"You want to fight? Fine… let's fight," Irwin said as he stopped resisting.

The titan card let out a howl of joy as that which was holding it back was released, and Irwin felt his body start to heat up as it began growing. Stepping away from the table, he felt his clothing rip and tear. As he turned his full attention to the Guidar, he faintly sensed titanic changes occurring in his soulscape, and then a wave of battle frenzy roared through his mind. The cursed titan card held back for many long months, burst out in a resonance that held an echo of the massive card it had been part of. If it weren't for both of his selves focused into a near single entity, ready for anything, he'd have instantly gone insane.

Still, he felt his self-control rapidly fray around the edges.

This better be the right choice, he thought.

He turned his head up and glared at Guida,r hovering above him. The anger intensified to hatred, and he felt his body further, his head and shoulders growing out of the hole that had been the ceiling.

He'd just need a few hours, that was all! Now, he had no idea if he would be able to use this new card as he hoped or if he was going to find out he wouldn't be able to shrink back to any normal size.

That thing was the source of all of it!

The reason his people had been forced to hide away in the worst, most remote world they could find, or change their entire being so that they were not even a shadow of their former selves! The reason so many had died when the portals began opening- all that suffering.

The anger he'd felt when he'd heard that Deadpact Mercenary had taken Glow exploded out from where he'd bound it- and Irwin clamped his mouth shut to prevent himself from roaring.

He felt like a tiny boat in the midst of the most violent, chaos-storm, unable to remain in one place as he was pushed around and forward by titanic powers.

Part of him knew that it was his own anger that had made it harder to control the titan card, but it didn't matter anymore.

He'd unchained the titan card, and he could sense it wouldn't be stopped again.

As he continued to grow, his senses sharpened, and the distance he could detect the soulforce increased.

The Guidar- its soulforce, he could sense it now as clear as day: it was weaker than it had been. The demon had expended a great deal of power to deal with the two five soulcarded Viridians. Even then, the bottled-up pressure Irwin could sense below the surface, held back for now, was stifling.

"You think some petty size-changing handcard will let you fight me?" Lasther shouted. "You have only two soulcards and a mere one is meant for combat! I will beat you into a pulp before using you to finally find the others!"

The ragged voice was like fuel to Irwin's rage, and it took all his effort not to roar a challenge at the tiny spec before him. What did he think he was?!

Only his combined, thought-fraying control reminded him that he was in a city with thousands of innocents. Instead, he snapped his hand up -the moment explosive and powerful- and a hammer shot from his palm like a blur, enlarging it as it shot up to the Guidar.

Even through the anger, he was surprised at the size of the hammer. It blocked his view of Lasther within a moment, growing to the size of a building—a solid metal building with a long handle that moved almost too fast to blink.

For a moment, he thought that would end it; Lasther splattered anticlimactically against the hammer like the insect he was!

The hammer stopped dead in its tracks, a dull boom resounding throughout the city as a shockwave of sound -visible to him- pulsed away. Purple tendrils leaked around the enormous hammer hanging in midair, and Irwin felt a crushing force being applied to it. The soulforce within it -his soulforce- began draining away as if sucked out by the tendrils, and he instinctively tried to unsummon it. It didn't work. Unlike all other times he'd done so, the hammer seemed held in place, locked from his control as the soulforce imbued within it was drained.

"That's mine!"

Irwin was already rippling across the soundwaves before he realized he had shouted. Then his hand gripped the hammer, and he ripped it back, returning it to his control.

His body began falling back to the ground, dozens of feet below, while the Guidar blurred forward. The purplish fog and tentacle-wrapped shape moved so fast that Irwin barely managed to enlarge the hammer before him. The titan card seemed enraged, wanting to swat the tiny insect out of the air, but Irwin ignored it as Lasther slammed into the hammer like a meteor. He felt his kinetic energy ripple through his now much larger body, feeling like an ocean of power to draw from.

Irwin moved instinctively, teleporting across the sound waves of the boom to appear behind the Guidar. He used his kinetic energy as he struck down at the tiny figure before him, but as his hammer touched the purplish tendrils, it felt like he'd struck an immovable object. Irwin was flung back, only his grip on his hammer keeping him from spinning upward and out of control as a spherical soundwave rippled out from the impact point. His kinetic energy nearly overflowed his enormous body while he felt the soulforce from the hammer draining away.

