*Swooosh*

Nathan tilted his head to the side as he dodged a spell fired at him from one of the grim reapers. As he did that, Nathan prepared to counter attack by charging up a spell, but he had no time for that as he was forced to jump away from his current location, courtesy of another grim reaper descending from the sky, attempting to cut him in half.

At that moment, Nathan sensed a presence behind him, prompting him to unfurl his wings and ascend into the air, dodging an attack once more.

'At this rate,' Nathan thought as he soared to the limits of the barrier, using it as a foothold once in a while, 'I'll eventually lose to them.'

It was only natural that he would lose if this cycle continued. After all, there was only one of him, and five of them. That's not even accounting for the fact that all of them were as strong as he was, and the only thing keeping them from grinding Nathan up was their evident lack of cooperation.

The grim reapers' leader was Hades, Nathan remembered that much. But, another thing Nathan remembered was that there were smaller fractions within fractions as well. In his case, the grim reapers probably belonged to different factions, causing them to only attack when the other was done attacking.

'I could use this to my advantage.'

Nathan continued flying and dodging attacks that repeatedly came from the grim reapers, and eventually, he decided on a plan, basing it off of what little he knew about them.

Nathan continued running without retaliating a single time, discreetly laying magic circles that was imbued with his Power of Time, making it so that they would set off later. This was his Time Bomb, a move that he learned from training with Ajuka.

Nathan flew all around the barrier, leading the grim reapers on a wild chase, and eventually, the grim reapers recognized that at the rate things were going, it would be a long time before Nathan would tire out.

"Change of plans.", a grim reaper announced as it stopped mid air. "Circle him."

Reluctantly, the grim reapers that were on Nathan's tail stopped chasing him, and instead, they moved into a position where they covered all of Nathan's exit routes.

Nathan frowned, but nevertheless, accepted it without doing much, as it was an acceptable delay in his plan.

'I'll have less space and time to plant the bombs' Nathan concluded as he extended his Power of Time into a barrier around him, slowing two grim reapers down as he shot out of there, while also discreetly planting magic circles.

That was when he also made a mistake. One that he paid a steep price for.

When Nathan had his attention split between the two grim reapers chasing him, maintaining his Power of Time, and planting exploding magic circles, a grim reaper that was out of his sight snuck up on him and readied his scythe as Nathan belatedly turned around when he sensed it.

Nathan raised his hands in an effort to block whatever damage he could with it, but that was useless, as other than the physical damage that it inflicted, the death scythe also took away lifespan.

When the scythe ran across Nathan's arm, he felt a sharp pain and a sudden loss of energy, causing him to wince before taking the opportunity to retaliate by grabbing the scythe with one hand, before imbuing his fist with demonic power and punching the grim reaper in the gut.

The grim reaper grunted in pain as he was knocked out of the sky due to a direct hit from Nathan. Although that was good- one of them was out of commission for the time and would recover after a while, Nathan had no time to celebrate this as he immediately sprung forward out of the grasp of the other 4 grim reapers behind him.

Of course, as all of this happened, Nathan never forgot to divert his attention to set magic circles down, something that the grim reapers overlooked as they rushed after him like wild dogs.

'Just a few more… Then, I'll blow this place to… heaven…? Heh, that'd be quite a blast.'

As Nathan continued leading the grim reapers on a wild goose chase, he noticed that the grim reaper that was out of commission had recovered to an extent.

'That was fast. Thought it'd take him a little more…'

Nathan clicked his tongue as he abruptly turned around mid air, facing his pursuers and greeting them with a magic circle, something that they reacted to as they quickly countered with attacks of their own.

'3…2…1!'

Nathan mentally counted down the time that was needed to detonate the magic circle, and as he finished the countdown, Nathan turned around with a mocking smile on his face as he covered himself in layers of demonic energy, creating a barrier.

The grim reapers, of course, saw his smile as they belatedly sensed the rising energy all around them, and they futilely tried to create barriers of their own, but they had no time to do so, as a mere second later, their area was demolished, leaving Nathan as the only survivor.

*BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!*

Countless explosions echoed through the barrier as the magic circles Nathan set off exploded, almost rupturing his eardrum, and would've blinded him if not for the fact that he was encased in a cocoon-like barrier.

Even if he was the only survivor, Nathan was in a horrible condition as he kneeled on the ground.

Keugh!", Nathan coughed up blood mixed with saliva as he inspected the wounds he received from the explosion. His own explosion, mind you.

"Haah…haaah…haah." Nathan's breathing was labored as he repeatedly tried to catch his breath, failing to do so for quite a while.

His clothes were in tatters, and the skin that showed was heavily bruised, if not bleeding profusely.

Nathan gritted his teeth as he did his best to patch up the wounds, mentally noting his mistakes.

'I made the explosion too strong… No, it's that my barrier was too weak. Stronger barrier next time, noted.'

Nathan winced as he pushed himself off the ground, getting up and heading over to Balher, trying to assist him in any way that he could.

