Crowley and Simon stood guard, Crowley chanting while Pathos watched amused.
"Attack em." Pathos stated calmly
Out of the smoke of the bus behind him a small squad of Taskforce Q mercenaries charged, holding assault rifles.
The wind became sharp and went at the duo of mages, fire erupted at them along with boiling water and chunks of levitating pavement.
From one of Crowley's lit pentagram a wraith appeared, a shadowy silhouette with red eyes and white teeth, missing its legs.
It unhinged its jaw, revealing darkness and all the attacks targetted at the duo were absorbed into it like a miniature black hole.
The mercenaries rushed them, guns firing at the Psychic shields erected by Simon around both him and Crowley.
More Hellhounds and Wraiths popped out of floating pentagrams, attacking the group. Bullets being absorbed by Wraiths, boiling water blinding hellhounds, the Wraiths eating whole screaming humans, stuffing them down its dark gullet.
Screams, squelches, crunches, burning, boiling, whistling filled the air as Franz hid inside the bus, tightly clutching his cloak and sniffling away his sneezes.
"Four slots for Familiars and you spend two on succubi and incubi, unbelievable..." Simon said to Crowley while making sure no bullets or blades reached them via their Psychic shields.
"What? Immortality isn't fun while being a prude like you, you're miserable!" Crowley retorted.
"No I'm not..." Simon mumbled
"You're still bitter you're not considered an Arch Pontifex of Sabaoth..." Crowley replied frankly
"Tch..." Simon didn't bother retorting
Thud!
A blade's tip pierced the psychic barrier held up by Simon along with one of the mercenaries it had stabbed through.
The mercenary twitching on the blade, blood dripping down its handle as well as down the mask worn by him.
Suddenly a flurry of blades stabbed through the other mercenaries and headed straight for the duo, using the bodies they stabbed as cover, piercing and cracking the shields.
Simon increased their force even as they cracked but his od was draining fast, the shields continuing to crack to the onslaught.
"Th-This bastard...! He's using his own men as cover to throw his blades!" Crowley cursed.
Soon enough the onslaught stopped as there were no more men or beasts left on the battlefield other than the duo and Pathos, although there was no sign of him.
"I've... I've run out of usable Od... I can barely hold this shield together..." Simon panted out.
Suddenly the Blades began glowing, pushing deeper into the shield, they noticed then that the men were not dead, as the blades had precisely stabbed through non lethal points, they writhed as the blades sapped at their Od.
"What the!? I-It's...!" Simon started, panicked.
"It's absorbing their Od to fuel its telekinesis passively...!" Crowley finished.
The blades broke through the shield and clattered to the floor, and so did Simon, now weakened.
"Shit!" Crowley quickly went over and lifted Simon on his back.
He chanted, summoning more Hellhounds and Wraiths, along with a few Incubi and succubi for good measure.
They stood defensively around the duo as he attempted to carry Simon away.
To where however, he did not know.
Suddenly a whirl of bullets split through his Familiars, their heads exploding with brain matter and blood as the bullets drove through the lot of them.
"!!!!"
Crowley was stunned and then he saw it, Pathos, opening his coat revealing lined hooks on its inside as the blades floated pulled out of the still dying mercenaries back into them in place.
"Ah... I do love it when they crawl like worms... So much for The One World Order... You guys can't even beat up an asshole with a gun! How sad..."
He stepped closer. "Why aren't you laughing aren't I a funny guy? Quipping in the middle of battle?" He asked sadistically.
Crowley looked up, a manic look on his face.
"I didn't wanna use this but..." Crowley said, doing the elder sign with his hand catching Pathos off guard.
Crowley began chanting.
"I do invoke and conjure thee, O Legion, One who art many, by the power of benevolent Elyon, by the holy and righteous Elon, by-"
A chop hit Crowley square behind his neck, knocking him out, both him and Simon falling to the ground.
"Can't allow that I'm afraid..." Pathos said quietly.
"As much as I'd like to kill you guys, Hm... Eh I don't got an excuse, I'll think of one later... Toodles!"
Pathos went towards the Bus.
...
The driver and Franz had been observing the battle. The driver spoke
"You run, I'll distract him."
Franz's throat tightened.
"No need to argue, just sneak out the back, it's not safe here."
Franz had always been a people pleaser, but someone asking to leave them behind to be killed? Yet he always preferred doing what was told, it was always easier for him...
And so he did
He ran away from the Bus into the greenery of the fields, the tall grass flowing in the wind.
After putting some distance he heard a gunshot.
Pathos had found the driver...
He looked behind and saw Pathos approaching, slowly but surely blade in one hand, gun in the other, a sadistic smirk playing on his face.
Franz could've ran but instead he fell to the ground. His heart drumming in his chest, his breath coming in short gasps.
He felt dizzy, his vision blurring, his ears ringing, his limbs felt weak, his stomach churning, sick. It was no magick, he was simply afraid, for someone who stressed over college reports way too much, such a situation was a breaking point and he shut down as Pathos approached.
...
...
...
Nuit
...
Hadit
...
Ra-Hoor-Khuit
...
The three stages of magick.
The world faded, time lost meaning and space dissolved into Aether. He could hear everything, the chirping of birds, the horns of cars, the wind on the grass, the soft tap of rain...
He felt adrift in the endless sea of Aether from which all things came. Like a canvas on which all things were drawn. His body, magick, Pathos, the world, the cosmos, all made of the same ink, the Od which flowed through the Aether as waves flow through the ocean. All things that were, are and would be were drawn on it, derived from it, partaking in it and returning to it eventually, like the ocean.
Like a character outline on the canvas of Aether, just for a second, his outline became hazy and the Od flowed through invisible points throughout his body connecting at his stomach.
