America:
"Back up… BACK UP!" Glaedr shouted as he dashed over the lines of humans and Shadows, leaping through the air to land on his side, crushing dozens of Demons as Baran's Primordial finally opened its mouth.
With Ryukyu still trapped inside, the beast had built up immense heat, letting it reach critical mass before opening wide and unleashing on humanity's forces. Ryukyu was flung from the blast, her dragon body being burned away by the heat.
Even though it was a Primordial, the snake's attack was not enough to burn through Glaedr's rough shell. Because it was angled and mountainous, it deflected the heat, rather than take it head on. It still reduced the Earthly Dragon's body mass by half, but the humans were safe.
Unfortunately, the snake was already building up for a second blast and this one would tear Glaedr apart.
China:
Within seconds, the clouds of insects were upon humanity. Despite being the servants of the weakest Monarch, they quickly become the army with the highest kill-count.
Their rapid and almost random movements quickly turned the battle into a bloodbath. Their claws and mandibles tore into the stomachs of any human unlucky enough to get in their path. The thousands of Shadows attempted to act as a barrier, but they could only hold off so many of the hordes.
The 3 Ancient Dragons released their fiery breath, scorching thousands of the insects at a time and allowing their Liege to pull them back to life as allies.
Meanwhile, Izuku and Bellion were pushing their way through the army. Gauntlet and chain-sword flashed through the air at a speed far faster than sound, decimating swaths of insects. With each slash of his claws or punch of his gauntlets, Izuku called upon Shadow Monarch's Supremacy to conjure massive slashes or fists of Shadow energy. After a good five minutes of tearing apart everything that came near, Izuku and Bellion watched cautiously as the army began steering clear of them, opening a path… for Legia and Yogumunt.
The giant charged forwards, running on all fours like an animal as he snarled and growled accordingly. This Legia held no qualms for life of any kind and trampled the bugs under his feet without hesitation.
"My Liege?" Bellion asked, his question clear in Izuku's mind.
"You take the little one," He responded as Legia bore down on them, his fists aiming to crush them both to a paste. "I got this."
Izuku's palms raised to the sky, as if aiming to catch the giant… because he was. Like with his punches, massive bursts of Shadow energy shot forth, quickly molding into hands large enough to hold back even the punches of Legia.
Upon connecting, a shockwave spawned, creating a straight line of pressure that expanded out, cutting buildings clean in half and severing hundreds of flying insects.
Izuku held the pose, his hands shaking as his Shadow hands pushed back as hard as possible. Of course, the Monarchs weren't going to make it that easy on him.
"Ashborn!" Yogumunt cried out, jumping off Legia's back, both knives raised to slash.
"Does she want me, or does she want to kill me?!" Izuku wondered as he watched the girl approach him. He could've used a bit of extra focus and slapped her aside with Supremacy, but he knew that she'd never reach him to begin with. Mostly because midair, a blade emerged from her chest and whipped her to the side.
Bellion slammed her into the ground as he retracted Centillion, "Monarch of Transfiguration, it shall be my pleasure to exterminate your unwelcome existence."
"Don't get in the way of true love!"
Bellion shook his head, forlorn, "A Being such as yourself could never know such a concept. It only exists in your twisted mind. I shall put an end to that."
"Legia! If you're in there at all… I promise I'll make this as quick as-"
"RRAAAOOORGH!"
"Fine. Divine Weapon Trigger 2."
[Armor of the King's Divine Weapon Trigger 2: Shadow Monarch's Supremacy has been enhanced. Time Limit: Ten minutes.]
Izuku roared right back as the Shadow energy expanded down to his arms, encircling him and lifting him into the air. It raced down his legs and up his body, covering him in an ever expanding armor, growing large enough to measure up to even Legia's size.
The giant looked at him with confusion for just a moment as he attempted to comprehend how his prey suddenly got so large. It was the perfect opportunity for Izuku to kick out at his knee, sending it buckling to the floor and weakening one of his arms enough for Izuku to haul back his fist and drive it into Legia's jaw.
The giant's head twisted with so much force, that a snap louder than a grenade echoed throughout the streets.
Legia's mortal form fell limp, dead, but it wouldn't remain that way for long. Izuku could already see the damage repairing itself. He'd have to tear out his Spiritual Form first.
