Vile Darque cackled wildly as blood flicked from his lips and formed a red froth at the corners of his mouth. His eyes were wide and wild with insanity and wicked glee, as though he had just snatched victory from the claws of defeat and knew he had taken the wind out of Mau''s sails.


    "I just killed the castle''s core! It''s going to fall! We''re all going to die here, together!" He shrieked between wheezing breaths and laughter.


    The castle shook hard once again and sent Mau sprawling on her ass and dropped Penne, Suvdaa, and Andy to the bloody stone floor with just as much force.


    "Son of a bitch!" Mau snapped in disbelief. She never once imagined the Demon Lord to be a load-bearing boss as stonework and dust began to fall from the throne room ceiling.


    "Up up up up up!" Andy blurted, helping Penne to their feet as the full moon receded into the distance, and Suvdaa was not only herself again but already was shoving herself to stand back up.


    "Time to go!" Suvdaa said, grasping Mau by the elbow. Mau paused just long enough to look at the Demon Lord. He sat there laughing, laughing, and laughing still. She could easily have clipped his head from his shoulders, but she got to her feet and started running as Suvdaa tugged her.


    The party alternated between sprinting and staggering back to the teleportation circle as the castle jarred repeatedly.


    "Go!" Mau snapped, "Go, go, go!" She urged her friends on as they struggled to carry and tug each other without taking any more spills.


    The castle rumbled ominously... And Mau shoved Suvdaa with all her strength as a huge chunk of masonry came crashing down in front of the doorway to the teleportation room.


    "FUCK!" Mau screeched as she banged on the massive rock in her way. "Andy? Suvdaa? Penne? Suvdaa!? Are you guys--"


    "We''re fine!" Penne called back from the other side of the rock. "... Mau, there has to be another path you can take; hurry, we''ll wait for you."


    "No!" Mau answered back. "There''s no time- Penne, take Andy and Suvdaa and get them out of here. Maybe I can find some magical bullshit to keep the castle from falling."


    "We all know that''s not going to happen!" Suvdaa spat through the stone. "Just find another way!"


    "No time." Mau sighed. "There''s no time. And we''ll all die if you wait for me."


    "Mau!" Suvdaa said, voice cracking. "Do not DARE tell me not to wait for you!"


    Slowly, Mau placed her hand on the rock that separated them.


    "Suvdaa. It''s time. We both knew this could have happened. Just go. The needs of the many... Outweigh the needs of the few..."


    "DID YOU JUST QUOTE YOUR STAR WARS MOVIE AGAIN?!" Suvdaa shrieked incredulously as Andy tugged her away.


    "Just go," Mau said solemnly while rolling her eyes simultaneously.


    "You dumb cat! Don''t you dare die, do you hear me?!" The raider howled. "You find another way! Find another way, dammit!"


    "I know," Mau replied, lips tugging into a sad smirk. "I love you, too."


    That quieted the raider long enough for Andy to tear her away towards the spell circle, and Penne began to chant.


    "Guys..." Mau said softly. "Believe in me."


    Mau turned away just as the flash of a successful teleportation spell shined through the cracks in the rock and drew a slow breath.


    "Alright. If I''m gonna go out... I better at least make sure the job''s fuckin'' done." She muttered to herself as she stormed back to the throne room.


    Vile Darque was waiting for her. He had managed to stand back up, one hand clutching to the wound in his chest, a manic look on his face as she stepped back into the crumbling chamber.


    "So... The catgirl hero..." He said, chuckling and gurgling on blood at the same time. "Protecting justice and humanity." The Demon Lord cackled with glee. "I''m just like you! I''m from the very world you came from! I''m human, don''t you see? I''m real. ... Do you have what it takes? Can you really kill me?"


    Mau frowned, fingers clutching her holy sword and short blade.


    "I always hated being called a hero, " she said tiredly. "And I sure don''t give a flying fuck about Justice." Mau frowned. "I didn''t know what I was fighting for before, but now I can say that I fight for the people I believe in... I thought we were both victims pitted against each other to fight a battle that wasn''t our own. But it''s clear now. You''re my enemy. So I''ll cut you down!"


    Mau jinked aside as a bolt of necrotic magic lanced past her head. The Demon Lord readied another ranged spell as he howled with maddened laughter.


