As soon as Lust introduced herself, she immediately attacked. Idris deftly thwarted her initial assault, expertly deflecting the second strike and sending her stumbling back. In a seamless motion, he lunged forward, wielding his spear in his left hand and his short sword in his right. With precision, he propelled the spear, pinning the cloth to the ground, followed by a swift swing of his sword. Lust agilely sidestepped, breaking her chains while evading the sword's trajectory as it pierced the cloth. From beneath the fabric emerged a pale, androgynous figure, devoid of any facial features, with ebony patches spreading from her feet to the top of her head.
Despite Lust's incredible speed, the dust stirred by her movements betrayed her position. Idris grinned, executing a swift roll to retrieve his spear. Pivoting around, he poised himself for the opportune moment and thrust the spear into Lust's abdomen. Momentarily stalled, Lust maintained her composure, taunting Idris with a derisive sneer. "Well, aren’t you just a little ray of sunshine."
Undeterred, Idris raised his sword and drove it through Lust's mouth, the blade emerging from the rear of her skull. "You certainly like the sound of your own voice," he quipped.
"Thuhkhahaksdfej…" Lust's speech halted, her brow furrowing as her eyes narrowed into a menacing glare. "...igadstHIRHHSISKKK!"
Idris maintained his smile. "Ah, now that’s much better." Anchoring his feet, he released his grasp on the spear, both hands securing the sword's hilt. Lust's eyes widened when Menelik's warhammer connected with the side of her face.
"STOOOPID!" Menelik roared.
Lust's head jerked sideways, Idris' sword pressing against it, sparks igniting as it clashed with Menelik's weapon. She tumbled several meters before colliding with a castle wall. After a brief pause on the floor, she sprang back up, her head drooping on her shoulder, yet exhibiting no genuine signs of injury or pain. The spear had dislodged and the stomach wound had seamlessly sealed. Clasping her head, she readjusted it, the severed portions melding back together seamlessly.
Menelik turned towards Idris, his movement deliberate. "Bro, I channeled EVERYTHING into that swing, all of it, the WHOLE shebang, but, like, I still have some juice left, you know? Just not the gusto to go harder on another swing. That one was it bro."
Maeve and Zero found themselves in a comparable predicament. Sloth positioned himself on the stairs, leaving Greed to engage alone—it was evidently a mere game to them. Greed adeptly evaded Zero's short sword maneuvers and Maeve's dagger lunges, though she withheld her counterattacks, at least until Maeve nearly landed a hit. Just as Maeve poised for a strike, an open hand phased through the fabric near Greed’s head, unleashing a fiery explosion that narrowly missed Maeve.
Zero's sword abruptly vanished mid-swing, replaced by his lifted fist.
"What's your plan?" Maeve inquired.
"Taking things up close and personal." Without a pause, Zero lunged forward, a barrage of punches launched in quick succession, each narrowly avoiding Greed's head with smoke billowing from his knuckles.
Maeve dashed forth, resolved to catch Sloth off guard, aiming for a chest stab. However, her intent was violently thwarted as she was propelled backward, colliding with the castle wall. From the shadows behind Sloth on the stairs emerged a fourth figure garbed in the same red cloth and brass chains.
Zero vaulted from the stairs, aligning himself in front of Lust, Sloth, Greed, and the newfound figure. Their collective gaze converged upon Idris and Menelik, who had joined Zero at the stair's base.
Idris couldn't conceal his exasperation. "Marvelous, another one, what’s their flavor of bullshit?"
Maeve regrouped with the others, her fatigue palpable. She released a weary exhale. "Hurling you across the room with telekinesis."
"Ah." Idris responded, a hint of resignation in his voice. "That’s a little ridiculous."
Lust lowered her head, shrouding herself within her cloth. "Meet Wrath." And before they could respond, Lust initiated another attack, her focus zeroed in on Idris.
Menelik, discerning an opening, stowed his warhammer and promptly switched to his mage's staff. Embedding it into the ground, the candy forest green gemstone began emitting a faint luminance as Menelik commenced a chant.
"Gather 'round, for a spell profound, I summon forces from sacred ground.
Behold the might I shall unleash, In this incantation, let magic reach.
Witness the brilliance, the awe untold, As the universe bends to my control.
With every incantation, I ascend, A sorcerer supreme, until the end."