It felt as if a serpent uncoiled in his stomach, although not his physical stomach, but instead what his body was a metaphor for.
The serpent slithered, charged by the Od it slid up from his stomach to his chest, coiling as He felt a spark awaken in his mind.
And just like that he was back. Pathos looking down on him.
His breath hitched as Pathos pulled out a dagger and threw the blade at his feet.
"Pick it up" He said casually
"H-Huh?" Franz replied
"Pick. It. Up."
Franz hesitated before picking up the blade and standing up.
He looked around before pointing it at Pathos nervously.
"Huh? You think I want you to defend yourself?"
Pathos threw his head back, laughing.
"Hahahaha! No no... That's not it at all, See the thing is..."
Pathos stepped closer, causing Franz to step away in fear, his hands shaking.
"I can't exactly kill a Chosen One, it'd get me in more trouble than it's worth... However... People we can't kill tend to... Take care of it themselves, not getting us in trouble."
"W-what...?" Franz managed to whimper out.
"That blade. Use it." Pathos said.
Franz's hands shook, the blade vibrating violently in it.
"Kill Yourself." Pathos finished.
...
Franz seemed lost at those two words
...
...
Should he...?
...
Listening to others always works out, makes things easier but this...?
...
Would his fate be worse if he didn't...? Would he torture him...? Target his family...? Then... Then maybe this is the best way...
Yes... This always worked out. For his family, this is the best choice.
Suddenly his stupor broke as Pathos spoke.
"Oh well worth a shot." He said, aiming a gun at his head.
"It was fun seeing you contemplate it but it's taking way too long..."
"Welp, see ya!" Pathos' finger pressed the trigger.
BOOM!
Suddenly a bullet struck from the side, throwing Pathos' gun from his hand.
"What the...!?" Pathos shouted.
More bullets flew into the ground around him.
"A sniper... Who the hell..."
Pathos realised immediately that the sniper was missing on purpose, the shot at his gun had been way too precise to miss like this now.
He stepped back and quickly levitated a few guns from his coat, aiming it loosely where the bullets were coming from.
Suddenly a bullet struck his foot.
"Shit...!" Pathos cursed, the guns clattering to the ground from his control.
Then the sniper shots stopped, leaving Pathos bleeding.
"Clearly they don't want me to kill you..."
He pointed the gun at Franz again.
"Whatever, you shouldn't listen to other people anyways."
Franz covered himself defensively, scared, unconsciously wishing for Pathos to just go away.
Suddenly
THUD!
A burst of invisible psychic energy rushed at Pathos throwing him to the ground.
"W-what?" Pathos said, confused.
"H-Huh?" Franz questioned looking at his own hands.
To confirm his suspicions he quickly pressed a fist to the air in the trajectory of Pathos.
Another rush of invisible energy hit him, breaking his nose and throwing him back, causing him to laugh.
"Psynotic Psy, eh?" Pathos said
"Hehehehe... Hahahahaha!" Pathos laughed manaically.
"So you're a chosen one after all! I'm impressed."
Franz quickly shot another wall of energy at him.
Slash!
Pathos slashed through it using one of his blades.
"Too slow!"
Franz then remembered the method Simon used, Psychic crushing.
He did the same gesture at full force, using his entire Od capacity.
Invisible walls closed in around Pathos, him laughing throughout it.
Slash! Slash! Slash!
Multiple blades cut through the barriers, tearing it to bits as Pathos levelled his gun at Franz again.
Franz fell to the ground, over exerting his Od too quickly due to his inexperience, while Pathos still had a little left.
"Now this is testing all possibilities alright! The path of creation! Thelesis is awesome!" Pathos shouted manaically.
His finger closed in on the trigger.
Swoosh!
A burst of small fire hit the gun and Pathos' hand, causing him to flinch back.
"What!?" He looked at where the fire came from.
"Really? Hurting a Chosen One? Expected but still sad Pathos..." Jackson said with his usual brand of smirking.
Andrew was at his side, having used his fire magick, sparks still glinting in his hands.
"Ah Jackson and Chosen number 1... Nice to meet you guys... Although the circumstances are rather dire." Pathos said, wiping his bloody nose.
"Well that's enough for today then... VAN!." He shouted the last word.
Suddenly an unmarked white van came from the road, diving into the field of grass, Andrew and Jackson barely had time to jump out of the way as it rushed to Pathos.
Franz noticed it was being driven by the same mercenary who was carrying Pathos' speaker.
Pathos quickly climbed on as it drove away before Andrew and Jackson broke out of their surprise.
Andrew moved to chase the van but was stopped by Jackson with a hand on his shoulder and a shake of his head.
"We have to take care of Mr. Chosen Two over here. The asshole's not a priority." Jackson said.
Franz looked up at his two saviours as Andrew gave his hand to lift him up.
"W-Who are you guys...?" Franz asked.
"We're with the Hermetic Order." Andrew replied.
"And we intend to explain everything."
...
Rasputin and Shax stood over the fainted Crowley and Simon, Faust observed the destroyed bus with apathy in his dark, baggy eyes.
"These guys are useless..." Said Rasputin.
"Oh come now, friends are alike are they not?" Shax chuckled.
In a van, Henry shifted through the footage of the bus cam along with other agents, although it was heavily damaged.
"We've confirmed it, The Hermetic Order got him, although it was Taskforce Q who interfered." Henry said watching the distorted footage of their bus cam.
"There's however someone unaccounted for, a sniper of the Hermetic Order perhaps..." Henry said, pausing on the footage of the sniper rounds firing at Pathos from a side wise view.
"Whatever the case..." Rasputin turned to Faust who was still dazed with a 5 o'clock shadow.
"We use our trump card for this one, no more cutting corners. You're up this time." He continued.
"Faust, Mephistopheles."