Strongest

Chapter 4: Bloody Seedle

Written By Illuminet

Disclaimer: The cast of characters from Makai Kingdom : Chronicles Of The Sacred Tome do not belong to me, and are the rightful property of N.I.S (Nippon Ichi Software) America.

"..."-Indicate Speech

'...'-Indicate Thought

:MK:CST:

Seedle's Netherworld (a.k.a The Underworld), Fujiyama

:MK:CST:

The sounds of clashing blades rang through the sky. Seedle and Zetta flew about the mountain, intent on cutting each other into shreds.

'This is pretty weird...I can feel all the adrenaline rushing through my body, my muscles tightening and contracting as I move in for the attack or pull away in defense...and yet my mind can completely wander off somewhere else.'

Zetta thought to himself as his body used the Genesis to deflect one of Seedle's attacks away from him before retaliating with a slash of his own. Seedle escaped back but was not fast enough to evade the entire attack and ended up with a slight cut in his side.

'Too bad this whole auto pilot experience ain't as fun as being in full control. The last person I ever fought while I still had that control over my body was Raiden. I'd repeat that fight again and again if it were possible. Oh well...just seeing Seedle get smacked around almost compensates for that.'

Zetta was laughing it up in his head now. Seedle used speed to attack Zetta from many angles in attempts to break through the Overlord's defense. The Samurai Overlord's success rate was rare, though he did manage to land a few crucial cuts to Zetta's right arm and in turn making the overall attack power and speed decrease due to the sheer weight the Genesis possessed.

'I have to force Zetta to drop that weapon of his. It'll be much easier hacking away at flesh and bone rather than that blade.'

Seedle pondered to himself as he flew over Zetta's head to evade an attack, and trying to counter by thrusting one of his katanas down at the Overlord's shoulder. Zetta used his left hand to swat the blade away, not caring as the sharp edge bit into his palm. A slight smirk appeared on Zetta's face as he spun around, smacking Seedle in the back with the blunt side of his sword and forcing Seedle to a lower altitude. Before Seedle could recover, Zetta smashed his weapon into the Samurai Overlord's chest, making him plummet further until he struck the ground. Seedle coughed out blood as he made impact, his breathing becoming shallower.

'That bastard...now he's toying with me?'

Seedle growled deeply as he propped himself up on an elbow. His eye widened in recognition as a violet light shined across the edge of the Genesis. Zetta brought the blade overhead as the light intensified, before swinging it downward, ripping a dimensional portal out of the sky in front of him that unleashed a wave of negatively charged energy that whaled with the cries of the damned. Seedle had a bloody toothed grin plastered on his face as he teleported out of the blast's way as it scorched a good chunk of the ground.

"You seem a little preoccupied, Zetta."

Seedle said to the Overlord's right. Zetta only faced him with his blank gaze, showing no sign of surprise as he was left open for Seedle's assault. Seedle slashed the Last Samurai across the back of Zetta's right hand, causing the Genesis to free fall with the blackened earth left behind from Zetta's previous technique. Now that Zetta was weaponless, Seedle sadistically capitalized on the opportunity. His weapons moved so fast, it was as if a wall of blades were sent in Zetta's direction, cutting him severely across different areas of the chest almost simultaneously to leave deep wounds and forcing him back across the sky. The straps of Zetta's cape were cut as well, but the Overlord grabbed a fistful of the it before it could flutter to the ground below. Seedle chuckled as he rushed towards Zetta, piercing into Zetta's left shoulder with one of his katanas. He then spun Zetta around, building momentum before hurling Zetta at his mountain. The Overlord was pinned by the katana blade still imbedded in his shoulder. Seedle then teleported right in front of him, looking smugly down at Zetta's trapped form.

"Heh...perhaps your still just a big, fat, fake Overlord after all Zetta. I'm going to enjoy cutting you to pieces. And I'll enjoy doing the same to Salome after I absorb the Mana from your corpse. Maybe I'll even leave your head in good condition as a parting gift for her or keep it as a trophy myself, eh?"

Seedle said in his sadistic tone as he grabbed a fistful of Zetta's hair and making the Overlord look at him. Seedle had been pleased at his handiwork at first, but one look at the blank gaze of Zetta caused him to get angrier. Zetta was totally taking the satisfaction away because he didn't look scared or intimidated with the Samurai Overlord in the slightest.

"What the fuck's wrong with you, Zetta! Scream, beg for mercy, act like your in pain...DO SOMETHING!"

Seedle roared angrily in frustration as he clubbed Zetta repeatedly across the face with the pommel of his Last Samurai, trying to get some reaction from the ever silence Overlord. Zetta's response was only to smirk arrogantly, further pissing Seedle off.

"You son of a bitch...how dare you act as if I was the one pinned to this mountain and you're the one looking down at me! You...!"

Seedle gritted his teeth together hard as he clenched the katana in his hand so tight that his knuckles were going white. Zetta's mind was a different story to the calm and composed body.

