The battlefield trembled beneath the weight of a godly presence. Mephistelis, the towering demon who had nearly finished Mariposa with a single stroke, stood in the center of the shattered city garden. The air was thick with menace, the skies darkened by heavy clouds, hiding the moon and suppressing all light.
Suddenly, a ripple coursed through the ground. Water bubbled from cracks and crevices, flooding in a whirl of motion toward the demon. The remnants of nearby fountains and broken pipes shuddered—and then exploded upward as a towering aquatic sphere surged from the earth.
Mephistelis raised his golden sword instinctively, but the sphere smashed into him like a tidal explosion. The sheer force sent the demon reeling backward several meters, his claws digging trenches into the ground to anchor himself.
From within the sphere, Elric emerged.
