Radahn's footsteps were trembling against the earth and soil. His breath was a smog of heat and magic. Every motion caused the very air to crackle as the sky above them in the hidden place in the trunk of the tree began to twist with massive storm clouds. This was the power of the greatest Demi-god, unburdened by disease now. His gold and red armor seemed to be gleaming with fresh blood and fresher divine grace as his eyes glowed brightly with Miquella's unalloyed kind of golden grace. Far too pure. Each hand drew a massive rune marked blade that raised stonws around him with the ease of a flicked wrist. The stones solidified into powerful meteorites in formation behind him like a halo of pain.
Melina stepped forward as she whispered, "Tempe reple." A bubble formed around her mother, sealing her in a tiny pocket of time. It would allow her to watch, but nothing could affect her inside, nor something outside. It didn't stop the meteor, but it ensured she wouldn't die to it mid-fight or be the subject of collateral damage. She could not afford distractions. She wasn't even sure that she stood even a flicker of a chance, but Luna had entrusted her with these spells. Spells from a land she proudly called Home. If anything could stop Radahn, it had to be the candlelit girl here and now.
Radahn seemed disnissive as Melina stepped onto the edge of the ledge that oversaw the church. He snorted angrily and fired all six of his meteors at her at deafening speeds. He had already begun to turn when Melina shouted with a raised hand, "Arc-lila!" As a burst of lightning shout from five fingers and shattered five meteorites while the last was thrown off by the detonation of the rest. He slowly focused on the girl with a scowling growl.
Melina leaped off the balcony just as he started to turn and splashed a specialized perfume bottle across his face, which flashed with an intense light and blinded him. He stumbled back as she landed on his chest, blade held hand covering his eyes with the back as Melina sliced across the steaps of his chest plate. He dropped one sword and reached for her, but she was too fast as she jumped away and shouted,"Arntha!" As fire burst from her fingers and splashed across his face while his chest plate landed with a crack of metal on the floor.
Melina was confident as she landed on her backfoot. He was powerful but clearly slow and cocky. If she could keep away and chip him down, this was doable. All that confident broke pretry fast when she noticed no hard footing beneath her, and Radahn's now truly hateful gaze locked on her. He held a hand forward as her body lurched towards him, letting out a scream of fear before a strange blade ripped through Radahn's wrist. A blade of hardened blood, black, yet incandescent.
Morgott caught Melina as she flew into his arms and leaped onto the ledge. He looked... older to Melina. His features had changed to an almost grandfatherly demeanor, where once was spite. "Are you hurt, sister?"
"Not yet." She answered as he nodded softly, turning as he splashed the excess blood from his sword.
Both watched as Radahn's hand began to stitch itself back together. Terrible golden light shone from the bud of hist wrist as sinew and skin ripped and peeled forward, regrowing bone and tissue alike. When it finished, he flexed his hand and snarled confidently.
"It would seem this battle will not end cleanly." Morgott spoke as he turned and stood before Melina. "But that is my twin brother's body. Good, or Ill, he is mine to handle."
"Radahn is in..." The implication sickened Melina to her core. "No." She shook her head. "Brother or not, none shall fight alone. Not while they stand with us."
"And who just might this little, smattering of people be called, hm? Tell me, sister. What are we?"
Melina thought as she gazed at the hateful man. Even in undeath, she could feel the spuring rage and bloodlust eminating from him. Whatever puppeteer was at work had not needed much to make Radahn this way, but it still spoke volumes to how much he had been weakened by the rot.
Both could feel that every second that passed, they felt heavier. Gravity was growing with each passing moment. Melina took a long breath as she focused on every second of her readings.
"We are the FoLD." She did not fully know where the word had come from, but she felt it deep in her heart.
"My. What a cute name. Then, as of today, Morgott, King of Leyndell stands at your side!" He raised his blade to the side as his other hand coalesced golden light. He had come just in time. He had spent far too long healing up after his own failure to defeat Mohg. Now, this bastard Radahn was pilotting his body like a puppet, wielding their newly combined might with the power of this new 'god' behind him. He had only planned to take out this pathetic worm or die trying, but something about this little band he had been watching made him reconsider.
"Then let us burn this abominable defilement of order!" Melina shouted as her will became form. Fire crackled along the lengths of her hair like tear drops of orange and black. The smell of sulfur and fire began to eminate like waves off her as the book in her hand burned ever brighter with dark fire.
Radahn roared violently, charging as he reached out with his gravity magic. He found it ping off a section around the two. Perhaps a blessing of some opposing power. It was barely noticeable, but it shone with a raw gold hue at the very edges of their figures.
Melina leaped high as Morgott stabbed his blade and began to fill the soil. Seconds later, Radahn's charge was interrupted by a massive, holy geyser as he flew up briefly and was smacked back down ny Melina as she shouted,"Omnis Ven-ren!" As a wall of force struck and launched him back to the ground before he could pad the air and crashed with such force that it formed a small crater in the dark soil. He was starting to get angry.
Morgott charged first, blade poised to end things quickly. Radahn caught the sword with his off hand, gravity, and metal gauntlet pressing back against Morgott's strike. The old horned man grunted, pressing against his palm as the general reared back and swung, catching him in the shoulder and sending the old man flying. He raised both arms and tore down the wall with magic around Morgott, crushing and containing him for a moment with a painful cry from the old king.
"No, you DON'T!" Melina roared from the corner of Radahn's vision just as he felt a smashing wall collide with him and slam him through the entire church as it shattered down around him. Melina's eyes briefly glowed purple, copying and reworking what she had seen Radahn do. Her hand shook, and she cried as she felt her wrist break. Gravity magic put so much strain in the body, and the growing levels of Radahn's own power were becoming painful. It felt like she was underwater, and every second, the waters around her got deeper to the point that breathing began to get harder. She didn't think her body could take another spell of his. Not right now.
