The ground quaked as the demon army surged closer, the rhythmic pounding of their march echoing like a heartbeat of doom.

Sadek glanced at Liliana, his spear crackling faintly with lightning.

"Let me guess," Liliana said. "Bullshit?"

"No," Sadek said. "Horse shit."

Kale shook his head. "Doesn't matter what kind of shit it is, we still have to deal with it!"

"Language, children," Namara said. "Come now, let's not lose focus. They're just an army of flaming nightmares. Nothing we can't handle."

Liliana raised an eyebrow. "Did you miss the part where there's an army of them?"

Namara smiled. "What's a couple hundred blazing killer demons between friends?"

Kale took a deep breath, glancing at the fiery creatures, their weapons dripping with liquid heat. Each step they took left searing imprints on the ground.

There sure were a lot of them.

How were they supposed to get out of this? Malakar had been one thing—one towering inferno of a demon whose heart they could rip out. But these? Did they have hearts too? Some kind of core they had to destroy? Or would they die the regular way?

Could they even get close enough to find out?

They seemed to be burning just as hot as Malakar, and there were dozens, no, hundreds, of them. More enemies than they had ever faced at once. And they were all on fire. How were they supposed to cut through that? Could they even get close without being burned alive?

"We need a plan," Kale said.

"Already have one," Sadek replied. "Kill them before they kill us."

Liliana rolled her eyes. "Brilliant."

Namara spread her wings, lifting off the ground with effortless grace. She hovered just above the group, surveying the advancing army. "Why don't we make this a little more efficient?" she said. "Why doesn't the stormbrand thin them out with his Lightning Fury while the rest of us hold the line?"

Sadek shook his head. "That will kill you."

"Oh, don't worry about me, Sadek. I've got tricks you wouldn't believe. Just give me a second to prepare."

"And what exactly does 'prepare' mean in your world?" Liliana asked.

Namara chuckled. "Oh, you'll see soon enough. Just keep our fiery friends busy until I'm ready."

Sadek gripped his spear, lightning crackling along its shaft. He turned to Kale and Liliana. "Her funeral."

"Obviously," Liliana replied, already lashing out with her blood tendrils at the nearest wave of creatures. "But if she's got a plan, we don't have time to argue."

Kale summoned a wall of blades, shielding them from another barrage of spears. "I trust her, just go with it."

"You trust everyone," Liliana said.

Namara hovered above them, closing her eyes as shadows coiled around her, writhing like souls trying to claw their way free. She smiled.

"Oh, don't be so dramatic. Trust me—you're going to love this."

"Uh, guys," Kale said, dodging a burning spear and pointing at the seemingly endless waves of soldiers. "Does anyone wanna tell me where the hell they're all coming from? Is there a portal back there, or are they running some kind of buy-one-get-a-hundred-free deal?"

"You can save your analysis for after the battle," Liliana said, impaling another advancing soldier on a spike of blood.

"Alright, succubus," Sadek said. "Hold on to your horns."

Sadek planted his feet, pulling his spear back. As he entered his Tempest Crowned form lightning crackled around him, racing along the ground and pooling at his feet.

"Oh, don't worry about me." Namara said.

Sadek shook his head. "This is going to hurt."

"Good thing I like pain," Namara laughed.

Sadek didn't bother with more words. His spear crackled, the hum of electricity growing to a roar as arcs of lightning danced up and down the shaft. He turned to Kale. "Tap my shoulder," he said as he activated Conduit.

"What?" Kale asked, confused but stepping closer.

"Do it."

Kale touched Sadek's shoulder, and the shock was instant. Lightning surged into him, ripping through his armor and coursing down his arms. His blade hummed with new energy, sparking and alive.

"Oh," Kale said. "I get it."

"Good," Sadek growled, his spear vibrating with barely contained energy. "On three. Two. One."

Sadek hurled his spear with a grunt, unleashing Lightning Fury. The spear streaked through the air like a thunderbolt, slamming into the heart of the horde. On impact, it erupted into a chain of searing arcs, lightning bolts ripping through enemy ranks in a web of destruction.

Kale summoned a cluster of massive, physical blades, their edges crackling with Sadek's lightning as they absorbed the raw energy coursing through him. With a sharp gesture, he sent them flying toward the horde.