'What the hell! No fucking way can I be losing to Seedle! Damn, and this dream was going so well until it turned into this nightmare...Tch! Come on body, you better pull off something good here! Come on, Dammit!'

Zetta's mind was pleading, becoming to immersed in his dream again, as Seedle prepared to sever the Overlord's head from the rest of his body.

"...I'LL KILL YOU!"

Seedle yelled out viciously, aiming his sword at Zetta's neck. It was at this time that Zetta's body reacted. Using the cape he still held onto, he swung it upward as the red inlaid cloth of the black cape altered to show an image of the stars in space. Soon Seedle was engulfed in darkness for a few brief seconds before the world came back to view again.

'What the...I'm on the ground?'

Seedle looked up at his mountain as he heard his other Last Samurai clattering down it. Seedle's eye widened in shock.

"Where...?"

Seedle heard the rustling wind behind him and turned to see Zetta flying straight at him. Seedle attacked with a swipe of his weapon, but Zetta swerved to the side to get behind Seedle. Before the Samurai Overlord could react, he was struck in the back with such force, he was sent skidding across the ground face first. He lifted his head out of the dirt, coughing slightly. Seedle tried to retaliate when Zetta walked in range, only to be captured in Zetta's cape again and appear in midair.

'His cape can...'

Before Seedle could fully complete the thought, Zetta caught him in the air before pile driving him back into the ground. Seedle grunted as he lifted himself back up as Zetta descended softly to the ground. Zetta and Seedle simply stared off at each other for a few brief moments, before Zetta turned to look down to his right side where the Genesis lay conveniently on the ground for him to pick up.

'Whew, that was a little too close for comfort...man, I completely forgot my cape could be manipulated to open space rifts and send people through different areas of their worlds. Good thing my body didn't forget. And with my Genesis in hand, Seedle is going to be kissing dirt again pretty soon!'

Zetta thought in typical arrogant fashion as his body walked slowly in Seedle's direction.

"Zetta...damn you."

Seedle growled out as he brought his katana up in his fighting stance.

'How could someone like the arrogant, self-centered punk of an Overlord Zetta become so withdrawn? I can't even telegraph his techniques because he remains completely emotionless. Damn that asshole...I can't win! I'm being robbed of my second shot at revenge!'

Even knowing the futility of it all, Seedle continued to battle as he rushed towards Zetta. He swung his katana with both hands, able to push Zetta back slightly. He kept trying to deflect Zetta's massive sword out of the way to land a solid attack to the Overlord's body. Zetta countered by striking with his cape, but Seedle hopped over it, smashing into Zetta with his shoulder before performing a rising slash as he leaped into the air and causing Zetta to go airborne. Seedle summoned a lightning bolt that slammed Zetta back down to earth, giving the Samurai Overlord time to dive down from his jump, katana aimed down to impale the Overlord through the throat.

"DIE!"

Seedle yelled out when he was only a centimeter away from hitting Zetta. The Overlord proved more resourceful, opening a portal with his cape to which he escaped Seedle's attack. Seedle landed on the cape, quickly looking about to find Zetta.

'Where the hell did he...?'

He was soon struck from behind, his katana dropping free from his grasp. Zetta quickly trapped the Samurai Overlord with his cape, before hefting it his shoulder. Zetta then proceeded to repeatedly slam Seedle against the ground, not even stopping as the cape became stained with blood. Seedle was able to break free as his blood soaked the cape and weakened the tough fabric. He rolled along the ground, a bloody mess. Seedle rose to his feet again with much effort, but soon fell back down in exhaustion.

'If I had known he was going to pull out all the stops, I would have done the same...dammit, it's too late now...'

Seedle finally lost consciousness, believing his fate was sealed. Zetta began making his way towards Seedle's still form.

'OH YEAH! I just owned your bitch ass like it was nothing, Seedle! King Zetta retains his undisputed title as the most Bad-Ass Freaking Overlord in the Cosmos! And let this be a lesson never to forget that! HAAA HAA HA!'

Zetta gloated. That, however, was short lived as his vision became blurry and the sensation of being ripped from his body was coming back again.

'No! Wait! Hold on! I don't want to wake up just yet...I haven't even concluded my gloating session in it's entirety. Come on, just one more hour! Okay, at least a minute! Uh...five seconds then? Ah man, you gotta be kidding me here! Right at the best part too! Whoever's fucking doing this is one sick, twisted...'

:MK:CST:

Zetta's Netherworld, Overlord's Castle, Personal Chamber (a.k.a Zetta's Room)

:MK:CST:

"...SON OF AAAAA...!"

His yell drowned out the startled gasp of someone as he hit and fell into something soft. This surprised him because he half expected to hit the door to the coffin he was staying in.

"Ow, Zetta, that hurt."

That had been Salome's voice.

'What the...? Why is Salome...?'