    "COME THEN! I WILL SHOW YOU THE TRUE MEANING OF PAIN!" Vile Darque said.


    "You wouldn''t know the meaning of pain! How can you teach me anything when my pain would drive you insane!" Mau shrieked as she lunged at him.


    The castle walls crumbled. Sections of the floor gave way beneath Mau''s feet as she charged across the room in a sprint. The windows shattered, and support pillars crumbled. The skies burned red outside the crumbling throne room as clouds raced upwards, and Mau and the Demon Lord met in combat for the last time.


    Once more, their blades sang out against each other as the two circled and lunged for each other''s throats, cutting and slashing wildly into one another, sending blood splattering onto the dusty carpet.


    The wind howled, and the clash of the holy blade against dark metal resounded. Some say the sounds of the fated final duel echoed so far that the soldiers back at the front-line camp and the monster army heard every stroke and blow carried on the wind.


    Vile Darque squealed with glee as a lucky slash opened up a cut on Mau''s stomach just under her breastplate. His joy was short-lived as Mau ignored the pain and slugged him across the jaw again. He staggered with a gurgled grunt as one final misstep carried him dangerously close to what was left of the window.


    To Mau, time slowed down once again, like it always had. She stared as the Demon Lord flailed in slow motion, cursing her and her family, her friends, and everyone she had ever loved.


    Mau effortlessly reached out with a single hand... And slowly pushed the fucker over the edge.


    The Demon Lord shrieked as he toppled out the window, but Mau wasn''t finished.


    Taking the plunge out of the falling castle after her hated foe, Mau dropped into a free fall, angling her body to increase her speed and not let any distance grow between them.


    The Demon Lord laughed again as he suddenly clung to a large falling stone.


    Mau spread her arms out to slow her descent, flailing momentarily with a curse before she landed boots first on the falling remnants of a staircase.


    Running up the stairs at full tilt as the Demon Lord shot spell after spell at her, she leaped from a chunk of masonry to a hunk of stone until she ascended again and caught up with the Demon Lord in a shocking display of feline agility.


    "You''re fucking kidding me!" He blurted.


    "I''m not kitten around," Mau said, stone-faced as she removed his arm from his body at the shoulder. "Killing you was always the plan. Getting to live through it was just supposed to be a luxury."


    The Demon Lord made a shocked face as Mau sailed past him and flipped herself to impact a nearby wall section, boots first. She kicked off and came at him again.


    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    This time, he lost a leg as she zipped past.


    Mau tumbled through the sky and kicked off a smaller rock... She was gaining speed with every object she rebounded from, and the Demon Lord lost another part of his body with every passing slash as she air-juggled him with blow after blow.


    With one last cry of anguish and triumph, Mau raised her sword.


    Vile Darque could only look on in horror as she sailed by. He felt something in his neck. And then he was upside down, staring at his own headless, dismembered body as it fell limp through the air.


    Mau grunted as she hit a wall chest-first and lost all composure and control. She scrabbled to hold on, but her fingers couldn''t find purchase as the wall fell away, leaving her to plummet alone.


    Mau gritted her teeth as she struggled against the wind, flailing, flipping, and spinning out of control. End over end, Mau fell, hair and tail whipping in the air around her. Slowly, she took a breath and rolled over onto her back in the air, facing the dying light of the stars and the slow rising light of the sunrise.


    As Mau fell, her mind drifted to all the lives she''d lived. Most of them were blurred, indistinct shadows looming at the edge of her awareness, but this one... This last one was sharp in her mind. She had finally learned to live. She had finally learned to actually love. Even though it was ending early... This one was a life well spent.


    "... So this is what it feels like when your time''s finally up..." She murmured to herself as the wind shrieked in her ears and darkness faded on the edges of her consciousness.


    "... I''m tired," Mau whispered as she closed her eyes.


    <h2>?</h2>


    Mau awoke once again in the Halls of The Resting Dead. As usual, it was fucking cold, and she was naked, just like the last time she had been through here.


    She sighed, tail flicking behind her as she sat up on the frigid cold slab of stone that she always woke up on.


    "... I guess that''s it." She muttered glumly. She was dead. She was dead, and the only thing she could think about was Suvdaa shrieking at her through a rock.


    Mau''s shoulders sagged.


    The tears came unbidden as she buried her face in her palms. They came silently, she couldn''t bring herself to sob, nor did she want that basic bitch Galatea to see her or hear her like this.