The gemstone radiated a luminous brilliance, enveloping Menelik in a resplendent glow. In an instant, twelve golden orbs manifested from the staff, arranging themselves in a celestial circle above his head. With resolute control of the staff, he aimed it forward, prompting the orbs to strike Lust in rapid succession, launching her away from Idris.
As Menelik poised for another incantation, Greed's cloak exterior transformed into an expanse of open-palmed hands. “LOOK! I CAN USE MAGIC TOO!” Greed immediately unleashed a chaotic torrent of spells that scattered unpredictably across the room.
Menelik, Idris, Maeve, and Zero orchestrated a synchronized ballet of nimble movements, gracefully evading the unrestrained spells that erupted amidst them.
Zero adeptly positioned himself for optimal spell observation. Drawing in a deep breath, he harnessed the power within, unleashing two consecutive mighty roars. The forceful exhalations quelled the spells, silencing them promptly.
"Enough, Greed," Lust retorted impatiently, her amusement waning. "Your recklessness is marring all my fun, stop being a brat!"
Without delay, Greed's hands retracted beneath her cloak. "You're the true brat here, Lust. All you want and think about is for yourself," Greed shot back, shifting her gaze toward Lust. "Honestly, you ought to have been named 'Pohlepa' instead of 'Požuda'."
Lust thrust her hand into Greed's head, her fingers puncturing the fabric and penetrating the right side of her head. A piercing cry of anguish erupted from Greed.
Lust withdrew her hand, the fabric promptly restoring itself. "KNOW. YOUR. PLACE. GREED," she declared, then turned to Wrath. "Let's continue this outdoors," Lust proposed. "Before we destroy Master's castle."
While Wrath remained motionless, Idris, Maeve, Menelik, and Zero found themselves involuntarily levitating. Before any reaction was possible, Wrath exerted formidable force, propelling them toward the castle door. The door opened just before they collided with it, and they were forcefully expelled from the castle, plummeting back towards the sandy ground below.
Mere moments prior to impact, Maeve deftly enveloped them within her cloak's protective embrace. Upon landing safely, Menelik extracted himself with a mix of horror and wonder etched upon his features.
"What… What was that place?" he exclaimed, his expression oscillating between disbelief, amazement, and fear. "That was amazing, but terrifying, don’t do it again."
Idris and Zero followed suit, Idris immediately drawing Maeve close. In a hushed tone, he inquired, "Where… Where… Where did… Did… Did you take us just now?"
Leaning in, Maeve responded in a whisper. "The Void."
Idris nodded, shaking his head. "Right… Yeah… Yeah… Yeah… No… No… Nooooo… Never do that to me again, please."
As their gaze returned to the castle, Greed, Lust, Sloth, and Wrath stood along the precipice, the base of their cloths rippling in the breeze.
"They're coming," Zero alerted.
One after another, the four figures vanished from their elevated stance and materialized several meters in front of the group. Sloth, Lust, and Wrath each bore one of Greed's severed hands upon their shoulders. Upon landing, the hands disengaged, crawled back to Greed and slipped beneath her cloak's embrace.
"Oh, look at that, Master sent down big brother!" Lust's exclamation was filled with childlike delight.
Menelik's disgust was palpable. "HOW MANY OF YOU ARE THERE?!"
"What's the matter, donkey..." a deep, resonant voice reverberated behind Menelik. "...ya all out of juice?" Despite no one catching his approach, a towering, pale humanoid figure loomed behind Menelik, larger and more muscular than his counterparts.
"Say hello to Pride," Lust introduced.
Pride stood before them, his face like the others, devoid of any features, his cloak draped around his neck like a cape, swaying gently in the breeze that swept across the barren terrain.
Menelik pivoted to face Pride, who seized him by the face and drove him into the sand. Then, Pride's gaze shifted to the rest of the group, his words devoid of warmth. "My siblings might have played nice, but I don't intend to."
Idris charged Pride, brandishing both spear and sword. A sweeping sword strike was followed by a spear thrust. Pride raised his free arm, absorbing the sword's impact and swiftly deflecting the spear, embedding it into the sand. A powerful swing sent Menelik hurtling towards Idris, both landing heavily.
Rising with a measured grace, Pride refocused on Maeve and Zero, his sneer deepening. "Which of you donkeys is up next?" He paused, locking eyes with Maeve. "How about you?"