"My Liege!" Glaedr's voice filled Izuku's head, forcing him to look through the Dragon's eyes and see just how dire his situation was.
Leaving Nemesis and Barbatos behind to handle the two Primordials emerging from the Gate, Izuku muttered, "Shadow Exchange."
Germany:
Stellian's laugh filled the air as he gleefully flung an entire apartment complex at Igris.
The Knight made no attempt to move. His grip tightened on his blood-red sword as lightning began erupting from it. Crackling overlapped with the Monarch's laugh as Igris's blade grew red with energy.
"Bleed."
A single slash slammed into the building, slicing with enough force to turn it to rubble as the energy continued onwards, moving faster than even a Monarch could react.
Stellian was buffeted with aftershocks as his right leg and arm were sliced off in a single instant.
Mirio popped up from the ground next to him, "POW-AUGH!"
Stellian's left arm snapped out, snatching Mirio and slamming him into the ground just before he could turn impermeable. He attempted to drive his fist into the spot where his skull was, but Mirio recovered too fast and his body became intangible again.
The Monarch's face turned up into a sneer, "Damn pest! Stop running, Aeic!"
For the past three years, the Monarchs had gathered energy and accumulated it inside their bodies, far surpassing any Ruler. Because of this, even the strongest physical fighter, Aeic, was barely able to keep up with Stellian.
The only reason Igris had made such devastating blows so far was thanks to his Divine Weapon and the World of Darkness Skill. Without either of those, the Grand-Marshal would've already been overcome.
Being the only enemy Stellian could reliably target, Igris was constantly on his toes, dancing around the battlefield as he slashed at the Monarch, never able to outpace his regeneration.
Suddenly, as Mirio tackled the Monarch, distracting him with the strongest punch he could muster, screams of pure terror filled the battlefield.
Igris turned back to the massive Gate still spitting out Villains. Most of its diameter was being filled as a metal giant pulled itself out, onto the surface of the Earth. It was so incredibly tall that it had to crouch down just to fit through the gap. A single step was enough to shake the earth and put the humans and Shadows off balance. It's mere presence was turning the battle from a desperate defense into a massacre as the iron minions dove into the human ranks, slashing and punching them apart, killing them by the dozens.
"GO!" Mirio shouted, "I've got this!"
Igris didn't waste any time arguing and instead began running through the city, dashing as fast as his legs would carry him. He had to get in front of the Primordial giant before he could attempt to kill it.
"Divine Weapon…" Blood-Red Excalibur exploded once more with lightning and energy. This time the lighting arced for miles, thick streams of plasma striking only enemies and turning them to dust from the sheer power. Trailing behind him, the tip of the sword nearly touching the ground, he carved a trench of melted earth as the energy building was such that everything in its vicinity was turned to slag. Igris's feet hit the ground in the path of the Primordial and he brought his sword to bear, slashing up from his feet to the sky, "TRIGGER!"
For just a second, the world was completely silent. Everything seemed frozen, gazes locked on Igris and the Primordial giant. Then, a gash tore open the earth and sky.
Bass like no other filled the ears of every being for miles and miles around as Igris's single slash was carried forwards. It was so thick with energy that its width was enough to destroy thousands upon thousands of Villains as it tore towards its main target.
At the exact same time, both Igris and the Primordial collapsed. Igris from the sheer exhaustion of using up all of his energy for that one Trigger of his Divine Weapon and the Primordial… well, from his left foot up to his right clavicle, there was a gap wide enough to fit a Boeing through.
The giant fell with so much force and weight that he created an indent of his body in the ground, his two halves flopping together as blood spilled out.
Igris attempted to stand from his kneeling position, Mirio was still on his own fighting Stellian, but he couldn't. In order to create such a slash, his Divine Weapon had no choice but to draw from his very Spiritual Essence, eating at it to power the slash. Typically, no being could have their Spiritual Essence at all taken and still exist, but Shadows were different.
Lucifer appeared next to his fellow Grand-Marshal and scooped him up, fending off hundreds of the iron-clad Chaos World inhabitants with the Genesis Blade. He attempted to flap his wings and begin a retreat towards the more condensed army to hide Igris, but before he could, Stellian slammed down just a couple of meters away.