Hidden by his hammer, Lasther let out an angry shout.

Irwin sensed something was happening, and he teleported straight back, higher into the sky between the floors, pulling his hammer along. He was now close to the ceiling, at least forty-five feet above the tops of the buildings below. He barely had time to think as Lasther shot up at him, and he struck down. The strike held less power and was stopped dead in its tracks, but Irwin didn't care. He teleported behind the Guidar, striking down and striking again, missing the blur that shot to his side.

Instinctively, Irwin began teleporting rapidly, striking out as he could. His hammer struck the barrier around the guidar more often than not, each time causing the soulforce from his hammer to drain away, only to be replenished by the massive well of soulforce within his soulscape.

--

Greldo stumbled as he reappeared from the shadows, dropping the two Viridians on the ground.

"Thank you!"

Greldo just nodded at the young man holding the tiny Viridian child. Then he took a deep breath and jumped back into the shadows, shooting back to the battle raging above. Even from within the shadows, the explosive collisions sounded harsh.

'That's it? You are sure?'

He felt relieved as Coal told him there were no more living beings anywhere nearby. Most had fled on their own or were taken away by slightly more powerful carded. Only those trapped within the ruined buildings had needed a hand.

Three shadowy streaks moved far to the side, rushing toward where Irwin and the Guidar were trying to turn the entire district to rubble.

No, you don't!

Greldo shot forward while Coul and four of his shadow clones intercepted the three shadewalkers. Like a fisherman with a net, they corralled the three shadewalkers toward him.

He could almost imagine their panic as he surged forward. His presence in the shadowrealm had grown so much that he must look like an enormous, monstrous thing hurtling toward them. The three smaller ripples split up, shooting in different directions in an attempt to flee.

Too bad for them that they were just far too slow.

Greldo reached the nearest one before it managed to get more than a building length away, grabbing it in the shadowrealm and ripping it out. With full momentum, he slammed the hooded figure's head into a wall. As it crumbled, he sensed one of Coal's shadowclones approach. Knowing it would deal with the shadewalker, he shot after another one while Coal grabbed the third one. Although his summoned friend couldn't do what he could -force others out of the shadowrealm- he could hold them and bring them to Greldo.

As he overtook the second one within a narrow alleyway, he hurled it against the wall and took a moment to glare at the other shadewalker. Like the young Onyxian Irwin had saved, he could sense this one was like some of the others- weak and young and definitely not some dangerous mercenary or assassin.

"Stay put, and you'll live," he growled as two green-tinted black eyes, filled with fear, looked up at him.

A shadow clone appeared beside the figure, glaring at the shape huddled against the wall.

"I won't move!" a young voice croaked from behind the scarf wrapped around his face. "Please don't kill me, I was just-"

"Following orders, I know," Greldo snarled. "Stay put!"

Greldo shot up through the shadows, sensing the third one as it was brought over by Coal. He grabbed it and dumped the figure beside the fearful youngster. With another set of warnings, he left them under the watchful eye of one of Coal's clones.

No more people locked below the rubble, and no more shadewalkers for a while, please! he thought as he hovered above the buildings and looked around.

He almost expected Coal to detect more interference, but his friend signaled that he sensed nothing.

Relieved, Greldo focused on the giant form of his Irwin.

His friend was zipping around in a way Greldo felt nothing that big should be able to do. Irwin appeared and disappeared as he chased the smaller figure that was wrapped in purplish fog and tendrils. Each time they collided, there was an explosive boom, rattling and cracking more of the buildings below them.

Now, how am I going to help you? he thought, trying to come up with a plan.

He was about to move when he saw the Guidar's purplish tendrils change. They turned black and thin, and in a burst of movement, the Guidar shot toward his friend. The sense of wrongness the tendrils had caused Greldo's hairs to rise.

Irwin!

--

Irwin had lost count of how often he had clashed with the Guidar.

Halfway through, a muted, garbled whisper had begun coming from his soulscape. He knew it was probably Ambraz, but whatever was happening with him made it impossible for him to understand even a word. He might be able to hear if he split up his otherself, but he didn't dare take the risk - if he lost the tiny semblance of control he held, he'd become a raging hurricane of anger.