Lunging towards Maeve, Pride seized her face, intent on slamming her into the ground as he had done with Menelik. However, Maeve dissipated into the shadows, escaping his grasp.
Taken aback by Maeve's maneuver, Pride's attention pivoted to Zero, his movements swift and predatory. "Huh, looks like it’s your turn already!" he snarled.
Despite his massive frame, Pride moved with startling agility, closing the gap almost instantaneously, allowing Zero no time to react. He gripped Zero's face, repeatedly smashing it into the sand. As Menelik and Idris charged to intervene, Pride redirected his assault towards them, pummeling them instead.
Pride adeptly blocked and parried, deflecting their strikes effortlessly. Idris attempted a feint with his spear, but Pride anticipated the move, effortlessly seizing the weapon and throwing Idris off balance. Menelik swung his war hammer, but Pride thwarted the attack without breaking a sweat.
The two heroes collaborated, attacking from different angles, yet struggling to find an opening amidst Pride's impenetrable defense. After an intense exchange, an opportunity finally presented itself, but not for either of them – Pride unleashed a devastating strike to Menelik's chest, followed by a crushing kick to his head, sending him sprawling.
Seizing the moment, he kicked Idris's leg, forcing him to kneel. A powerful punch to Idris's head sent him sprawling as well.
Idris fought to regain his footing, but pain coursed through him, rendering him immobile. Suddenly, an inexplicable sensation surged from his shoulder blades, as if something yearned to burst forth. His back arched, and in an awe-inspiring display, two magnificent wings emerged, unfurling with grandeur.
"Bro… When you get wings? I ain’t ever seen you with no wings," Menelik exclaimed as he lifted himself from the sand, struggling to fully stand.
Idris turned towards him, wings elegantly unfurling. "Yeah, I know. There's this thing where I come from called personal boundaries. It means I don't have to spill every secret I have."
Menelik tilted his head, visibly perplexed and slightly put off.
"Ahhh, I’m messing," Idris chuckled. "I didn't know about them either." He playfully flapped his wings. "But they do be nice."
Menelik shook his head, a half-amused, half-bemused expression on his face. "You sarcastic, castle wall-looking ass… I was about to come over there and give you these hands… Talk’n as if—AHHHHH!" Menelik's words were cut short as Pride abruptly snatched him off the ground and tossed him skyward.
As Menelik spun through the air, he quickly regained his bearing. "Okay ya bludclot." He retracted his fingers and toes, transforming them into paws. The leaf pendant on his necklace emitted a radiant golden light, a shimmering cascade washing over him.
The golden aura shifted, transforming into a dazzling white as Menelik was instantaneously transported back to the ground. He landed gracefully on all fours, murmuring, "First Form..." His body surged with electric energy, and his tail transformed into a streak of lightning, casting a crimson-blue luminescence around. "Thunder Panther!"
With electric vigor coursing through him, Menelik darted across the sand with extraordinary speed. "Shoulda mind ya bizness!" he called out, his form blending into a fusion of white and blue brilliance.
Idris nimbly sidestepped as Menelik collided with Pride, ripping through the left side of his torso. Menelik quickly pivoted, repeating the action, beheading Pride, whose body slumped onto the sand.
Idris sheathed his sword and holstered the spear between his wings before approaching. "I think he’s dead." He directed his attention towards Lust. He smirked, poised with clawed hands. "Your turn?"
Idris launched himself forward with a powerful wing-assisted motion, carving through the sand towards Lust. However, as he moved in for the strike, he paused, realizing that Lust wasn't attempting to dodge.
Shaking off his momentary hesitation, Idris pressed forward with the attack, but he simply phased through Lust and her cloth. Readjusting his stance for another strike, his momentum faltered once again, this time due to the sudden appearance of another red-cloaked adversary.
Menelik regained his footing as Idris quickly returned to his side. He gazed toward Lust and the others. "Are you kidding me?" he exclaimed, disbelief etched across his face. "One, two, three, four... Five—SIX!?"
"What? You all out of steam?" Zero quipped as he and Maeve rejoined the group.
"Bro, what? No way. I'm just saying that–"
"Good, I thought you were getting a bit pusillanimous there for a second," Zero interjected.
Idris's head snapped back, a smirk tugging at his lips. "Did you just call this furry a pussy?" he asked, clearly entertained.
Zero nodded. "Yeah."