    Mau sat there crying in silence for what felt like an eternity. Whatever gods or reincarnation bureaucrats in the room beyond would have to wait. She hadn''t cried like this in a very long time and wouldn''t let anyone take it from her.


    Once she had her fill of sobbing into her palms, Mau huffed quietly and stood up. The floor was frigid, and she uttered a half-hearted curse as she shuffled down the hall to face whoever was going to congratulate her for a job well done.


    She did it. She killed the same guy a hundred times for the sake of some divine bet. Mau had choice words for the gods when she saw them, and only hell itself could hold her back as she emerged into The Chamber of Judgment.


    The mural depicting Mau''s hundred lives had been updated, and the top of the fresco on the wall was decorated with the image of a falling castle and a catgirl ramming her blade through the 100th'' Demon Lord''s body.


    "Neat." Mau spat.


    "Yes... Neat, indeed..." A voice spoke. It was a voice Mau had never heard before.


    She thought it was cold, but then the chamber became absolutely soul-chilling as the candles and torches guttered and died down.


    A black mist crawled into the chamber from the archway where the Galatea typically emerged.


    Mau''s animal brain went off like crazy and she was locked in place with a sudden existential terror the likes of which she had never felt before. Her brain froze and her body just halted with it as her animal side screamed at her to turn around and run. There would be no shame in running from this.


    "Galatea?" Mau blinked, voice nearly cracking from the supernatural terror overtaking her. She frowned. "No. You''re not her."


    "Very astute..." the voice hissed, low, sibilant, and sultry, as a vaguely humanoid figure formed from dark shadow slithered into the room, gleaming red eyes locking on Mau''s blue.


    "Oh. Hi. You must be the asshole who started all this bullshit." Mau drawled, struggling to maintain her composure.


    "You will address me with the proper respect, mortal worm." Dommon sneered.


    "I''ll address your sorry bet-losing self however I fucking please because I won." The catgirl replied, finally getting her spirit back as she realized who she was speaking to.


    In the next instant, Mau''s entire universe was nothing but agony. She had felt pain before, but nothing like this; it was as though every iota of her soul was slowly being torn apart atom by atom.


    When it ended, and she came to with a shocked gasp, Mau was on the ice-cold floor of the Chamber of Judgement.


    Wiping spectral drool from the corner of her lip and a mixture of snot and blood from her nose, Mau groaned as she writhed on frigid stone.


    "Ughhhh fuck. What the fuck...?"


    "Did you enjoy making your little quips? Did you enjoy playing the hero? Did you enjoy the fun little diversion the other gods and I set up for you and my champion?" Dommon chortled. "I hope you did. Because now that it is all over, I will destroy you for what you''ve done."


    "Please..." Mau huffed as she slowly sat herself up, body trembling wildly with aftershocks of pain. "What are you, a 90''s cartoon villain? Destroy me? Just say you''re going to kill me." She said, baring her fangs at god.


    "..."


    "..."


    "You''re already dead." Dommon pointed out.


    "Okay, I''ll concede that point," Mau said.


    Dommon sighed.


    "Tell me, hero." He said. Mau grimaced. "Why do you fight? Why did you decide to make yourself such a thorn in my side? Oppose me at every turn? You know the gods only saw you as a pawn, yes? I could have offered you anything you wanted- I still can. Why oppose me when you could rule with me?" The god of chaos and destruction offered. Mau arched a brow.


    "They should rightfully fear your power, hero..." The god continued.


    Mau remained silent for a long time. She closed her eyes and searched her feelings.


    "I fight..." She whispered. "Because if I didn''t fight, there would be nothing to fight for."


    The shadow cocked what consisted of its head and crooned, "Oh?"


    "You want to destroy everything..." Mau pointed out. "I lived a hundred lives. I learned. I lived. I loved. I saw the beauty of a hundred worlds firsthand. I experienced things no one else ever could or would get to. At first, I fought because I was a good little hero puppet, dancing on my strings. But I learned, over time, that there are things worth fighting for."


    "Things like...?" Dommon prompted.


    Mau frowned.


    "A mother''s love. A friend''s compassion. A lover''s touch. The first sunrise an infant ever gets to see. The last sunrise of a dying woman. The feeling of having a whole world that believed in me when I was just some rando dumb catgirl with a sword that said she would save them. That''s what I fight for."