As he slammed into the Guidar, he felt an oddity to its soulforce. He knew Lashter was preparing something. He'd been up to it for a few moments now.

Whatever it was, it kept failing, but Irwin didn't feel like giving him enough time to try. He could sense Lasther's soulforce weaken with each collision, just like he did, but he could also sense that even with just two soulcards, his own soulforce pool was a tad bigger and regenerating just a sliver faster. If this continued, he would win this battle of attrition!

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Shooting forward, Irwin tried to put more power in the next blow, and, appearing beside Lasther, he swung down. As his hammer shrieked toward the seemingly unmovable Guidar, the clashing soulforce that was screaming around him gained a threatening tone.

Instead of continuing his strike, Irwin teleported backward midswing.

As he reappeared, Lasther was glaring at him. Three of the tendrils that grew from the purplish cloud around him were now black and swaying menacingly.

Just looking at them made Irwin feel a shiver of worry. If those had touched him, or even his hammer… what would have happened?

"You are far too fast for such a lumbering brute," the Guidar growled. "If I'd known this, I'd have prepared something else! Not that it matters!"

Prepared what? Irwin thought through the bubbling fury rippling through his mind.

His titan card howled at the pause, seeming to resonate with a 'who cares?!' as it pushed him to flatten the insect. Irwin clamped down on the card, staring at the Guidar.

It was a good thing he did, as Lashter blurred forward faster than he had before.

Irwin could barely follow his movement, and he raised his hammer reflexively. The purple blur slipped around the growing obstruction, and three of the black tendrils reached out to him with blinding speed.

Having expected it, Irwin triggered his soundwave teleport, appearing behind the Guidar and striking down. This time, he used every ounce of kinetic energy he had, and the shockwave as his hammer stopped mid-strike was massive. A bubble of force that grew faster than the eye could track slammed into the city below and the roof above. The tops of the buildings directly below them were obliterated while the ceiling above began cracking- chunks of rock dropping down amidst a rain of dust.

We are going to destroy this city if we continue, Irwin thought as he yanked the hammer back to stop the draining effect that hadn't let up even a moment.

He began falling as his worry for the innocent people below grew. As it seemed to cross a threshold, the anger of the titan card abated slightly.

Surprised but grateful for the moment of clarity, Irwin quickly looked around for the nearest clear area, finding none. There were three districts between him and the city's harbor districts, which signaled the edge of the city, while the central mountainside was just as many districts away in the other direction. Both were far, and although he could reach them fast enough, he had no idea what Lasther would do if he ran.

Do I have another choice?

The thought hit like a punch to the gut, and Irwin shook his head. Outside of the city, he could use all his abilities, which would make his chances much better. He prepared to run for the edge of the city when the Guidar let out a roar of anger.

"Enough! I don't know how you aren't drained empty yet, but this charade stops now!" Lasther shouted.

His long red hair rose up, drifting around his hair, while his amber eyes glowed brightly.

Irwin teleported back, but this time, it mattered little.

The black tendrils shattered, releasing a pulse of darkness. The purple fog between the tendrils expanded out and forward like the winter mist rolling out of Gloomforrest. Faster than Irwin could blink, it spread out across a sprawling area, rapidly covering the district and those around it like a blanket, engulfing them and him.

As the purple haze rippled around him, his vision turned slightly pink, and the draining sensation he'd sent from his hammer burst out from every part of his body.

Irwin shivered and teleported to the rubble-filled square next to the destroyed remnants of the inn.

As he rose to his full height, he was slightly shocked to find that his shoulders had reached the edge of the three-story buildings. His worry grew, only to be heightened as he sensed that the titan card seemed unhappy with the growth. It was still trying to push him to bigger heights as if what he was now wasn't nearly good enough- but Irwin knew the growth had almost plateaued. The tiny increases that still came were barely measurable anymore. With this knowledge came the sense that when the size change finished, something would happen.

All of his thoughts had cost only a moment, but he shoved them aside. There were more imminent dangers!

He focused on the purplish fog around him and felt its ripple as if things were moving within it. The dissonant, sickening resonance that echoed throughout it made him feel that whatever skill Lasther was using was stretched far beyond its intended purpose.

This isn't something he can keep up for long, he knew instinctively.