Menelik pivoted his glare from Zero to Idris, his mouth agape and his eyes shooting daggers of confusion. "Did you just call me a furry? Listen, you dickless sculpture, if Theriocephaly had moms, I'd swear on her that—"
"I may lack the tools, but I can still turn your nonexistent mother’s bolts my guy," Idris sneered.
As Zero and Maeve exchanged incredulous glances, Lust clapped her hands, reveling in the chaos. "Yes! Yes! YES! Fight! I love it!" She danced in exultation.
Menelik shifted his gaze from Idris to Lust. "Bitch, I swear, I'm gonna march over there and..." His words trailed off as he spotted the unexpected seventh member – Pride now stood among them. "What? Hold on." He glanced back to where Pride had been defeated. "Okay, that’s fine, that’s fine… Totally cool, didn’t just use all that mana for nothing, nope, not at all."
Lust gestured to the newest members and declared, "Allow me to introduce Envy and Gluttony."
Envy's cloth was ensnared by far more chains than the other, extending from their ankles to their neck. Gluttony's cloth remained untouched by chains and draped over a substantial, round form.
"Mwah, what a delight it is to make your acquaintance," Gluttony spoke with a low, elegant tone, infusing drama into every word. "That attaaack on my sister's life, Mr. Gargoyle, it was SO full of passion; it was truly remarkable… Shaaame it didn’t land though."
"It certainly was," Envy added confidently in a feminine, but slightly crazed voice. "Now that we're all here, we can proceed to my favorite part: the killing."
Lust muttered and sighed, then turned her attention to Maeve. "You've been avoiding joining in on the fun, and Master finds that rather unfair." She approached Gluttony and removed his cloth, revealing a mound of rounded clay held aloft by four severed hands. "Now, dear brother, do be a darling and eliminate these bothersome shadows." She gestured again at Maeve. "That way we can properly play with the Void Walker."
"Ceeertainly," Gluttony responded. A seam appeared in the clay before tearing open to unveil an abyss of darkness. Thirteen luminous yellow orbs soared from the darkness and into the sky, dissolving all the shadows in the area as they spread across the expanse.
Zero turned to Maeve. "You've got to hand it to them… They're efficient."
As soon as Lust introduced herself, she immediately attacked. Idris deftly thwarted her initial assault, expertly deflecting the second strike and sending her stumbling back. In a seamless motion, he lunged forward, wielding his spear in his left hand and his short sword in his right. With precision, he propelled the spear, pinning the cloth to the ground, followed by a swift swing of his sword. Lust agilely sidestepped, breaking her chains while evading the sword's trajectory as it pierced the cloth. From beneath the fabric emerged a pale, androgynous figure, devoid of any facial features, with ebony patches spreading from her feet to the top of her head.
Despite Lust's incredible speed, the dust stirred by her movements betrayed her position. Idris grinned, executing a swift roll to retrieve his spear. Pivoting around, he poised himself for the opportune moment and thrust the spear into Lust's abdomen. Momentarily stalled, Lust maintained her composure, taunting Idris with a derisive sneer. "Well, aren’t you just a little ray of sunshine."
Undeterred, Idris raised his sword and drove it through Lust's mouth, the blade emerging from the rear of her skull. "You certainly like the sound of your own voice," he quipped.
"Thuhkhahaksdfej…" Lust's speech halted, her brow furrowing as her eyes narrowed into a menacing glare. "...igadstHIRHHSISKKK!"
Idris maintained his smile. "Ah, now that’s much better." Anchoring his feet, he released his grasp on the spear, both hands securing the sword's hilt. Lust's eyes widened when Menelik's warhammer connected with the side of her face.
"STOOOPID!" Menelik roared.
Lust's head jerked sideways, Idris' sword pressing against it, sparks igniting as it clashed with Menelik's weapon. She tumbled several meters before colliding with a castle wall. After a brief pause on the floor, she sprang back up, her head drooping on her shoulder, yet exhibiting no genuine signs of injury or pain. The spear had dislodged and the stomach wound had seamlessly sealed. Clasping her head, she readjusted it, the severed portions melding back together seamlessly.
Menelik turned towards Idris, his movement deliberate. "Bro, I channeled EVERYTHING into that swing, all of it, the WHOLE shebang, but, like, I still have some juice left, you know? Just not the gusto to go harder on another swing. That one was it bro."
