Grow your numbers further!

Crash! Niki's mace splits the ELIS entirely in half from the sheer impact of her blow. The moment this happens, Vex runs forward and kicks the top half a distance away. As soon as she lands, she delivers a horrific blow between the golden guard's legs. If he did have anything there, he certainly doesn't any longer. The bottom segment falls lifelessly to the ground, and the other half doesn't move anymore either.

"You're a dangerous ally," William says to her.

Niki chuckles. "Thanks!"

Amara meets up with them after running back from healing you. "Are you hurt at all?"

"No way. And even if I were, that's my job, silly. I protect you."

"Do not say it that way... It is also my job to keep you alive."

"That's true." She grabs Amara by the shoulder and pulls her in. "And you're the best at it."

Eva slips her wand between the tight cleavage of her tits, for safe-keeping of course. "We're doing it! I can tell, because we actually have a moment to catch our breath. There are hardly any of those stupid metal balls rolling around, and I think--Oh. They're forming into another huge golem over there. When will this end?"

Summer buzzes overhead. "Hey! Hang in there! I don't think we're finished yet."

Delphi finds her way back down. "I think Kyle is trying something weird on the balcony, so it's up to us to handle the trash."

"Don't forget about me!" Kashura stumbles into the conversation before readjusting her hat and straightening her attire. "Of course we can handle it. You have Abso's greatest sorceress on your side. No matter how dark the night, or how hopeless the fight, stand by me... Kashura Saylinor!" With one leg up, she poses with her wand across her chest. Then with a spin, she strikes a second pose, and winks at seemingly nobody.

Elok Daven breaks free from the roots and once again takes flight. While his eyes are on you, he doesn't notice the next attack coming. William soars through the air one again with radiant wings like an angel, and he lands a swing of his sword right against his opponent's with a loud ring of steel. Their weapons slide apart, and both take a short leap through the air backwards to face one another.

"Don't forget about me," William says with a slight smirk at the corner of his lips. "When I take you down, I'll become stronger than you ever have been. You may have taken us. Augmented us. But at the end of the day, you'll become nothing but a footnote in a history book. One about how a man from another land rose to become the world's most powerful Demon King."

Vex screams from below, "No fair! Come down here and fight!"

Meanwhile, you take a deep breath and focus your mind.

Aris rises up and out from your body, and she takes this moment of Elok's distraction to soar around the area. You can feel it, albeit distant--the connection. You, Alice, and Allie link yourselves to the minds of every ALICE golem below. Androids. Robots. Automatons. Whatever one may call them, you can tell now more than ever that they're more than that. Just like Allie said, it's just like Demon King Muian and his insectrin. When he was slain, they were free, and you've made close friends with some. Some ALICEs may choose to fight. They may choose to be villainous on their own. But the important thing is they must make the choice on their own, and that's the aura you extend across the battlefield below. You send the message--the hope of the two in your arms, and a **** plea to rethink what they're doing. They suddenly see it all--every moment of Alice's new life, and her love for you and everybody else who has accepted her.

Then you take Alice by the lower back, and place a hand upon her cheek. You dip her down, look into her beautiful glowing eyes, and press your lips tenderly against her own. The warmth of the kiss radiates out to Aris, and to every ALICE in the room. Just as Alice can feel every part of her body no matter how distant they're taken, it's as if this suddenly extends to all of them, as if they're all one.

After a moment passes, and you pull Alice back up, Aris floats up to you looking exhausted--as much as she can, with very few details on her face.

"I'm... tapped out," she mutters before puttering over your head, and gently pressing her head against the wall above the doorway. "S-Sleepy."

"Rraahh!" Elok swings his sword, but without the same precision or elegance as before. His composure is slipping. While William is **** to dodge away, Elok looks over the battlefield below him with a snarl. "This isn't possible," he mumbles under his breath.

You look down to see the ALICEs have stopped. Flushed, they seem too distracted to fight. They don't turn specifically to your side, but they lay down their weapons, and all at once, they surrender. Half of the enemy's army has been stopped in an instant.

The first thing you notice is that Breiah is gone.

Right after that, everything falls apart, and not for you. Figures start barging in from various entrances, either above or below. Lady Sulta appears, followed by Rabbit's Foot. Bulrak is here as well. Okawa the kitsune steps slowly into the chamber, accessing the situation curiously. Bek immediately sprints past them all, going straight for one of the remaining automatons. Mela's puppet body is still quite damaged, but she's present too. Sen-nu. Stax. Cat. Taiga. Koblix. Fang. Tom. Shivra. Candy. Lord Barkis. Rada, Eva's father. Nyllia Tesgella as well.

One by one, more arrive, even William's people--Jika, Trin, Stilet, Ribi, Juggernaut, Storm.

Vivi is the last of your friends to enter the room. "Where is she?" the witch mutters, scanning the room for her sister who has already departed.

Anastasia was defeated. Ariusia as well. Nae hasn't yet been seen again. However, Vivi wasn't the last person to enter. In the shadows, a certain djinn appears and watches the situation unfold curiously.

Serafina's eyes widen. She's been mostly keeping distant, but despite the size of the chamber, it's starting to feel a lot more claustrophobic. "I-I'm out of here!" she says, darting towards the balcony Breiah once stood.

"About time you all showed up," Niki says.

Coming up beside her is the mysterious Storm. He nods.

"You don't talk much, huh?" she asks.

He points towards the golem Bek is fighting.

She stares at him for a moment, however. "You seem... familiar."

But instead of lingering, the hooded man bolts over to assist the dwarf.

"Enough! Enough! Enough!" Elok Daven grasps his temples as a madness overtakes him. Everything is crumbling, and the control he previously had over the situation has slipped from his hands. He looks down at everything below, and at his own allies who have forsaken him. He turns to Breiah, but she's gone. That last realization seems to have caused something inside him to break. He squeezes the handle of his conjured sword so tight that the mana it's made from flickers, as if it's about to shatter. Energy crackles out from his body--especially from the faint lines down his skin, like bursting seams. "I've had enough of this. I don't care if the attack on Avana fails. I don't care of Thadius loses the throne. I don't even care that my own creations have become useless and defective. I'm the ultimate lifeform now. I don't need anybody. As long as I kill all of you day, I can rebuild. But now I'm going to find every last of your loved ones and make them suffer. Absoterra will be mine, and your family will be tortured. Your friends will be flayed. When I return to Earth, I'll find anyone you've ever known, Kyle! William! I'll crush them beneath my boots!"

After a moment of composing himself, he slowly turns his sword to point at you from afar.

You plant your boot on the bar of the railing and ready your blade.

"Nae," he says. "Do it now. Him and I."

Your eyes dart around you. "Nae? Where is--" But you cut yourself short as everything goes black. You stumble forwards as the railing vanishes. Instead, you slam your foot down accidentally against a floor that feels like polished marble. There's nothing around you but void, yet you can see your own hands and feet as if fully lit. You've been in a place like this several times now. You look around, but Aris isn't present.

Two others are, however--Nae and Elok Daven.