Doma lifted her hand, "Prepare to die,"
CRACKE! The sky above them cracked, and the two looked up in shock. A large demon lunged out, flying toward Zuggtmoy, crying his eyes.
CLANG! From behind him, Merida lunged out, slicing his body in half.
The rampaging Merida. Her goal was to end the infection and the fate that fell upon her family. To that end, she was no fool. Killing the infected was meaningless, and even killing the demon that contracted the Cuchilla family was foolish.
Unless she burns the main source, their rot will spread again, and the demon queen will send another demon to lead her armies.
Merida wanted the demon queen dead, and the fungus infecting her body wished a similar goal, to overthrow their mother and take control of her power. To both ends, their way leads only to Zugtmoy's death.
A symbiotic relationship was born between the two. The fungi draw power from Zuggtmoy and give it to Merida, and she uses her skills and will to guide that power back toward the demon queen.
Doing that will slowly cause Zuggtmoy's power to flood into Merida's fungi, and when the balance ticks in its favor for more than half, the demon queen's authority will shift users.
Merida and her fungi goal were obvious, get as close to Zuggtmoy as possible and clash with her. Suck over half of her power and take her place.
Merida's eyes shifted aside, seeing Arad.
"No time to explain!" Doma replied, "His brain and spine were damaged, it will take him a few minutes to wake up again," She pointed one finger at Zuggtmoy.
Zuggtmoy could feel her limbs getting weaker.
^["We talk over this! She can't hear us this way."]^ Doma created a telepathic link between her and Merida. ^["What brought you here?"]^
^["Those are my words! What is Arad doing here? He wasn't supposed to get involved in this mess."]^ Merida screamed back at her.
^["We came looking for you, then this demon queen pulled us to her domain. I was planning to blind her and run away, but having you here gives us a fighting chance."]^ Doma smiled, ^["Isn't that right? Fungus?"]^
The fungus in Merida's body giggled. At this point, it had already developed its own consciousness.
^["I already absorbed 10% of mother's power. Get me over 50%, and it will be our win."]^
Doma lifted her hand, [Chained: Taurus]
Chains appeared around Merida's neck and torso. ^["Sorry, a temporary curse. But it will increase your physical powers in exchange for your magic and freedom."]^
^["You can do that?"]^
Merida and the fungi are two in one. But are still two separate souls. By cursing Merida to be her slave for a few minutes, she could rob her of all her mana and then grant her one of Arad's constellation Taurus. The same curse she used on her parents to grant them curses after death.
BAM! The two lunged at Zuggtmoy, Merida taking the frontline while Doma supported her with spells from the back.
^["One minute and a half until Arad wakes up. I only hope he comes sane."]^ Doma declared.
^["I'll need seven minutes to reach 50%. Let's hope he can at least help."]^ The fungus added.
^["Since most of his nervous system got destroyed, his consciousness retreated to my soul, and we switched places. But that also means he can see my mind."]^ Doma said as she blasted Zuggtmoy away as Merida slashed her.
^["I know you might have some embarrassing memories, but it's not time to worry about that."]^ Merida replied.
^["He can see everything about me if he wants. What I fear is him looking through my clairvoyance. It's the natural talent I used to see him when I was young."]^ Doma flew back, conjuring a barrier to protect Merida from one of Zuggtmoy's attacks.
^["Then I hope he can see a way to beat this thing."]^
^["I shouldn't call it a talent, but a curse. It's my curse, and only I should suffer from it. He doesn't need to see what shouldn't be seen."]^
SWOSH! Arad floated in the middle of the air, looking down only to see himself and all his wives standing in front of a silver coffin. He's the one who carried it all the way to a large golden tomb, leaving it in the central chamber.
Hundreds of years passed, and he finally reached his twilight, turning into dust and leaving his wives awaiting.
Massive ant-like beasts destroying the world, and islands floating in the limitless blue sky.
Thousands of years passed, and he could see white-haired twins chained down to an altar with a cult screaming his name.
From their ritual, he emerged yet turned to on them, dropping the world's islands back to the ground.
Several thousand years, and he woke up from his slumber, surpassing the limits of his twilight. On a journey he went, chasing the remnants of his wives to summon them back to him.
In front of his eyes, hundreds of thousands of years passed, and the world changed rapidly. A retired god fooling with humans, a little girl falling back into the golden temple he once put the coffin in, and a great power answering her call.
A one year that seemed like an eternity when the world stopped moving. Arad's mind got bombarded with the unhinged nature of Doma's curse, clairvoyance that looks into the future.
"GAH!" Arad opened his eyes, panting as he fell to his knees. "What?" He looked aside, seeing Merida dodging Zuggtmoy's mushroom tentacles, slicing them one after the other.
BAM! Zuggtmoy turned, seeing Arad with a clenched fist behind. ^This witch never...wait, where are the tattoos?^
Arad had seen glimpses of the far future, informing him that what he knew, the power he currently possesses is a mere droplet in what awaits. Merida, the one he came searching for is here with him. All he needs is to stop this demon so she can be safe.
^I did it before in hell, and I can do it again. Just like how my brother did it, how Doma explained it first. The void exists everywhere. Crush it with your will and cause it to collapse.^ CLACK! Arad's fist smashed into Zuggtmoy's face, and blue lightning crackled from his knuckles up to his shoulders. The air between his fist and Zuggtmoy's face crumbled on itself, igniting in a bright flash.
It was far weaker than what Gojo could produce, but the same thing nonetheless. Just like a kid's punch compared to that of an adult, what Arad lacked was only time.
A beam of light flashed, and Zuggtmoy's body flew away, missing half of her face.
"DOMA!" Arad shouted, "Prepare to blast her with Orion!" Arad clenched his fists as massive amounts of his mana flew to the sky, conjuring a massive lump of stone.
"Merida! Come with me. We're holding her off!" BAM! He lunged forward, swinging his fist at the demon queen.
"YES!" Merida cried, rushing after him.
Unlike Demogorgan, Zuggtmoy relied more on her servants than her raw power. He was a lone hunter, while she was a commander.