Maeve and Zero found themselves in a comparable predicament. Sloth positioned himself on the stairs, leaving Greed to engage alone—it was evidently a mere game to them. Greed adeptly evaded Zero's short sword maneuvers and Maeve's dagger lunges, though she withheld her counterattacks, at least until Maeve nearly landed a hit. Just as Maeve poised for a strike, an open hand phased through the fabric near Greed’s head, unleashing a fiery explosion that narrowly missed Maeve.
Zero's sword abruptly vanished mid-swing, replaced by his lifted fist.
"What's your plan?" Maeve inquired.
"Taking things up close and personal." Without a pause, Zero lunged forward, a barrage of punches launched in quick succession, each narrowly avoiding Greed's head with smoke billowing from his knuckles.
Maeve dashed forth, resolved to catch Sloth off guard, aiming for a chest stab. However, her intent was violently thwarted as she was propelled backward, colliding with the castle wall. From the shadows behind Sloth on the stairs emerged a fourth figure garbed in the same red cloth and brass chains.
Zero vaulted from the stairs, aligning himself in front of Lust, Sloth, Greed, and the newfound figure. Their collective gaze converged upon Idris and Menelik, who had joined Zero at the stair's base.
Idris couldn't conceal his exasperation. "Marvelous, another one, what’s their flavor of bullshit?"
Maeve regrouped with the others, her fatigue palpable. She released a weary exhale. "Hurling you across the room with telekinesis."
"Ah." Idris responded, a hint of resignation in his voice. "That’s a little ridiculous."
Lust lowered her head, shrouding herself within her cloth. "Meet Wrath." And before they could respond, Lust initiated another attack, her focus zeroed in on Idris.
Menelik, discerning an opening, stowed his warhammer and promptly switched to his mage's staff. Embedding it into the ground, the candy forest green gemstone began emitting a faint luminance as Menelik commenced a chant.
"Gather 'round, for a spell profound, I summon forces from sacred ground.
Behold the might I shall unleash, In this incantation, let magic reach.
Witness the brilliance, the awe untold, As the universe bends to my control.
With every incantation, I ascend, A sorcerer supreme, until the end."
The gemstone radiated a luminous brilliance, enveloping Menelik in a resplendent glow. In an instant, twelve golden orbs manifested from the staff, arranging themselves in a celestial circle above his head. With resolute control of the staff, he aimed it forward, prompting the orbs to strike Lust in rapid succession, launching her away from Idris.
As Menelik poised for another incantation, Greed's cloak exterior transformed into an expanse of open-palmed hands. “LOOK! I CAN USE MAGIC TOO!” Greed immediately unleashed a chaotic torrent of spells that scattered unpredictably across the room.
Menelik, Idris, Maeve, and Zero orchestrated a synchronized ballet of nimble movements, gracefully evading the unrestrained spells that erupted amidst them.
Zero adeptly positioned himself for optimal spell observation. Drawing in a deep breath, he harnessed the power within, unleashing two consecutive mighty roars. The forceful exhalations quelled the spells, silencing them promptly.
"Enough, Greed," Lust retorted impatiently, her amusement waning. "Your recklessness is marring all my fun, stop being a brat!"
Without delay, Greed's hands retracted beneath her cloak. "You're the true brat here, Lust. All you want and think about is for yourself," Greed shot back, shifting her gaze toward Lust. "Honestly, you ought to have been named 'Pohlepa' instead of 'Požuda'."
Lust thrust her hand into Greed's head, her fingers puncturing the fabric and penetrating the right side of her head. A piercing cry of anguish erupted from Greed.
Lust withdrew her hand, the fabric promptly restoring itself. "KNOW. YOUR. PLACE. GREED," she declared, then turned to Wrath. "Let's continue this outdoors," Lust proposed. "Before we destroy Master's castle."
While Wrath remained motionless, Idris, Maeve, Menelik, and Zero found themselves involuntarily levitating. Before any reaction was possible, Wrath exerted formidable force, propelling them toward the castle door. The door opened just before they collided with it, and they were forcefully expelled from the castle, plummeting back towards the sandy ground below.
Mere moments prior to impact, Maeve deftly enveloped them within her cloak's protective embrace. Upon landing safely, Menelik extracted himself with a mix of horror and wonder etched upon his features.