    Dommon hissed and suddenly grew in size. His shadowy figure dominated the chamber, blotting out the fresco of Mau''s life achievements.


    "All for nothing!" Dommon growled. "You learned nothing, accomplished nothing, and will return to nothing! I will devour you now!" He threatened.


    Mau, ever defiant to the bitter end, spread her arms.


    "Bring it, you Dark Lord wannabe motherfucker! I''m tired anyway!"


    But it was as she said this that Mau''s heart hammered in her chest. She felt something calling out to her. She felt her very soul resonate with warmth and strength, the likes of which she had never felt before.


    She felt something in her hand as her fingers closed tightly.


    It was the holy sword. Whether it had followed her to this place or was a manifestation of her defiance, Mau couldn''t tell. She simply, instinctively, took on her fighting stance.


    "You might kill me. But before you do, I promise you I''m going to hurt you so badly that bards will sing about me like Fingolfin."


    Dommon lunged, his immense form washing over the chamber like a tidal wave. Mau met him head-on, blade first. The two clashed for what felt like an eternity as Dommon did his best to crush Mau, and she did her best to try and cut him.


    Eventually, one was victorious. Dommon shrieked in pain as the holy blade bit into his shadowy mass, and Mau dragged open a wide cut in his barely corporeal form.


    With a wail of pain and misery, the dark god retreated down a side chamber, cursing Mau the whole way.


    Mau flopped onto the chilly stone floor on her ass and then just sprawled herself out carelessly.


    "I''m fuckin'' done." She groaned.


    That was when another voice spoke up, timid and scared.


    "Is... Is he gone?"


    Mau sat up and stared blearily as Galatea poked her head into the room. The goddess rushed to Mau''s side and hugged her tightly.


    "... You''re welcome," Mau said dryly as the goddess wrapped her in a spare shroud.


    "You... You actually did it. AND you fended off Dommon himself!" Galatea huffed. "... For a moment there, you had some of us worried."


    Mau stared at her blankly.


    "How many were taking side bets?" Mau asked very pointedly.


    Galatea flustered.


    "I mean. I DID make off like a bandit betting on the underdog... There were quite a few side bets that you couldn''t do it."


    Mau rolled her eyes.


    "That said... About your reward..."


    Mau''s ears perked.


    "I get a reward? Like honest to god?" She asked. "You''re not gonna cast me aside, throw me out, or imprison me forever because I''ve grown into a massive threat against the gods or anything like that?"


    "Well, some of the others suggested that..." Galatea muttered.


    "Wow, screw those guys," Mau grunted.


    Galatea fidgeted.


    "We can send you home." She said. "The world you came from. ... Your body''s been in a coma since the truck hit you. You can just... Wake up and go about your life again."


    Mau frowned, thoughtful.


    "What if I want something else...?" She asked.


    The goddess blinked.


    "Something else...? Like what?"


    Mau glanced down at herself sadly.


    "I wanna go back to being a catgirl. I want to go back to my friends."


    They sat silently for a long beat before the blonde goddess nodded her head.


    "That can be done. Lightning Jolt!" She said.


    "-Really?" Mau started to ask as Galatea touched a finger to her breastbone.


    The sudden surge of searing electrical pain that ran through her body made Mau shriek.


    "WHAT THE HELL!" Mau protested as her legs refused to move to get her away.


    "She''s not breathing! Do it again, Penne!" Galatea said in Suvdaa''s voice before she zapped Mau with another shock spell.


    <h2>?</h2>


    Mau''s eyes snapped open as she sucked down a ragged gasp. She sputtered and choked, her whole body racked with pain as Suvdaa stopped doing chest compressions then and there.


    "MAU!" Suvdaa, Andy, and even Penne gasped in unison as the raider clutched the catgirl tightly in her arms.


    "Ogh... Uuuugh... ugh...!" Mau gurgled, one eye shutting tightly from the pain as she lay limp in Suvdaa''s arms. "... Hi."


    "Do not ''Hi'' at me!" Suvdaa spat as tears rolled down her cheeks. "We thought you were dead."


    "Nah... I survived just to tell you it was a Star Trek reference, not a Star Wars line," Mau whispered weakly.


    Suvdaa promptly dropped her with a scowl.


    "DUMB CAT!"