Becoming Monsters: In the Mirror Ch. 19

I sprinted to Lucy, still delivering blasts at the target, though her pace had cooled off a bit. "Love! Code Cursebreaker!"

"Oh, you have got to be FREAKING KIDDING ME!" She dove forward, intercepting another wave of flame with a Shield of force.

"This one's going to take everything I've got, and I'm at max range." In the demon's face, both Amber and Whitney were dancing with death, supported by attacks and illusion among the others. The bystanders had either run out of ammo or decided that enough was enough, no more was coming. I called void-black power to my hands, and began to lash out at the demon. The curse was not tied to its host with mere ribbons of power. These were cables, monstrous chains. With a grunt of effort, I shattered one of them, but many remained. A second fell before me, and this time the demon noticed. It turned away from the people who were in its face and took a step towards my wife and I, calling a wave of kaleidoscoping color that dissipated halfway to us. Disenchanted.

A third. Whitney seized the opportunity of the Balar not paying attention, and cleaved her sword entirely through the back half of its left leg, severing its hamstring. It screamed, and its backhand sent her flying into the wall of the building twenty feet to my left. I could not stop to assess, I was fully committed. A fourth chain shattered. The icon's glow was beginning to fade, I could see it more easily. It saw me, and knew me. It was angry. Let it be.

A fifth. Amber pulled a bottle of blue liquid out of nowhere and threw it into the sky, I could feel a surge of mana come to me. I would need to ask how she did that, later. A sixth, and even that surge was running out. It lashed that terrible whip at me, and this time it found home. Gloria distracted it with more lightning, but the burning pain was already there. It began to pull me towards it.

With the last of my mana, fighting through the pain, I delivered a shattering blow to the seventh and last of the chains holding it. With a roar, I drew all that remained from my shield gauntlet, and focused it all on the curse icon. With a rush, it was gone. The Balar burst into an unholy inferno. We had won.

That... didn't exactly help with the aftermath. I was injured, and badly. I could feel multiple broken ribs, the lines of fire from the inferno whip. The others were in various states of exhaustion and pain, but we had work to do. "Misun! Chaske! You can record, but cut any live feeds NOW!"

"You got it, boss!" a tinny voice came from the drone closest to me.

"Everyone, you know what to do. Amber, Gloria, gather the coinage and materials. Twins, help them find anything they might miss. Whitney, can you carry the victim to the ER?" She nodded at me, panting and out of breath. "Good. Lucy, go with her. Emily, I need you with me for the hard part."

"What? What do you mean the hard part."

I could hear the sirens approaching. There was wreckage to deal with. Other victims of the rampaging beast. Some of them were not looking good, either caught in the crossfire or before we had arrived. The buildings nearest us carried scars of flame and spell and gunfire.

"We have more authorities than just the police to deal with. Come on. Help me get the other victims prepared for paramedics." Reaching into my Extradimensional Space, I pulled out two of her medical kits. We set to the grim work. It was all we could do, now.