With one last look at what he thought was the remains of the grim reapers, he turned around indifferently as he said, "You picked the wrong man to go after."

Balher grunted as he blocked the grim reaper's scythe with his arms, repelling it without a single cut.

"I'd ask for your name, but you don't deserve that honor." Balher simply stated as he pumped his fist, activating his Sacred Gear, Jotun's Rage. Instantly, a blue gauntlets that seemed to be made off of stone covered his hand.

"Kekeke…I love to disappoint people! The name's Kilgor! Now, I would ask for your name, if not for the fact that you'd be dead soon."

Balher frowned, "Strange. How come you took my words right out of my mouth?"

Balher charged at Kilgor, making a telegraphed punch at him, and Kilgor responded by holding his scythe up to block it, before regretting his decision to stand his ground.

The moment Balher's gauntlets connected with Kilgor's scythe, Kilgor was blown backward, before landing and finding that the scythe in his hand was much heavier than before.

Kilgor raised an eyebrow unhurriedly, "Mind explaining what you did to my scythe?"

Balher grunted indifferently, "Even someone like me can figure out what happened.", before charging at Kilgor once more.

This time, learning from his mistake, Kilgor opted to dodge as he agilely moved his body away from Balher's fist, while twirling the scythe, making it so that the edge would pierce Balher's torso.

Balher saw this, and he decided to twist his body, dodging the would-be fatal attack and receiving a small cut on his cheek in exchange.

"Not bad at all~", Kilgor praised as he faced Balher, holding the scythe like a toy over his shoulder- a sign that showed he had adjusted to the enhanced weight already.

Balher clicked his teeth as he stomped his feet on the ground, causing boulders to fly up, before grabbing them and throwing them at unfathomable speeds.

Kilgor, who saw what would happen in advance the moment Balher stomped his feet, decided to spin his scythe like a helicopter in front of him, creating a magic circle that had the emblem of a scythe, cutting anything that came in contact with it.

Amidst the chaos, Balher took the opportunity to dash among the boulders, and he found himself in front of Kilgor a mere second later, who whistled as he grabbed the scythe and jumped away from his current location, while also sending an energy slash at Balher.

Balher dispersed the energy blast with a punch- one that sent air pressure at Kilgor, who was blown back even further, crashing into the barrier.

"That hurts~!", Kilgor easily recovered from the impact with the barrier, smiling like a lunatic as he flowed down, locking eyes with Balher.

Balher frowned, "You're still alive?"

"Yep~ And now, it's my turn", Kilgor immediately appeared beside Balher, who turned to face him with wide eyes, frozen with horror as he felt the scythe cut deeply into his body, ripping out a chunk of flesh.

Balher bit his lips in pain as he turned to grab Kilgor, who reappeared on a boulder nearby.

As Kilgor did that, Balher immediately examined his wounds, and patched it up as much as he could through controlling his muscles and stopping the bleeding, albeit temporarily.

"Impressive~ That would've done little to you… If not for the fact that death scythes drain your lifespan when you get hit~"

Kilgor was right. The moment Balher got hit, he felt a portion of his energy sapping away.

Balher gritted his teeth as he stomped the ground once again, but unlike last time, this was to activate a special ability of his- one that belonged to him through his jotun heritage.

"Last Stand.", Balher's voice echoed through the barrier as his body increased in size and turned blue, morphing into a giant.

As his transformation was completed, a huge wave of demonic power surged from his body, one that alarmed even a High-class grim reaper like Kilgor.

Kilgor's face lost its playfulness for a brief moment, before he smiled in amusement, "You think that'd do anything to stop me? Well~," Kilgor appeared right next to Balher once again, "You're wrong."

"Or am I?"

*Clang!*

Kilgor's scythe was up against Balher's body, but this time, the grim reaper did no damage.

Kilgor frowned as he immediately reappeared away from Balher, 'It's like cutting a rock.'

Balher lowered his body to touch the ground, before gripping it, ripping out a huge chunk of rock, one that he threw in the air as he charged at Kilgor.

Kilgor reciprocated the action and likewise charged at Balher, and the two clashed weapons with each other, before Kilgor created a magic circle from his feet, blasting Balher away and mildly scorching him.

It seemed like Balher expected this, as he immediately threw another boulder at Kilgor, who hurriedly dodged it, before realizing another boulder was behind the one that was thrown, leaving him no time to dodge.

Gritting his teeth, Kilgor immediately reappeared at another destination, only for him to see a shadow that covered him.

Looking up, Kilgor saw a huge chunk of rock- the one that Balher initiated the battle with, heading down at him.

Kilgor gripped his scythe and yelled as he channeled his magic into it, slicing the rock into tiny pieces.

Due to him being distracted, Balher naturally took the opportunity and launched himself at Kilgor, landing a punch on the grim reaper's face, and blasting him like a rocket.

Kilgor's face distorted in pain as he skidded on the ground, before realizing that it took a considerable amount of effort to lift his head.

