Brant and Aaron both roared at Dove when they witnessed him cripple Baird. Mobilized by rage, Brant leapt to his feet and charged, as did his armored comrade. Dove grinned.

The god hurled boulders at them. Too large to dodge, Aaron fell away quickly. But Brant ducked and wove his way through the onslaught of flying dangers. Wind whipped through his hair through the gaps between rocks, and he felt his body cool and the wound on his ribs subside. Probably wasn't his intention, he thought, but I think he just healed me!

Brant leapt out from behind a pillar and smashed a weighty hammerhead into Dove's jaw. Teeth clattered to the ground, along with a mouthful of blood. The god's eyes widened, as he evidently hadn't seen the blow coming.

Brant bashed the top of Dove's skull, dazing him long enough to land two more hits, one on either side of the god's ribcage. Then he gasped when the god's foot met his chest. Brant flew back into a pillar and dropped his hammer in the process.

A mighty wind flew into Brant's face, preventing him from rising or even breathing. He put up his hands to block it, but the gust only forced his palms over his nose and mouth. Brant panicked. He was now suffocating himself.

Then a trail of bullets rained down from above, and Dove screamed. Red liquid splattered from his shoulder. Brant frowned. Who can that be?

Ace leapt down from atop one of the pillars, his knee meeting Dove's temple. He managed to knock the god to the ground and make his artifact drop from his hands. Pinning him down, Ace stabbed Dove in the eye, a scowl painted on his face as he did so. The sorcerer screamed.

"This is gonna hurt me more than it hurts you." Ace mocked before retrieving a device resembling a spider. He clamped the eight spiky legs into the flesh of the god's neck before pressing a remote.

Ace stumbled away while the god erupted into a light show of electric sparks. His body contorted multiple times as his roaring voice flew out of slack lips. Brant leapt up while Dove was disabled, and he swung an axe blade down at his neck.

But the olive branch sped over, and knocking into the axe's head, it flung Brant off course. He tumbled into a pile of rocks, gasping and groaning when their sharp edges tore into his forearms. Casting a glance back, his heart sunk. Ace's device had shut off, and Dove now darted into the sky again. Yanking the dagger from his mangled eye and tossing it to the ground, he sped over to where Brant lay.

Brant hurried over, and changing his axe into a hammer, he slammed the sorcerer to the ground. While he raised the weapon for another blow, Dove sped away.

"No, you get down!" Aaron shouted when Dove sped his way. With a heavy punch, he sent the god tumbling to the ground again, and once more, his artifact flew from his hand.

Bullets scattered over the god's body as Ace approached. Then Aaron laid a heavy foot on Dove's chest, withstanding his greatest efforts to rise. Brant dashed over. When the olive branch began speeding over to knock him off course again, Ace tossed an impact grenade at it. The explosion sent it spinning into the pillars, undestroyed but still deterred.

Brant skidded to a halt before the subdued sorcerer. He raised his arms as high as he could, and with gritted teeth, he crashed his hammerhead down on Dove's head. A metallic ring and a crunch. Blood and large chunks of flesh splattered as the god's head exploded. Only a flattened pancake of mangled tissue remained attached to his neck.

Both Brant and Ace snapped to attention when the branch clattered just behind Aaron. Evidently, Dove had attempted summoning it again, but clearly not in time. Aaron shrugged, and with a sigh, he raised his stumpy metal boot, which now glowed bright yellow. He smashed the artifact under foot like an insect, smearing the green pulp with a wiggle of his heel.

Brant glanced between Aaron, Ace, and Baird with undecided eyes. Perplexed over whether to focus on the exuberance of victory, the confusion over Ace's appearance, or the grief of Baird's injury, he shrugged and threw his arms around his dark-skinned friend.

"Thanks, man." Brant croaked, "You were supposed to stay behind...but I'm glad you showed up."

"Me too." Ace said, quickly averting this gaze to grimace at Baird, "You alright, man?"

Baird grimaced. "I can't feel 'em much, but...ow! Still...all I do feel is pain."

Ace flinched. "Sila, show yourself!"

Brant exchanged a glance with Aaron, and even though his face was concealed by the helmet, he could only imagine his sandy-haired companion was frowning like he was.

The black robot strutted out from behind a pillar with hands raised. "Don't scold me."

"Sila," Aaron said as his breastplate dropped out and he squeezed out of the armor, "you were supposed to stay back and care for the wounded!"

"Kicked me out."

"What?"

Ace held a hand up. "The Antapeñans brought an unrighteous number of medics along. They crowded the poor robot out."

"And so, why're you here?" Brant asked.

"Figured something would happen. Looks like I was right."

"You tend to do that."

Sila stooped down beside Brant and examined him. "Broken legs."

Ace's eyes widened. "Well, no sh—"

"See what you can do." Aaron interrupted, "How'd you guys get up here?"

"Brought the Stingray."

"Awesome. Do what you can here, and then we'll head inside."

Brant sighed, bending on one knee before Baird. "I'm...really sorry...that happened. But you fought well, and I'll be eternally grateful you came with me."

Baird winced. Then he somehow managed a smile. "You're welcome, Brant. You're a worthy man."

The two men exchanged smiles for a few seconds, and a tear crept to Brant's eye. The quest for worthiness he had begun years ago had just been completed, not through its direct pursuit, because that venture had resulted in the very opposite. But instead, taking his eyes off of himself had been key. And now, Baird had just declared that quest complete.