No, whatever the Guidar was doing had a great cost. For a short moment, he hoped that cost would allow him victory.

As if to prove him wrong, a piercing, tortured scream rose from the city around him. Most cut off within a single breath, and as they did, he felt and saw tiny bits of soulforce flow up, flowing into the purplish fog before rapidly being absorbed.

Bastard, Irwin thought as he glared at Lasther. The guidar was draining those within range of their soulforce, torturing them to feed the ability he was using.

Laster was floating toward him. His armor looked the same as before their battle as if none of their clashes had been real, the demonic body thrumming with

"With only three others left, there's no reason for me to hold back anymore," Lasther hissed, his voice seemingly coming from everywhere. "There's just not enough of you left of you insects to pose a threat. I'm going to finally do what I've wanted to do for so long!"

Not enough of who? Irwin thought.

"I will drain this damnable backwater for all its soulforce and life to reclaim my position," the Guidar snarled as if to himself, the pent-up hatred and malice in his voice grating to anyone who heard it.

Irwin readied himself to teleport to the demon and-

His mind cleared up so fast it almost left him staggering. For one moment, he feared Lasther had done something. Then, the realization of what had happened set in.

His body had reached the maximum size the cursed titan card could make it.

The card's pent-up energy and desire for growth had finally run its course, and although reluctantly, he felt the card's resonance change. It lost its antagonistic edge, and like a puzzle piece, it somehow slotted itself within the resonance song the rest of his handcards were creating. Only now did Irwin truly feel how out of touch with the rest it had been.

With the clarity, the anger and fury dampened to manageable levels, and the haze that had hung between his mind and his soulscape evaporated like fog in the sun.

'Unsummon the hammer and use your flame!' Ambraz shouted, his voice filled with worry.

Irwin knew Ambraz must have been shouting for a long time and followed his friend's directions instantly.

Unsummoning his hammer, he wrapped himself in his flame.

Instantly, whatever was draining his soulforce stopped while the purple fog around him reeled back as if in pain. As it did, Irwin recognized it.

"Wizteriaz," he exclaimed as he glared up at Lasther, suddenly not sure what he was even fighting against.

Was this an actual guidar, or was it another of those purple-gassious monsters?! How had he not seen this?

"Don't insult me!" the Guidar snarled as if reading his mind. "It's surprising you recognize the ability, but I am not one of those filthy pests, though I must say, their ability had never failed me before…"

For the first time since their fight started, Irwin saw a sense of unease in the Guidar's eyes.

"I don't know what that flame is, but I don't believe it can protect you forever. Your soulforce has to run out at some point!"

Lasther rushed forward, and three of the purple tendrils turned black

He has fewer tendrils now, Irwin thought as he raised his hands, which caused a massive gout of flame to flare up from him. Fed by his much larger reservoir of kinetic energy, it stretched a hundred feet out from his hands, wrapping around the incoming Guidar.

A startled scream came, but unlike the purple fart-like Wizteriaz, it was more surprise and annoyance. Irwin's eyes widened as he sensed the figure plow through his fire as if it wasn't a problem, and he belted out a shout before teleporting along the side.

He was only just in time as the three black tentacles stabbed into the ground where he'd been standing.

Lasther was already rushing towards him while the purple mist all around them seemed to become denser. The screaming had stopped, but if that was because all had died or they had fled, Irwin didn't know. He hoped the latter.

With his mind calm, he split his selves, keeping most with his body while the rest appeared beside Ambraz.

The Ganvil was hovering above his soullake, and one look showed Irwin that it had grown enormously, easily tripling in size. It was slowly starting to look like a tiny inland sea, and he noticed small inlets where the banks had crumbled. Far to the left, a part had crumbled so far, and it looked like the start of a river. With the resize, it looked far less full than it had before.

It's going to take even longer to fill like this, Irwin thought, gritting his teeth.

"You let it grow?" Ambraz snapped, worry thick in his voice.

"There was no option," Irwin replied. "It was slowly overtaking my mind, and it was that or go crazed with anger. Seeing as the Guidar was attacking, I didn't feel I had another choice."

"You… probably didn't," Ambraz whispered. "But kid, you are really big now… Even if that new card works as advertised, it might take you a long time to condense your form down to your regular size."

