reagan, this is Commander Ares of the NEA's American Southwest division! We have a code black! They've sent a Seraphim down here and it's hovering directly over central Los Angeles! I want all aircraft to engage the enemy immediately! That target is your number one prior-!"

His shouts were interjected by the collective screams of his comrades and what the white statue turned to see caused his heart to sink as he dropped the mic in despair.

At the bottom tip of the floating dimensional fortress, a green orb of energy was charging itself, spewing out bolts of energy as it started to reach critical mass, an unearthly howl that caused all the windows to shatter erupting from the core, and then finally unleashing all of it in a single, concentrated beam of energy. In the instant the attack struck, the entire city was bathed in an unnatural green glow, a glow that quickly grew to outshine even the sun and a wave swept over the city like a cosmic tidal wave. Without any chance of escaping, the thirty thousand remaining defenders of the city of angels were helplessly absorbed into the turbulent flow of exotic energy and left no living creature behind within the empty streets, except for the Nephilim who've already made landfall.

Within a single, unbelievable turn of events, every soul that stood against the might of Babyloth was taken captive inside a floating ring that surrounded the octahedron's equator and left the city they so desperately tried to defend completely abandoned for the Nephilim to reign supreme.

Following the springing of the trap, thousands of supernatural invaders moved in to secure key locations, destroying any and all private property in their wake and allowing the city to burn in the glow of magic fire. It was complete mayhem and a series of portals opening up in the Locust filled skies marked the arrival of a new wave of marauders. Down they came, in the tens of thousands as their resounding war cries echoed throughout the empty, ruined streets of the metropolis and a thousand Doom Blasts rained downwards, further adding to the mass destruction caused by their bloodthirsty predecessors.

The streets were flooded with the legions of the Republic Guard and their monstrous bio-mechanical beasts of war, ripping down anything they came across. Towering over these miniscule foot soldiers, the Republic Knights rampaged through the urban jungle, knocking down skyscrapers, absorbing anything they could get their claws on and finding places to hide within the rubble. Within a few short minutes of their arrival, a wasteland had been born of the once mighty Earthling city and the failure of those sworn to protect was placed on display for all future newcomers to see.

Stepping out from a portal himself, Supreme General Gorothim, the notorious six-armed, scimitar wielding, glass skeleton whose empty eye sockets watched with glee as the city was overrun and reduced to rubble by the hordes of giants,

"Don't linger too long, my brothers and sisters! We'll need to have this place refurbished once our guests arrive and we wouldn't want to leave them unimpressed now, would we?" He called out, his voice heard among all the Nephilim as roars of anticipation and bloodlust rippled throughout the ranks of the occupational force.

Remaining in place as to oversee the operation, the general turned his elongated head in the same direction as Abaddon's pocket dimension and grinded his exposed jaws together. His orders were simple: protect the Abyssal Fortress and the Tower of Babyl within so that Nimrod could execute operation: Blindfold without issue. He wasn't thrilled to be playing guard duty for that whiny preacher, but at least he finally got to meet the NEA in a real confrontation and he was excited to see what glories awaited him in the upcoming confrontation.

If he was to win the hearts of the people and gain support within the senate, then this battle could be exactly what he needed.

"Besides, Metatron already has my back. It won't be long until the whole of Babyloth recognizes my power!" He mused on these grandiose thoughts as the Terraformers began to emerge from behind him.

Resembling bacteriophages found in the bloodstreams of various Earth organisms, these living skyscrapers were a bulging mass of glowing, multicolored flesh sitting atop a dark chitinous stalk, whose interior could be seen filled with veins containing a mysterious purple fluid that was to be inserted within the Earth's crust via a drill-like protrusion situated on the very bottom of the creatures. As hundreds of these monstrous living bio-weapons spread throughout the captured city and planted themselves on a series of long, spindly legs, they bore down deep into the ground and began to drain their innards of the vile fluid. It won't be long until the process was complete and Gorothim couldn't wait to see how the incoming forces of Earth would react to such horrors.

Such a thing will only spell out the beginning of the end for all the world's people.

(A/N) And that's a wrap! Sorry to leave y'all on a cliffhanger like that, but more content is on the way.

So there we have it, the first of the legendary Soul Warriors, the mighty titan of forethought and friend to all mankind: Prometheus, whose torch now rests in the hands of another Greek, Dimitrius Leonhart. I've created the Red Parade nearly a year ago when I conceptualized the battle of Los Angeles because I wanted an elite army of warriors that fought in an unconventional manner when compared to the rest of the NEA's forces and to also capture that same epicness that came with the film 300 by Zach Snyder and Noam Murro. I'm also a fan of any series that has to do with war, I even love studying conflicts throughout human history, namely the world wars, and found a lot of inspiration for the fight scenes from reading about those terrible times.

The Nephilim tend to mostly use bio-engineered creatures from their world as weapons because it's difficult to develop advanced technology when resources are scarce and there are those fanatical few who also see technology as abhorrent due to how the Children of Earth misuse it.

Where did I get the name "Red Parade" from? I was listening to music while at work and one of those songs happened to be "Clarity"by Zedd and well, one of those lyrics just stuck in my head.

Also the name "Quilge" is another Bleach character reference, specifically towards the Quincy Sternritter, Quilge Opie.

Okay, that's enough for references.

For those of you who are wondering about Candi and Abu's fates, don't you worry one bit because we'll be seeing them again soon. The next chapter will focus on the Elmore crew as they gather the gang and set out into the awaiting hellscape to rescue their friends. It won't be an easy battle and deadly forces await them, leaving very little room for error in the treacherous landscape.

Up next, the Defenders face off against the Seraphim squad in chapter 17: End of the beginning (Part 2: Hellfire in the city of angels.)

Happy holidays everyone!