The mountain rumbled and groaned as the demon’s machine slowly roused a molten fury beneath her. Long had she stood dormant as guardian of his underworld prison, but now her sturdy rock was beginning to buckle, narrow fissures forming along her sides.

“Must… not… erupt!”

The machine’s fiendish maker looked up at the creaking ceiling from inside her magma chamber, watching it rain debris in anticipation of his freedom, his chitinous skin immune to the searing heat and crushing atmosphere.

“Ahh, but you will, my lovely~” He teased his claws along her straining stone walls, making them shiver. “The humans have earned their apocalypse, and your fire shall be its herald. Now… burst for me.”

She swelled. “I will NOT!”

The monster smirked, knowing her sangfroid wouldn’t last. “My time here has been spent wisely, learning every one of your flaws. Your weaknesses. Your… limitsss…” He hissed the last word as he traced his claws again, this time, cracks spreading beneath them. The volcano shuddered, trying to block out his voice.

“I’ve poured centuries, and what remains of my soul, into a device that exploits them. Limbs push on your fault lines with strength that exceeds your own. One-way valves overflow this chamber with lava that seethes like hellhounds pulling their leashes. Pumps compress volatile gas like a coiling spring. Even your mighty stone cannot outlast its hell-forged construction forever.”

“Nngk!” As if to punctuate, there was a deafening crack as a large split formed overhead. “No!”

“Yesss! You’re slipping, dear~ The temperature is rising… The pressure is building… Ohh, it must be so dreadfully hard to resist~ Why, you may just explode if you don’t let it out!”

The mountain did not humor him, silently continuing to bear her burden. The earth was beginning to shake, but she would not yield.

Another crack. “What shall it be, dear Lady? Release me of your own will and spare your life, or be destroyed as I free myself?”

‘Gaea, give me strength.’

The demon gave a perturbed scowl at her silence, but his smile quickly returned. She could suppress her voice, but she wouldn’t spoil the fun of watching her structural integrity slowly cave. He turned to look upon his machine with admiration… and flinched.

The groaning he heard now wasn’t from the volcano. The strokes of its pistons were growing noticeably more labored, its pipes and riveted plates trembling. The lava was near the ceiling, leaving what little remaining air choked with dense vapor and smoke, but the volcano still hadn’t succumbed.

The demon did a double take, seeing the needle on a gauge start to twitch and rise. The amount of pressure needed to even make that move was astronomical.

The mount continued to struggle, boulders rolling down her face from the seismic upheaval. She’d noticeably shifted upward from the ludicrous strain, but no matter how desperately she wanted to let go, she could not let even a tiny breach form.

“I… won’t… give in…!”

*grrrrrrrnnnnnn....*

‘This is taking more… coaxing than expected.’ The demon grumbled. ‘No matter; undermining her confidence is what matters.’

The fiend pounded his fist against the wall.

*CRACK!* *SPLIT!*

“Time is short, my dear! My machine has yet to falter, and I can see you weakening, hear your walls stressing! Do you feel the magma boiling... expanding... heaving against its bondage?! Best blow your top before this old cavern reaches its limit!” He bluffed, not letting on in his voice that she’d begun to challenge his creation.

But he couldn’t know how truthful his words were. The volcano indeed quaked with strain, her resolution wavering. Steam had begun to puff from micro-fractures in her sides.

’By the gods, I can’t hold!’

The demon looked back at his construct with worry. It moaned, metallic frame bowing. The gauge was still climbing, passing the halfway point. A hose broke free with a piercing hiss.

‘Come now, my beauty, push! I made you better than this! Make her give!’

“Surely now, you must see my deliverance is the will of Fate!” He bellowed out loud.

“Nnngh! Even if it is so… I will risk… everything to stop you!” Her voice echoed with conviction.

“Rrgh, I will not let my work be for nothing!” He snarled, punching the rock damming her vent.

’A little more… let it be just a little more!’ She begged the heavens, feeling her roots start to give out.

This clash of wills now nears its peak, its cacophony ringing out across the land. Pray for who you will, because the tipping point draws close…

Closer…

Closer…!