The dust partially obscured his form, but Igris and Lucifer could both discern the true direness of the situation. Because the Shadows were certain that in Stellian's hand, he held the still and torn heart of Mirio.
South Africa:
"Weak!" Beru slashed apart the wings on Waruk's back, "Pathetic!" Beru tore off chunks of flesh from his arms, legs, and torso. "You don't deserve to be called a Monarch!"
Behind the two warring fighters, Nejire continued to drop indestructible barriers atop the squads of beasts, squashing them into a paste and far closer to the Gate, Waruk's Primordial, Lupus, the Primordial of Wolves and Scion were tearing into each other.
Quite literally, like Beru was doing to Waruk, Lupus was digging his claws into Scion's flesh and removing tank sized bits of Shadow. Scion, of course, cared not.
As his torso grew back, he flapped the bony wings on his back, buffeting Lupus and forcing him to take a step back, giving Scion the opportunity to raise his body up off his knuckle walking pose and slam both fists down on his right shoulder.
With the boost of the World of Darkness, even the more evenly matched Scion vs Lupus turned into a one-sided beatdown.
Lupus's right shoulder was pulverized by the attack and his entire arm was cleaved off. He roared in pain, his cry nearly enough to incapacitate every warrior on the battlefield, friend or foe. He attempted to raise his remaining arm to claw out Scion's eyes, but the gorilla arms on the Lovecraftian horror tackled the arm head on, heedless for the damage the claws were causing itself.
Throwing his whole weight into it, Scion snapped the arm like a stick, earning another roar as he shoved the Primordial backwards, crashing through a building and landing on his back. Scion immediately jumped atop the werewolf, smashing his hands down on its head repeatedly with increasing violence.
At the same time that Lupus was dying, Waruk felt Beru finally overpowering him. The ant's body continued to grow larger alongside his flowing energy. It was to the point where even if Waruk raised his claws in time to deflect a strike, Beru's immense strength cut straight through them, forcing the Monarch to try and outpace him with his regeneration.
But then the orange energy growing behind Beru slinked forwards, covering his claws and hands in the pure power. Each slash reached wider, destroyed more matter. Waruk could no longer keep up as Beru picked up the pace, slashing fast enough to destroy every last ounce of his body up to his head.
Just before Beru could cut his head down the middle, the Monarch of Beastly Fangs ejected his Spiritual Essence, attempting to escape the Primordial Shadow. What he didn't know was that Beru's status as a Primordial gave him special privileges, like the ability to tear into a Monarch's Spiritual Essence. And Beru did just that.
America:
Izuku emerged in front of Glaedr, in his giant Shadow form, just as the Primordial snake, Ae, the Primordial of Fire, let forth the second burst of sun-like heat.
Izuku slammed his palm on the ground, using Shadow Monarch's Supremacy to create a thick wall of Shadow to swallow the attack whole.
As he bore the brunt of the assault, the System ping alerted him to some good news.
[Beru has killed one of the Nine Monarchs, The Monarch of Beastly Fangs, Waruk]
[Mana: 554,235/752,352]
"I think that's the most Mana I've ever lost," Izuku marveled as the Primordial's attack slowly cooled and let up. Reaching behind him, he laid a single hand on Glaedr, "Blend."
The five other Dragon Gods burst from Izuku's Shadow, intermingling and mixing with Glaedr as they became Apophis. Since the time they last fused, each of the Dragons had risen to Marshal Grade, making it so that upon fusing, they became a Primordial Grade, one strong enough to even match some True Primordials.
"I'm leaving it up to you," Izuku said before triggering Shadow Exchange once more and returning to fight alongside Bellion.
Canada:
The man known as Shigaraki smiled at the sky as he felt another Higher Being be snuffed out. Within just a few seconds, the energy of the fallen Monarch raced into his body. Now, he had the energy of Quaresha, Razar, and Waruk inside of him.
"Just a few more," He growled, "Then… it's onto the final level."
The man behind him, Antares, nodded, a sadistic grin stretched across his face, "That's right. Just a little longer." He looked out into the distance, his senses as a Higher Being allowing him to reach farther than should've been possible. Eventually, his eyes reached the Southern Pole, "All according to plan."