The first blade hit home, shattering a creature's chest and sending a burst of lightning bolts ricocheting into the surrounding soldiers. Each sword burst apart on impact, unleashing more arcs of electricity that tore through the horde.

The battlefield became a storm of devastation. Sadek's Lightning Fury arced through the masses, its energy splitting and splitting again, cascading through the soldiers. Kale's blades amplified the storm, each strike scattering lightning in every direction.

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The ground blackened, the air filled with the smell of burning stone and the sharp tang of ozone. Soldiers crumbled, reduced to ash as bolts of lightning ripped through them.

Liliana noticed the ricocheting bolts too late. "Sadek!" she shouted. "The lightning is going to hit us!"

The protective bands she and Kale wore absorbed the first few strikes, but the relentless storm began to tear through them. Liliana staggered, blood tendrils faltering as stray bolts scorched her arms.

"This… sucks," Kale said, struggling to stay upright as another bolt jolted through his body, his armor sparking with every hit.

Namara, still flying above them, watched the chaos with narrowed eyes. Her playful smile vanished as she raised her arms. From the bodies of the dying soldiers, shadowy souls erupted, writhing and twisting in agony. Wailing faces flickered in and out of the swirling mass, their torment almost palpable.

She wove the struggling souls into a translucent barrier, their anguished cries echoing as they coiled around her like a living shield. She redirected them downward, forcing the tormented spirits to envelop Kale and Liliana.

The barrier shuddered under the impact of another lightning bolt, each strike scattering fragments of the souls into the air like dissipating smoke.

Namara winced, her voice tight as she called out, "Hold on!" Her arms trembled as more souls rose from the battlefield, their tortured forms clawing at her even as she bent them to her will, sacrificing their essence to reinforce the shield.

Finally, the storm began to subside. The last arcs of lightning fizzled out, leaving the battlefield littered with molten fragments and scorched earth.

Sadek extended his hand, and a sharp crack of thunder split the air as his spear shot back to him in a streak of electricity. He caught it effortlessly, lightning sparking along the shaft as he examined the scorched battlefield. "Told you it was going to hurt."

Kale groaned, his muscles twitching from residual shocks. "I thought these bands were supposed to protect us."

Namara touched down lightly beside them. "Nothing you can't handle, I'm sure. Besides, you've got me."

Liliana scanned the battlefield. "That took out a lot of them, but not all of them."

Sadek gestured with his spear. In the distance, more figures began to rise from the lava pools. Their forms towered above the rest, with glowing limbs and molten fire dripping from their cores. Each step sent tremors through the ground, leaving trails of bubbling lava in their wake.

Kale squinted. "Oh, come on. Do they ever stop?"

Namara tilted her head. "Don't look so glum, Kale. You're doing great! Let's see what the next round brings, shall we?"

Kale groaned, still in pain from the stray lightning bolts. "I don't know how much more I can handle."

"You don't look so good," Sadek said.

"Oh, stop looking so miserable, all of you. You've handled worse, haven't you?" Namara said.

"That's debatable," Liliana said. "Voss, maybe, but that was different. This is a seemingly endless army."

Namara let out a soft laugh, her gaze fixed on Kale. "You're all so rigid. You fight well, sure, but where's the spark? The flair? Xeroth won't crumble just because you know how to swing a sword or throw a spear. He'll crush you because he'll see you coming a mile away."

Kale frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I'm saying your lack of imagination is holding you back. There's a lot of them, sure, but they're slow, predictable, and too dumb to adapt. That makes them the perfect training dummies. So stop holding back and get creative. You won't get a better chance than this. Experiment! Be bold!"

Liliana crossed her arms. "Bold how, exactly? You think a blood mage, a stormbrand, and a bladeweaver can just improvise? We are bound to the skills we've chosen."

"So close-minded," Namara said. She gestured toward the advancing army. "Think beyond what you've been taught. Use your skills in ways Xeroth would never expect. Trust me, that's the only way you'll win in the end. Sure, you are bound by your abilities, but how you use them? That's up to you."

"So… we just make things up as we go and hope it works?" Kale asked.

Namara smiled. "Exactly. Stop thinking of your skills as a cage and start thinking of them as doors waiting to be kicked open. Like how you used that sword to cross the gap."