Zetta realized he was laying on top of Salome, or more specifically...her breasts.

"OHHH SHIT!"

Zetta was off her in record time, his eyes as wide as saucers. Salome sat up from the coffin Zetta had accidently knocked her on when he had woke up so suddenly.

"That was unexpected..."

Salome said softly as she began to message her aching breasts since Zetta did ram into them quite roughly. The book Overlord, despite how much he was telling himself how disgusted he was to see her do that, could not unglue his intense gaze away from her...until a familiar chuckle caught his attention. He growled menacingly.

"Trenia...you...you...YOU SET THIS ALL UP?"

He turned to face the little girl who was covering her mouth in an attempt to muffle her laughter, but it was no use. Zetta's cheeks were already well colored in the pink tint of embarrassment, and his eyes flared dangerously.

"That's it, now I'm really pissed off...ZETTA BEAM!"

He intentionally lowered the destructive power of his eye lasers to only shock her, more or less, since something within affected his nature and prevented him from killing her outright. Trenia had been laughing so hard that she fell over, and Zetta ended up blasting some of the coffins behind her instead. Luckily they only popped up in the air for a few brief moments rather than explode and send bits of wood, nail, and glass all over the place. Salome rose up and tried to intervene.

"Zetta, please wait. Trenia has to..."

Salome didn't realize a bent nail that was protruding from the coffin had snagged at a piece of fabric of her night gown, and as she tried to walk directly towards Zetta, the clothing slid off her lithe frame. She took a sharp intake of air in surprise, causing Zetta to look worriedly towards her...and nearly getting an eyeful of her in all her naked glory. He felt as if he was going to hyperventilate.

"Salome...!"

Unfortunately for him, his nose spurted blood as his blush became even darker. And with no hands to assist in stopping it...

'Crap...can this day not get any WORSE! But more importantly...why is Salome having this effect on me here and now of all times...I've never acted like a complete love sick idiot teenager for a brief second in all my life...except for today. I mean she practically wears clothing that's like a second skin...how the hell can I be embarrassed around her half naked? Ugh...I already know Trenia will never let me live this down...geez, she's still laughing at me. DAMMIT!'

:MK:CST:

Seedle's Netherworld (a.k.a The Underworld), Fujiyama

:MK:CST:

Although Zetta himself thought everything pertaining to what was happening on Seedle's Netherworld as nothing but a dream, it had been truthfully a very real event.

"I'm...still alive?"

Seedle groaned as he sat up slowly. His eye narrowed sharply as he caught sight of Zetta's body, lying face first on the ground.

'He must have passed out before he had a chance to kill me...should have expected that with the extent of his injuries, and now here is my chance to end it...hm?'

Seedle looked to the sky as he heard a strange noise. He got up as best as he could, seeing something peek out from the clouds. Seedle saw that the mountain wasn't too far away, so he made his way over to a small crevice at the base of the mountain to take cover.

'What...the hell...is that?'

Seedle could only watch in awe as the giant black space battleship descended towards Zetta's location. Seedle watched as Prinnies came down from the docking bay hangar, flying down with both CX-1 Hellpha and CX-2 Hellta class type support vehicles. The unconscious body of Zetta was brought back up to the massive battleship before it aimed for the skies and took off again, dispersing all the clouds in it's path.

'Zetta commands that giant flying machine? I don't have anything to contend with that thing...Damn!'

He leaned against one of the rock surfaces, breathing ragged as he fought to stay conscious. His hand rested against an odd indentation in the rock surface.

'Hm...this is...these carvings mean -Kamikaze-. Heh, that's right...they are hidden here.'

He felt around for a bit until he pulled a lever that unveiled a cave that led into a small cavern in the mountain. Seedle made his way there, where a small body of water surrounded a rock platform with a stone alter, which held two sheathed katanas wrapped in platinum-silver ribbons. Seedle went to the alter and grabbed one of them, unsheathing one katana half way to gaze at the sky blue surface of the blade that glowed with an oddly eerie aura. Seedle smirked.

"Zetta, you'll regret not killing me. I'll go to the source of your weakness...your woman. The time of staying away in darkness on this netherworld are over. Besides, Salome was on my hit list anyway. You should have put her on that machine of your's when you had the chance, Zetta."

He sheathed the blade again before grabbing it's twin and heading out, putting both blades in the back of his belt in their crossed over fashion.

"After I get treated by one of my reserved army's healer, I'll go and kill Salome. And when you return Zetta...we'll see how well your sword fairs against these blades. These Devine Winds. Heh Heh Heh!"

-ToBeContinued-

Note: Well, this chapter doesn't flow nearly as well in my opinion compared to the previous chapter, but it's still okay at best. Everything became so serious all of a sudden, but I guess that's to be expected. Anyway, hopefully things should get more interesting by the next chapter "story wise", as this one is mostly just a bunch of mindless fighting.