********************

Aaron hopped off the Stingray before it even landed, dashing through the camp with eyes searching for one woman in particular. When he spotted a head of blonde hair bobbing up and down, deep in conversation with a Kemarian man, his heart leapt.

She turned at the sound of his footsteps, and upon sighting him, a grin spread across her face. Aaron hoisted her into his arms with a joyous laugh and peppered kisses on her lips. Holding her close, they both shuddered.

"We did it!" he exclaimed, "Finally, Wendy, we did it!"

"I knew you would. I'm bloody proud of you, love." Wendy replied after pecking his cheek again. "But where's Brant? And Baird?"

Aaron bared his teeth. "Well, Baird got a little hurt—"

"Is he alright?"

"Yes, yes, calm down, love. He's alright, just...I don't know if he'll be walking anytime soon."

Wendy visibly sombered. "How can you be so bloody happy if—"

Aaron set her down and laid his hands on her shoulders. "That's recoverable. Sad, but recoverable. Dove's not, though, and that's why I'm so happy. This is over!"

She nodded. "And what about Brant?"

"Sila dropped him and Ace off in the battlefield before taking Baird and me over here. They're hoping to end this battle by noon."

"Noon?" Wendy echoed, "That's only three and a quarter bloody hours away!"

"They're determined. And I'm gonna be getting back out there too. I just wanted to see you."

"Well, how sweet of you. You did good, love."

Aaron grinned.

********************

Bodies flew left and right as Brant swung his hammer through the Alcontean ranks. Invigorated by their victory on the Knoll, he fought with renewed strength, moving so fast upon them that the shield in his left hand became almost entirely unnecessary.

Leaping off a tree with a spin, he clobbered several enemy soldiers before spotting a pit in the ground. Why're they trying so hard to get in there? With several more swings of his hammer, he came closer to investigate.

Brant found a team of his insurgents inside the trench, among whom Hannah stood and cooked enemy troops with her laser gun. He destroyed a few more Alcontean skulls before hopping down and waiting for her to duck down to cool her gun.

When Hannah spotted Brant, she squealed and threw herself into his arms. He chuckled and held her close while he heard the gun clatter to the rocky floor.

"Did ya do it, darlin'?" she asked, voice trembling in excitement.

Brant grinned. "We did it. That son of hell's going back to his father."

"I'm relieved."

"Same here. So, how'd you guys end up here?"

Hannah sighed. "We got trapped."

"Not for long." Brant said with a smirk.

"Yeah, go on, ya knight in shinin' armor, git 'em." Hannah remarked, giving him a quick kiss.

Brant took in a deep breath and scaled the rim of the pit. With bone-shattering strokes, he returned to the battle.

*********************

"I told you to die."

Ace slapped an Alcontean soldier's face into the corner of a squarish rock. Blood stained the stone upon impact, but the dark-skinned man paid him no mind. Carelessly tossing a grenade at the trunk of a tree he'd seen another trembling soldier dart behind, he flushed the man out. Then he dispatched him with a single shot of his machine gun.

He continued down the pile of rocks until he found Keira ensconced in a pile she had obviously modified for the dual purposes of her comfort and concealment. Smirking to himself, he hovered his lips over her ear.

"Boo."

Keira jumped and smacked Ace in the jaw, which caused him to stumble away. It stung more than he'd anticipated. Rubbing the spot, he grimaced.

"What were you thinking?" she snapped, leaping up to tend to the welt she'd just caused, "I'm sorry, just...why'd you sneak up on me like that?"

"I felt like it." Ace said, batting her hands away from his face. "I'm fine."

"Aren't you supposed to be resting?"

"Technically."

The lines in Keira's forehead deepened. "Then...what're you...what's going on?"

"What's going on?" he echoed, "We're standing behind a pile of rocks about a foot apart. My jaw's throbbing, and your chin's red, leading me to assume you've been snipin' away for quite a while."

She narrowed her eyes. "I mean, that's true, but that's clearly not what I meant."

Ace chuckled. "I'm just messin' with ya. I just got back from helping kill Dove."

"I thought—"

"Yeah. You think a lot of things. I thought it was a good idea to come a little later as backup. And so yeah. Now he's dead. We did it."

Keira smiled. "Well...that's great!" She embraced him, adding a little kiss to his cheek to the mix. "So, win this battle and we're done?"

"Basically."

"In that case, let's get busy."

Keira retrieved her sniper, and Ace took up a position beside her, machine gun spewing bullets into the enemy ranks.

******************** 

A/N: Three words come to my mind right now: Hip. Hip. Hooray! Dove's FINALLY gone, and with so many armies arrayed against Alconte, the battle's as good as won. What we've been working toward for 46 chapters has finally culminated, and looking back is kinda surreal. (We can't forget the sadness of Baird's debilitation, of course, but I'm sure he'd assure us it's worth it.) 

Well, how about we commemorate the journey up to this point with a vote on your part and some discussion in the comments? 

I'm not gonna ask any super specific questions here, just a general inquiry of: What are your thoughts after reading this chapter? 

There will be one more chapter, more of an epilogue than anything, and instead of waiting a whole day more to post that, I'm gonna go ahead and do that now. So I hope to see you there shortly! 😁