The Destructive Adventures of the Lovers-Chapter 73: Saviors Vs. Destroyers Part II

Snow whipped around them, slicing through the frozen air like shards of broken glass. Zeze, Xyrille, and Owen faced Aeiwou, Ella, and Raven in a field of shattered ice and twisted trees, the cold seeping into their bones as if the world itself had turned against them.

Zeze stepped forward, fists clenched, her breath coming out in frosty clouds. She met Aeiwou's piercing blue gaze, eyes like glacial pits. "Ella, snap out of it! You're stronger than this. Don't let her control you."

Ella tilted her head, a twisted grin spreading across her face. She took a step forward, her feet crackling against the ice. "Stronger? You don't know anything about me, Zeze." She laughed, the sound echoing off the frozen peaks like a scream in a dark hallway. "I feel powerful. Free."

Xyrille's eyes darted to Raven, who hovered above them, his long black cloak billowing in the bitter wind. His face was blank, his eyes hollow, as if his soul had been drained. She whispered to Owen, "Something's wrong. He's not...himself."

Owen's jaw tightened. "I know. We have to break Aeiwou's control. But first, we survive this."

Aeiwou spread her arms, the air around her spiraling into a blizzard, shards of ice forming around her fingers. "Come then, little heroes. Let's see if you can survive my storm."

Zeze's body blurred as she lunged forward, lightning-fast, a streak of white against the darkened snow. She aimed a sharp kick at Aeiwou's chest, but Ella intercepted her, slamming her to the ground with a shockwave of ice that cracked the earth beneath them.

"Ella!" Zeze gasped, pushing herself up, her vision blurring. "This isn't you!"

Ella only grinned, her eyes glowing with an unnatural blue light as she formed a spear of ice in her hand, tossing it with brutal precision. Zeze twisted to the side, the spear slicing past her cheek, leaving a stinging trail of cold fire.

Owen drew his sword, its blade gleaming with a faint, warm light that cut through the haze. He leaped at Raven, their swords clashing with a metallic scream. Sparks flew as metal met metal, Owen's blade deflecting Raven's vicious strikes. He could see the flicker of doubt in Raven's eyes, the ghost of his former self buried beneath Aeiwou's control.

"Fight it, Raven!" Owen grunted, parrying a brutal downward slash. "Don't let her twist you like this!"

Raven's eyes narrowed, his movements growing more erratic, his strikes wilder. For a brief moment, his hand shook, his blade hesitating. But then Aeiwou's voice cut through the storm.

"Finish them, my puppets!" Aeiwou screamed, her voice sharp as shattered glass. She raised her arms, and the ground around her erupted in jagged spikes of ice, trapping Xyrille in a deadly circle.

Xyrille's hands glowed with raw, earth-shaking power. She slammed her palms into the ground, sending a shockwave through the ice. The spikes shattered, splintering into a thousand frozen shards. She stepped forward, eyes blazing, fists wrapped in swirling stone. "You won't break us, Aeiwou!"

Aeiwou's lips twisted into a snarl. "Then I'll shatter you!" She flicked her wrist, and a tidal wave of ice surged forward, crashing into Xyrille, sending her sprawling.

Zeze shot forward, grabbing Xyrille's arm and yanking her to her feet. "Stay with me!"

"Don't... worry about me." Xyrille coughed, blood staining the snow at her feet. "Just... just keep fighting."

Ella stepped closer, her ice spear reforming in her hand, sharp and wicked. She locked eyes with Zeze, a flicker of her old self surfacing, just for a heartbeat. "Zeze... run."

Zeze's heart twisted. "Ella..."

But then the moment passed, and Ella's face twisted back into that cruel, twisted mask as she hurled the spear. Zeze ducked, the spear shattering against the rocks behind her.

Owen roared, breaking free from his duel with Raven, his blade slicing through the icy air as he threw himself at Aeiwou, his fury a blazing fire against her unending winter. "You'll pay for this!"

Aeiwou caught his blade with a wall of frozen air, her laughter echoing in the storm. "Pathetic." She flicked her wrist, and the ice exploded, sending Owen crashing into the rocks, his sword clattering beside him.

Zeze dropped to his side, eyes wide with fear. "Owen! Get up! Don't you dare quit now!"

Xyrille crawled beside them, her breath coming in sharp, icy gasps. "We... we have to keep fighting. We can't let her win."

Aeiwou hovered above them, her eyes glowing with unearthly power, her arms spread wide as the storm raged around her. "Is this all the Creation World has to offer? A few broken warriors clinging to their last breaths?"

Zeze clenched her fists, blood trickling down her chin. She met Aeiwou's icy stare and spat into the snow. "We're not broken. And we're not done."

Aeiwou's chilling roar echoed through the frozen wasteland, her blue eyes blazing with fury as she summoned yet more Yetis and snow demons. Their monstrous forms broke through the icy ground, howling as they emerged, their jagged claws and frost-coated fangs glistening in the pale light.

Zeze, Xyrille, and Owen staggered back, their breaths sharp and rapid, fogging in the freezing air.

"We can't let them corner us!" Zeze yelled, tightening her grip on her blades. "Stay together!"

Before they could brace themselves, the air behind them split with the sharp crack of footsteps. Matt, Gabriel, and Margo burst through the snowstorm, weapons at the ready.

"We're with you!" Gabriel called, his eyes locking onto the hulking forms of the Yetis charging their way. He shot Margo a glance, and she nodded, her hands crackling with energy.

Matt clenched his fists, flames sparking at his knuckles. "Let's end this."

They clashed in a whirlwind of fire, ice, and steel. Margo's powers arced through the air, shattering icy limbs and splintering snow demons into shards. Matt's blazing fists cut through the white fog, setting Yetis ablaze as their roars turned to screams of melting agony. Zeze spun, her blades slicing through the thick fur and cracking bones as she darted between them, a streak of lightning in the chaos.

Xyrille roared as she slammed her fist into the ground, rocks ripping free from the frozen earth, swirling around her before she hurled them into the fray, crushing the demons beneath their weight.

Owen took to the skies, his blade whistling through the icy wind as he clashed with a towering snow demon, slicing through its frozen heart in a single, brutal strike.

As the last of the monsters crumbled to ice dust, the battlefield fell silent, save for the ragged breaths of the survivors. Blood stained the snow, steaming in the bitter air.

In the darkness beyond their clash, Ella fought within her own mind. She could see it—a light, small and distant, cutting through the void that Aeiwou had wrapped around her soul. She reached for it, her fingers trembling.

"Please..." she whispered, her tears freezing as they fell into the emptiness. She felt the cracks in her own mind, felt the shards of herself breaking away, scattering into the abyss.

The light drew closer, but she felt it—a darkness tightening around her, a silent whisper echoing through the void.

"Even if you break free," it hissed, wrapping around her like a serpent, "you will die."

Ella's scream echoed through the void, but it never reached the icy battlefield. She was trapped, forever, the last flicker of hope crushed into the blackness.