"What… What was that place?" he exclaimed, his expression oscillating between disbelief, amazement, and fear. "That was amazing, but terrifying, don’t do it again."
Idris and Zero followed suit, Idris immediately drawing Maeve close. In a hushed tone, he inquired, "Where… Where… Where did… Did… Did you take us just now?"
Leaning in, Maeve responded in a whisper. "The Void."
Idris nodded, shaking his head. "Right… Yeah… Yeah… Yeah… No… No… Nooooo… Never do that to me again, please."
As their gaze returned to the castle, Greed, Lust, Sloth, and Wrath stood along the precipice, the base of their cloths rippling in the breeze.
"They're coming," Zero alerted.
One after another, the four figures vanished from their elevated stance and materialized several meters in front of the group. Sloth, Lust, and Wrath each bore one of Greed's severed hands upon their shoulders. Upon landing, the hands disengaged, crawled back to Greed and slipped beneath her cloak's embrace.
"Oh, look at that, Master sent down big brother!" Lust's exclamation was filled with childlike delight.
Menelik's disgust was palpable. "HOW MANY OF YOU ARE THERE?!"
"What's the matter, donkey..." a deep, resonant voice reverberated behind Menelik. "...ya all out of juice?" Despite no one catching his approach, a towering, pale humanoid figure loomed behind Menelik, larger and more muscular than his counterparts.
"Say hello to Pride," Lust introduced.
Pride stood before them, his face like the others, devoid of any features, his cloak draped around his neck like a cape, swaying gently in the breeze that swept across the barren terrain.
Menelik pivoted to face Pride, who seized him by the face and drove him into the sand. Then, Pride's gaze shifted to the rest of the group, his words devoid of warmth. "My siblings might have played nice, but I don't intend to."
Idris charged Pride, brandishing both spear and sword. A sweeping sword strike was followed by a spear thrust. Pride raised his free arm, absorbing the sword's impact and swiftly deflecting the spear, embedding it into the sand. A powerful swing sent Menelik hurtling towards Idris, both landing heavily.
Rising with a measured grace, Pride refocused on Maeve and Zero, his sneer deepening. "Which of you donkeys is up next?" He paused, locking eyes with Maeve. "How about you?"
Lunging towards Maeve, Pride seized her face, intent on slamming her into the ground as he had done with Menelik. However, Maeve dissipated into the shadows, escaping his grasp.
Taken aback by Maeve's maneuver, Pride's attention pivoted to Zero, his movements swift and predatory. "Huh, looks like it’s your turn already!" he snarled.
Despite his massive frame, Pride moved with startling agility, closing the gap almost instantaneously, allowing Zero no time to react. He gripped Zero's face, repeatedly smashing it into the sand. As Menelik and Idris charged to intervene, Pride redirected his assault towards them, pummeling them instead.
Pride adeptly blocked and parried, deflecting their strikes effortlessly. Idris attempted a feint with his spear, but Pride anticipated the move, effortlessly seizing the weapon and throwing Idris off balance. Menelik swung his war hammer, but Pride thwarted the attack without breaking a sweat.
The two heroes collaborated, attacking from different angles, yet struggling to find an opening amidst Pride's impenetrable defense. After an intense exchange, an opportunity finally presented itself, but not for either of them – Pride unleashed a devastating strike to Menelik's chest, followed by a crushing kick to his head, sending him sprawling.
Seizing the moment, he kicked Idris's leg, forcing him to kneel. A powerful punch to Idris's head sent him sprawling as well.
Idris fought to regain his footing, but pain coursed through him, rendering him immobile. Suddenly, an inexplicable sensation surged from his shoulder blades, as if something yearned to burst forth. His back arched, and in an awe-inspiring display, two magnificent wings emerged, unfurling with grandeur.
"Bro… When you get wings? I ain’t ever seen you with no wings," Menelik exclaimed as he lifted himself from the sand, struggling to fully stand.
Idris turned towards him, wings elegantly unfurling. "Yeah, I know. There's this thing where I come from called personal boundaries. It means I don't have to spill every secret I have."
Menelik tilted his head, visibly perplexed and slightly put off.
"Ahhh, I’m messing," Idris chuckled. "I didn't know about them either." He playfully flapped his wings. "But they do be nice."
Menelik shook his head, a half-amused, half-bemused expression on his face. "You sarcastic, castle wall-looking ass… I was about to come over there and give you these hands… Talk’n as if—AHHHHH!" Menelik's words were cut short as Pride abruptly snatched him off the ground and tossed him skyward.