"What-"

"I had some time to figure out how your new card works, and… It's going to cost a ton of soulforce to shrink even a single percentage. Even for you, it will take weeks to replenish it."

"What? It doesn't take that long to replenish my soulforce," Irwin said.

"It doesn't work like you think," Ambraz said. "It will put a constant drain on your soulforce as it's active. Only when it shrinks you by the minimal amount will it stop and see it as done."

"How do you know all this?" Irwin asked, rubbing his head and trying to shove down his worry.

It's fine, what is a little time?

--

Fuchsia knelt beside Scander's body, wishing she could be anywhere else.

"We are going to get ourselves killed," she whispered at the man who'd told her to bring him here.

"Just me," Scander growled, his eyes on the distant battle raging above the city. "I have enough soulforce for one more attack, and I'm going to use it to get revenge on that ugly demon."

Fuschia was close to tears as she looked at Scander.

"You will die if you do that?" she whispered. "How are you even going to move around like this?"

Scander blinked, then focused on her, and for a moment, the man she remembered, the Yuurindi she'd fallen for, returned. That dazzling, rogueish grin and adventurous gleam in his eye.

"Oh, don't worry about that. I can get around even like this," he said. "Now, you need to promise me something! That big giant over there is the one Rindiri tried to keep from talking about. Her captain, and most definitely the smith. From all I could find, he's a good sort. Go to him and ask him to let you come. Tell him you want to help Rindiri, which you should do if he takes you."

Scander's eye gleamed brighter, and she sensed something push as his hand clasped her shoulder, a thrum of power from his hand.

"You carry the only thing that will remain of me," he said. "Keep them safe!"

Fuchsia felt tears run down her face.

"Please, just come with me," she whispered.

"I can't. I've made too many mistakes, and there's nothing left for me," Scander said, gently touching the side of her head. The sharpness in his eye drifted, replaced with a barely restrained anger.

"Go. I'll be... fine."

Fuchsia wanted to shake her head and deny him, but she sensed the tiny seeds of life within her and knew she couldn't stay any longer. The risk was too big.

"I'll tell them about you," she whispered as she backed up.

Scander nodded absently, but the flare-up of life was gone, and all that remained was the broken, hate-filled husk before her.

Fuchsia turned and sprinted away.

How am I supposed to talk with the smith, she thought miserably. And how is he even going to win from all those high-rank carded?!

--

"I had a lot of time to check it while you were overtaken," Ambraz said. "An advantage of it was that your other cards seemed almost forced within your soulscape…"

Irwin looked at the Ganvil in stunned silence.

"That's not possible," he muttered.

"It is. It's just unlikely," Ambraz grunted.

Irwin groaned, pulling a bit of his focus back to his body, which was still dodging the attacks, trying to burn the Guidar.

"Anyway, it's fine… we can take care of it later," Ambraz said rapidly. "You have another problem. There are three powerful entities hiding nearby. My bet is that they are waiting for a signal to attack you- probably when you are out of soulforce."

Irwin blinked, and his other self teleported around and up rapidly, scanning for the figures. He saw nothing.

"Where?" he asked.

"They are being hidden by a soulcarded," Ambraz said. "But you need to be ready."

"Can you detect where Greldo is?"

"In the shadows nearby last I saw," Ambraz said, circling him, sounding worried. "He was bringing the surrounding people away, and a good thing he did. If he hadn't, you would be in more trouble. You need to get that evil little pest away from the city so he can't drain more soulforce."

Irwin sensed most of him react instantly, roaring in anger as he faked running away toward the harbor districts and the edge of the city's layer.

"How is he even doing that?" Irwin asked, arms crossed and grinding his teeth.

"I have no idea how he got it, but he is using multiple soulskill-ranked powers, and one of them is just like those purple farts have. Apparently, he can't just steal the abilities from soulskilled, but even from othe- Look out!"

Irwin's full focus jolted into his body as he dropped from the soundwave earlier than he'd planned. The location a hundred feet in front of him was wreathed in a cloud of lightning, and two small figures stood on the ground below, one with his arms raised. It was a Niox, his bare muscular top pulsing with blue lightning while the slits of his mask looked like tiny blue gems. The one beside him was dressed like a mercenary captain with a long, armored leather jacket and wielding two long and thin sabers.

"Don't let him flee!" Lasther's scream tore from behind him.

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