The Goddess of Destruction

by Father Hulk

OPENING WORDS: Greetings, my children! Welcome to my latest story! I have a really good feeling about this one! So let's get going! None of these characters belong to me, nor do they belong to the St. Eva Church. Make sure your seat backs and tray tables are in their upright and locked position, and let's go!

PROLOGUE

Obelisk. A tower floating above the cursed red water around Scande, town of the Empire. Blue brick floors ran across what seemed to be open sky, meaning that a stumble could lead to certain death. Monsters lurked around every corner, inside every crack of every wall, and waiting to jump out from the floor to consume anything that moved. An ordinary person wouldn't last five minutes inside this tower of terror. But it was not ordinary people who now slashed and magicked their way through the halls. Not ordinary at all.

A blue-haired youth named Ryu was at the head of the party. He had begun the fight against Zog, the evil king of the dragons, after his home town was ravaged by the Black Dragon army. The perilous struggled he had overcome had given him strength, confidence, wisdom, and power.

Behind him was Nina, the princess of Winlan, country of the Clan of the Wing. Her will to fight and sense of what was good in the world had caused her to join Ryu on his quest to stop the dark dragons.

Third in the party was Bleu, the legendary sorceress. She had been asleep for the previous 5,000 years, but was awakened to help Ryu and his friends bring peace to the world. With powerful magic easily at her command, she was a strong asset to the party.

Bringing up the rear of the expedition was a green, dog-faced creature named Puka. It was actually a thief named Karn combined with three of the other party members. With their powers combined, Puka was perhaps the strongest member of the team.

"The powers of evil grow stronger," Bleu whispered. "The goddess is close."

"I'm not afraid." Ryu said. "I hope none of us are."

"It's not the time to be afraid." Nina assured him. "We're all fearless warriors, just like you."

"Nobody said I was fearless," Ryu replied, "But I am human."

"I'm not." Puka hissed. "At least, not right now."

"Enough with the jokes," Ryu said. "Let's proceed."

As they descended lower and lower into the tower, the monsters grew fiercer and more dangerous, and soon the group began to tire.

"How much further?" Puka whispered. "My wings are getting sore."

"Your search is over…" boomed a female voice, the sound echoing off every stone in the tower, "I am here!"

The floor in front of them began to break apart and quake, and as the group stumbled to get back, a tall platform rose out of the center of the cracks, and on it stood a tall, long-haired girl.

"Myria!" Ryu gasped.

Myria laughed. "That's right! You searched for me, and now you've found me! What do you do next, foolish warriors?"

Ryu drew his sword. "Why, we kill you, of course."

Myria snorted. "Do you really think you can pull that off? You're mortals! You don't possess that kind of power!"

"She's right," Nina whispered in Ryu's ear, "She's a goddess. Will we be able to touch her?"

"Give it up, fools!" Myria hissed, as her body slowly transformed into a huge, winged demon. "It's over!"

Ryu gazed up at the demon. "Puka," he said without looking away, "Release fused party members."

Puka slowly began to glow, until a short, agile thief named Karn stood in its place. Karn had the ability to fuse with other members of the group, and he had been in the Puka phase.

Ryu took Nina's hand, and she took Bleu's hand. "Everyone, hold hands! Prepare for the dragon power of Anfini to unite us into Agni!"

In three white-hot blasts of lightning, the friends were united by the great dragon power, Anfini. The members' souls, bodies, and minds fused to create Agni, a huge, griffin-like creature with a brilliant, flowing mane, enormous silver wings, and red eyes with the gleam of power in them. Ryu's mind was dominant in this form.

"All right, bitch," he snarled, "Let's rumble!"

Myria spat a lightning bolt towards Ryu, but he jumped aside with the agility of a cheetah, then lifted off the ground and zoomed towards where Myria was hovering above him. With the strength of the Dragon Lord flowing through him, he opened his eyes wide and cast the Holy Beam from them. Myria held her hand out and absorbed the blast, then flew forward on a collision course with Ryu. Ryu stopped short and grabbed the demon by her neck, but she continued to grin fearlessly.

"Do you really think you can win?" she rasped, then electrified her body, causing Ryu to drop her from his grip.

Myria flew up high, and in her hands a brilliant blade of dark energy was created. With her new weapon, she dove towards Ryu at blinding speed.

With the same speed, Ryu conjured the Holy Blade of the Dragon, and blocked her assault just before she struck home. They locked weapons, glaring at each other, one with demonic eyes, one with dragon.

Myria took advantage of the moment, and zapped Ryu with her other hand, causing him to reel backwards. She raised her sword and slashed, but he blocked just in time, then flew upwards, leaving her looking up at him before taking flight herself.

"You'll be sorry you ever met with this spell, asshole!" she snarled, and she began forming a huge, dark, swirling ball in her hands. At the same time, a plan began swirling in Ryu's head. Esma, his guardian, had always told him that overconfidence would be the downfall of man. Well, it could be the downfall of demons too, if he planned it accordingly.

"Try blocking this with your sword!" she laughed, hurling the ball at him. He took it full force, and plummeted towards the floor of Obelisk. Myria watched him fall. "Good night!" she called, and after she heard the sound of the impact, she gracefully flew down and alighted next to the unmoving form of Agni.

"Young fools," she whispered, "They try to mess with the goddess of destruction, and this is what they get! Ha!"

The movement was too quick for human eyes to see. Ryu got on his feet, summoned his sword, and slashed across Myria's exposed head. Black blood began spurting from the wound, and the goddess collapsed on her knees.

"You… you trickster!" she croaked. "How dare you! This… this cannot be!"

Ryu released everyone from the fused form, and they stood there, watching the goddess as she began to dissolve.

"Fine… this is fine!" she snarled. "I may have lost now… but know this! I will be back! One day… when you don't expect it… I will make a dramatic re-entry into this world! Then all mortals will pay for your deeds! Ah ha ha…ughh…" Her final words were lost as she exploded before them, and a silver mist jumped from her body and spiraled out into nothingness.

Ryu and his group stood for a few moments, breathless, looking at one another.

"Do you really think she'll come back?" Nina asked.

"I doubt it." Karn replied. "We kicked her ass pretty good."

"Don't be so sure," Bleu said. "You can't take everything at face value. She may come back one day."

"Come on, guys, let's go." Said Ryu, putting his sword back in its scabbard. "We've got a lot of cleaning up to do."

And so Ryu and his friends began helping the villages recover what was lost in the bloody war. And the goddess never returned, and they hoped it would remain that way forever. But all good things never last forever…