"Your ability is kinda easy to counter once you know what it is.", Balher simply stated as he walked over to Kilgor, before lifting his leg and putting it on Kilgor's head.

Kilgor gritted his teeth as he swallowed dirt, "I…is it?"

"Yeah.", Balher deadpanned as he put more weight onto Kilgor's head, forcing it even further into the ground.

"Th-then…", with every word, Kilgor was swallowing dirt, "Watch….THIS!"

Kilgor emitted a strong wave of energy that repelled Balher backwards. As Kilgor stood up, he removed the robe that he was wearing all along, revealing an extremely skinny man. Kilgor was so skinny to the point that Balher was able to see his skeletal structure clearly, making him look like a skeleton. Now with Balher's punch, the left side of his face was caved in, making him look even worse than how he would've.

Kilgor grinded his teeth, his eyes burning with a desire for revenge at the humiliation he'd just received.

"GRAHHHH!"

Kilgor charged at Balher, making a telegraphed movement with his scythe- one that Balher prepared to take advantage of.

Kilgor swung his scythe at Balher, disregarding the punch that was heading his way- the punch that was clearly going to make contact before his scythe.

Balher was prepared to follow up after his punch connected, and he prepared to make another move as his fist touched Kilgor's head…only to pass through it.

Balher's eyes widened- both in surprise and in pain, surprise at how his fist passed through Kilgor's head, and pain at how Kilgor's scythe connected, pierced his side deeply, almost cutting into his heart.

Kilgor took the opportunity and pulled his scythe out, before nimbly moving his body all around Balher's kneeling form, cutting his tendons and muscles in the process, effectively immobilizing Balher.

Balher collapsed onto the ground, blood spurting everywhere as he saw a part of his guts spilling in front of him.

"I'll bleed you dry."

Kilgor smiled cruelly as he kicked Balher's head, pushing it into the ground like how Balher did to him minutes earlier.

*BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOM!*

Kilgor and Balher both heard the explosions that happened, but both of them ignored it- one because of his arrogance, and the other because of his pain.

Kilgor continued abusing Balher's body, kicking it as he liked, and dragging his scythe to cut it as well.

"Haaa…Haaa…."

Rugged breathing was heard by both of them as the sounds of footsteps got closer and closer.

When Nathan arrived, he saw Balher slowly bleeding out on the ground, and the man standing on top of him smiling, clearly driven with insanity.

Nathan's eyes widened as he saw a scene that he never thought he would've- Balher laying on the ground defeated, at the mercy of the enemy.

Nathan raised his hand- the one that was functioning, and created magic circles that fired missiles at the grim reaper on top of Balher.

The grim reaper saw this and smiled, before reappearing next to Nathan in an instant, cutting off the arm that he used to cast his spells, before holding the scythe to Nathan's throat as he broke Nathan's legs with a kick.

Nathan would've screamed in pain- if not for the fact that he didn't even have the energy to do so. Instead, all he did was helplessly look into the eyes of the grim reaper.

That was when Nathan and the grim reaper heard the announcement.

"Balance Breaker." Nathan and the grim reaper turned to Balher, and at that moment, Nathan made eye contact with Balher, and he saw the desperation in Balher's eyes.

Balher clearly hesitated as he met Nathan's eyes, before whispering helplessly, "Last… Shine"

Immediately afterward, the magic in the air, and in everyone's body, started flowing towards Balher, who started to glow.

*Whoooo*

Whirring sounds filled the air as the grim reaper abandoned Nathan to try and save himself from whatever that was coming.

Nathan, who had his legs broken, and had no energy to use his wings, kneeled on the ground and accepted his fate.

The explosion that ensued due to Balher's actions swallowed everything within the barrier, disintegrating anything in its path as it spread.

*WHIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!*

With a sharp noise, the explosion died out, leaving nothing of the barrier, and the people inside it, creating a large hole in the ground.

At that moment, with a whisper that seemed to echo through space and time, an ancient-looking antique clock appeared, and with the arms rapidly spinning backward, Nathan's body appeared at the bottom of the hole, leaving him in the state of when just before the blast happened.

Moments later, Ajuka appeared before the hole, eyes widened in shock as he contemplated what could've happened to cause such environmental damage.

"Nathan?", Ajuka spotted Nathan who was unconscious at the bottom of the holes, "Natan!", and after seeing his injuries, he immediately teleported both of them to the best hospital in the Underworld- Serafall Memorial Hospital.

Sensing her friend's presence at the hospital that was named in honor of her, Serafall appeared next to Ajuka as he urgently headed to an operating room.

Ajuka, who noticed Serafall's presence, looked at her in relief as he asked for a favor, "Serafall, please give me an operating room. A patient needs urgent help."

Serafall immediately agreed to Ajuka's request the moment she saw the state of the person in Ajuka's arms, and cleared a room for Ajuka, who immediately started operating on Nathan.

As Ajuka was working on Nathan's body, he mumbled, "What the hell happened to you…?"