Morgott slowly dragged himself out as Melina rushed over. She muttered lightly as a small golden glow restored his more superficial wounds, and she was glad to find he hadn't suffered anything worse just yet. "It isn't over." He spat out a long bit of blood as he reaffirmed the grip on his blade.
The entire ruined church began to rise and scatter like a thousand flying grenade shards. Morgott covered Melina in the shroud of his cloak as, thankfully, neither was struck beyond bits and pieces. Radahn rose from the broken place, his eyes burning so intensely that Morgott could feel the rage from here. Practically taste the smoke of his breath.
Every wall around them began to buckle and crack before the entirety of the brace that surrounded the tree began to fly apart. A massive storm surged as stone and masonry and bodies alike rose and formed a tornado of purple malice. Melina watched in horror as one man turned an entire palace into his artillery as stone and bone were crushed and compacted in the sky while his face bent into a horrible, sadistic grin of glee.
"I don't have a spell to stop that much..." She muttered nervously.
"Neither do I." The old king croaked out softly.
...
My beloved consort would handle them well. He was far too grand to be felled in a state where his mind is clear. My power ensured he stayed focused and ready. I could not have distractions buzzing about my sweet king's head.
The waters here smell foully, but poor Malenia had been careless. She had brought rot here, but I would cleanse it. With just my footsteps, the waters of our sacred grove grew clean. Crystal clear waters at the base of a garden full of perfect golden lilies that glistened so beautifully. I sighed happily as I walked through them towards the large bulge where once I lay in the heart of the Haligtree. Where once I had thought my blood alone could sustain it or give me the maturity I sought. I laughed at my own foolishness. How childish I had been.
My hands traced the ashen, rotted wood as it once more blossomed into amber and golden wood. From my touch, it grew and extended upward with lines of dancing golden threads as I breathed new life into my Haligtree. With this, I would truly birth a new world.
The tree rumbled. A frown slowly stretched down my lips as it rumbled again. And again. I felt the tree buckling slightly. Radahn was going too far. If he kept this up, he would destroy my precious tree. He would ruin everything. No, no, no, my champion, my elden lord would not be my folly.
I reached out ever so gently toward the thread of his mind and gave it an oh so soft little tug. I wormed into his mind and began to pull back on his magic. He could squish a few bugs without breaking my tree.
...
Radahn clutched his head suddenly, painfully fighting back against something in his brain as he croaked out, "...no...!" He could barely even utter the word like his vocal cords had been restricted. The flow of magic began to fall apart. Something was affecting him. "Out...out...!" He roared violently as his magic whipped and shattered everything around him. It burst and popped in pockets on the ground, and falling stonework exploded or flew in random directions as he lost all grip on his own power.
Melina had no clue what was going on, but it was their one chance. "I may have something that can stop his healing."
"I am all ears, little sister."
"... I am older than you."
"Are you? My, you wear it well." He chuckled. "Get on with it then."
"Just get me in close."
He cackled lightly, a bit of the old warmonger still inside as he nodded. "That will be the easy part." He lifted her onto his shoulder as the ground grew more unstable. The gravity had stilled, but stilled at an oppressive level. Intense enough to be rough, but not so bad that Morgott lost all ability to move.
"Once we get in close, I have a spell that should burn him to nothing but ashes inside out."
"That ought to do it nicely."
"Hopefully."
"We have but fool's hope, dear sister. Fool's hope, indeed." He let put a heavy cackle again as the air filled with broken pillars and shattered tree roots. "Let us take put his flame of ambition our, once and for all!"
Melina held on tight as the horned king leaped from ruinous remain to remain. Each leap marked by shredding tornadoes of broken glass, bone, and rock, while other pockets simply risked detonating anything from the smallest crumb to entire buildings at random. Morgott felt the heat and grit of one blast as he dove across a pillar, grunting painfully as the stone specs peppered his tired skin. He fixated on Radahn as the demi-god roared and thrashed in place upon a single broken platform where the church had once called its gate.
Morgott dove after a few quick steps and palmed Melina by her boot soles in his hand. "Make it count, sister!" He roared as he hurled her full force at Radahn as another pillar exploded beside where he had jumped.
Melina dove like a flash of lightning, using a brief cast to soften her landing just enough that her boots broke Radahns rib, and not her ankles. He stepped back a few paces in confusion as she gripped onto the edge of his cloak clasp and planted her other palm over the blackened flesh of his pectoral.
"Aratarnth-Hubriaveera!" She remembered what rhe words translated to as she spoke them. Passionate fiery Pride Furnace. A powerful spell that converted the users' own emotions into fire inside. The greater pride and arrogance, the more intense the flame. She felt it work.
His chest felt warm at first as he tried to grab her. Soon after, he started to pant. His hands went for his chest as Melina kicked off. He grabbed at his skin. His roar grew heavy and violent as his chesy began to glow brighter and brighter. Within mere seconds, his chest resembled an iron bar fresh from the furnace. Then, it ignited.
Melina wasn't prepared for just what she had cast. The fire was a deep and heavy red as it ripped out of him almost like the claw of a monster before wrapping around him. She would compare it later to seeing a man be grabbed in the talons of a bear and dragged away as the lashing flames slowly burned him inside and out. He thrashed. He wailed. He cried. All in vain.
Within thirty seconds, all that remained of the Red King of Caelid was little more than smolders of ash at the base of a broken, dead tree and a fluttering soul bathed so deeply in red that it seemed to drip hate itself that slid into a root nearby.
Then, the tree lit up with gold.