Sadek rolled his shoulders. "Maybe she's right."

Kale nodded. "Alright, let's do this. Think of it as practice. Let's get creative."

Liliana sighed. "Fine. But don't blame me if your 'creativity' gets us all killed."

"Trust me," Namara said. "You'll thank me later."

The creatures lumbered closer, their glowing forms pulsating with heat. Kale stepped forward, summoning not a single blade but a wave of smaller ones. Instead of sending them forward to attack, he spun them around himself, creating a makeshift shield of whirling steel.

Liliana watched him. "This will be interesting."

"Now add a little something to it." Namara said.

"What, like this?" Kale said, summoning larger, serrated blades to the rotation, weaving them into the spinning mass of smaller ones.

The wall of spinning blades moved with him, deflecting a creature's swipe before tearing through its arm.

"Better!" Namara said. "Now don't stop!"

Kale charged forward, spinning his blades outward, cutting down three soldiers at once. "Alright," he said, grinning despite himself. "This is actually kind of fun."

"Good. Now keep going. This is just the warm-up!"

Liliana didn't say anything, her focus locked on something larger. She pooled her blood into a dense mass in front of her feet. The blood began to rise, twisting and shaping itself into a towering figure—a blood golem. The creature slammed a massive fist into a soldier, sending it hurtling into another. Each punch splattered lava and ash across the battlefield.

"Okay, that's new," Kale said, dodging a swing from a beast.

Liliana smiled, sweat glistening on her brow as she directed the golem. "Thought I'd try something different."

Sadek, standing a few feet behind, cracked his neck and gripped his spear. "Alright, enough games." The electric aura of his Electrostatic Armor shimmered around him, sparking to life. As a group of smaller creatures rushed him, he let the aura absorb their strikes before discharging in a crackling wave, frying the attackers and forcing the rest to stumble back.

He thrust his spear into the ground, activating Rolling Thunder. A surge of electrical energy radiated outward, knocking several beasts off their feet. The stunned enemies gave him an opening, and he skillfully pierced their cores one after another, reducing them to ash.

Namara clapped her hands. "You're finally getting it! Now, how about some teamwork?"

Liliana's blood golem drove a massive fist into a creature, sending it crashing to the ground in a spray of lava. She glanced at Sadek. "Let's see if you can keep up."

Sadek gave a nod, lightning sparking along his spear as he activated Thunder Step. In a crackling flash, he dashed through three enemies, shatteringing them as he reappeared beside the golem. Twirling his spear, he unleashed a burst of static energy that coursed through the ground, jolting the nearby enemies.

Kale, watching the golem's relentless strikes, raised his hand and summoned several sleek, razor-sharp blades. "I have an idea," he said, directing the blades toward the towering figure of blood. The weapons embedded themselves into the golem's fists and forearms, fusing seamlessly with the crimson mass.

Liliana grinned, her hands moving as she manipulated the golem. "Now we're talking!"

Sadek stepped closer to the golem, his spear humming with raw energy. "Let's see how it handles a little boost. Conduit!" He cast the spell, linking his lightning power to the golem.

The blood golem surged with electrified energy, arcs of lightning dancing across it's body. Its fists crackled as it swung, each strike sending shockwaves through the creatures it hit. The electrified blades Kale had summoned amplified the impact, splitting lava-born enemies apart with searing bursts of energy.

"That's what I'm talking about!" Namara said, hovering above. "Now this is teamwork!"

The golem thundered forward, punching through a massive creature's chest. The impact sent a cascade of lightning through the creature's core, causing it to explode in a brilliant burst of light and fire.

Kale, emboldened by the sight, summoned another wave of blades, directing them toward the advancing creatures. "Let's keep pushing!"

Sadek used Rolling Thunder to release a shockwave that toppled the remaining smaller creatures, clearing the path for the golem to finish the job.

The army's numbers were thinning, but the larger beasts with brighter, pulsating cores were closing in. Their bodies radiated intense heat, forcing the group to adjust their positions.

Namara landed lightly beside Kale, her wings folding behind her. She placed a hand on his shoulder, her fingers lingering as her violet eyes sparkled with approval.

"Impressive," she said. "But I'm bored now—let's wrap this up."

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