As Menelik spun through the air, he quickly regained his bearing. "Okay ya bludclot." He retracted his fingers and toes, transforming them into paws. The leaf pendant on his necklace emitted a radiant golden light, a shimmering cascade washing over him.
The golden aura shifted, transforming into a dazzling white as Menelik was instantaneously transported back to the ground. He landed gracefully on all fours, murmuring, "First Form..." His body surged with electric energy, and his tail transformed into a streak of lightning, casting a crimson-blue luminescence around. "Thunder Panther!"
With electric vigor coursing through him, Menelik darted across the sand with extraordinary speed. "Shoulda mind ya bizness!" he called out, his form blending into a fusion of white and blue brilliance.
Idris nimbly sidestepped as Menelik collided with Pride, ripping through the left side of his torso. Menelik quickly pivoted, repeating the action, beheading Pride, whose body slumped onto the sand.
Idris sheathed his sword and holstered the spear between his wings before approaching. "I think he’s dead." He directed his attention towards Lust. He smirked, poised with clawed hands. "Your turn?"
Idris launched himself forward with a powerful wing-assisted motion, carving through the sand towards Lust. However, as he moved in for the strike, he paused, realizing that Lust wasn't attempting to dodge.
Shaking off his momentary hesitation, Idris pressed forward with the attack, but he simply phased through Lust and her cloth. Readjusting his stance for another strike, his momentum faltered once again, this time due to the sudden appearance of another red-cloaked adversary.
Menelik regained his footing as Idris quickly returned to his side. He gazed toward Lust and the others. "Are you kidding me?" he exclaimed, disbelief etched across his face. "One, two, three, four... Five—SIX!?"
"What? You all out of steam?" Zero quipped as he and Maeve rejoined the group.
"Bro, what? No way. I'm just saying that–"
"Good, I thought you were getting a bit pusillanimous there for a second," Zero interjected.
Idris's head snapped back, a smirk tugging at his lips. "Did you just call this furry a pussy?" he asked, clearly entertained.
Zero nodded. "Yeah."
Menelik pivoted his glare from Zero to Idris, his mouth agape and his eyes shooting daggers of confusion. "Did you just call me a furry? Listen, you dickless sculpture, if Theriocephaly had moms, I'd swear on her that—"
"I may lack the tools, but I can still turn your nonexistent mother’s bolts my guy," Idris sneered.
As Zero and Maeve exchanged incredulous glances, Lust clapped her hands, reveling in the chaos. "Yes! Yes! YES! Fight! I love it!" She danced in exultation.
Menelik shifted his gaze from Idris to Lust. "Bitch, I swear, I'm gonna march over there and..." His words trailed off as he spotted the unexpected seventh member – Pride now stood among them. "What? Hold on." He glanced back to where Pride had been defeated. "Okay, that’s fine, that’s fine… Totally cool, didn’t just use all that mana for nothing, nope, not at all."
Lust gestured to the newest members and declared, "Allow me to introduce Envy and Gluttony."
Envy's cloth was ensnared by far more chains than the other, extending from their ankles to their neck. Gluttony's cloth remained untouched by chains and draped over a substantial, round form.
"Mwah, what a delight it is to make your acquaintance," Gluttony spoke with a low, elegant tone, infusing drama into every word. "That attaaack on my sister's life, Mr. Gargoyle, it was SO full of passion; it was truly remarkable… Shaaame it didn’t land though."
"It certainly was," Envy added confidently in a feminine, but slightly crazed voice. "Now that we're all here, we can proceed to my favorite part: the killing."
Lust muttered and sighed, then turned her attention to Maeve. "You've been avoiding joining in on the fun, and Master finds that rather unfair." She approached Gluttony and removed his cloth, revealing a mound of rounded clay held aloft by four severed hands. "Now, dear brother, do be a darling and eliminate these bothersome shadows." She gestured again at Maeve. "That way we can properly play with the Void Walker."
"Ceeertainly," Gluttony responded. A seam appeared in the clay before tearing open to unveil an abyss of darkness. Thirteen luminous yellow orbs soared from the darkness and into the sky, dissolving all the shadows in the area as they spread across the expanse.
Zero turned to Maeve. "You've got to hand it to them… They're efficient."
