Holy fucking shit! 1000 reviews, on my second story! I... got no words. Just. Thank. You! here is another long chapter because like I said, I can't ignore support like that, it's like customers in subway asking for more subs... Can't deny them.
Yes, I work at subway. Always go for herb and cheese bread, nothing beats that.
Let's speak a little more seriously. What happened last chapter was simple, like Junpei said in the game, Minato had harnessed a part of death's power and kept it, reason why he was able to dual summon even after losing death.
Over here, the same thing happened... Except, Minato was buried in guilt and hate about his past and kept his side locked up, refusing to look and face his past.
When Minato slipped into another NDE, he faced his shadow who convinced him and just like before, a touch of death was enough to awaken his wild card. Minato getting healed and his eye healing up was the result of a fusion of his wild card and the piece of death, that's pretty big, I think. He got the world arcana, FFS, which i think was needed because phew... Ryoji is a goddamn monster.
Replies!
Sherry : Glad you enjoyed it. :P and uh... there is no y'all, still only me writing alone for now. Cheers!
Unknown : Hell yeah, even I felt a little weird writing a normal Minato.
Guest : Hahaha, just making sure, if the story drags on then let me know. I've seen a lot of stories drag on, mostly due to filler chapters, I focus far more on build up which is why it takes a while but it also shows how deadly and powerful the antagonists are. Cheers for the review.
Anonymous : Damn right.
Lightlyy : First of all, dude, r u serious? You can write a 2k word essay and I'll still read so don't worry and feel free, I got holidays anyway. Thanks for the response, I'll wait as for your question, I'd say fallen messiah, which i enjoy writing more.
In fallen messiah, there is only one way, a highway to hell with nothing but depression and suffocation. I cannot think of a happy moment in that fic aside from the non-cannon one shot at the 100th chapter (which i completely agree with you was bs) I'll also write an action scene over fluff because I'm better at the former.
I like writing bloodlust too but fallen messiah is just overall more fun to write, most likely because it's nothing but battles and chaos lol.
I love you too! Don't care if you're a guy or a girl! Cheers for the review!
Xaxiel : Here you go.
Izanagi : Lol, imagine a kingdom run by those two. But well, read the chapter and tell me, is BL Minato worthy being the prince of darkness.
Here we go! A lot of crude jokes and fbombs but hey, that's psycho Minato.
"You've got some neat tricks," Minato complimented, pacing around Ryoji who followed his every step, body still wrapped up in a thick cloak of darkness. "Just like every other delinquent brat out on the streets."
Ryoji chuckled. "You've got quite a mouth on you, Minato."
"Same to you," Minato replied, coming a stop and crouching down slightly. "Did... I dunno, Nyx teach you?"
Ryoji growled the next time and bolted. "You insolent little-" he roared out loud, speeding forward like a black blur, fast enough that nobody could follow his movements, except...
"Heh,"
Ryoji crashed into the blue haired persona user, the black cloak around his frame erupting into an explosion of dark magic which sent termors ripping through the dungeon, but-
"Hehehe,"
Ryoji was only able to take a few steps forward until Minato clasped his wrists and came to a stop, surprising the appraiser who looked down and saw Minato frowning at him.
"You aren't going to manhandle me that easily," Minato swore. "Not anymore."
Ryoji gritted his teeth, trying to push forward but Minato held on, just like he said, after the initial burst, he didn't take another step backwards. "Grrr!" the shadow growled, scowling in response to Minato's cheeky smirk.
The little scuffle ended when Ryoji sent a knee up his stomach, breaking the hold around his wrist. Minato backed off slightly but came back in to counter the pulsing black ball with his own, ensuring another explosion which drew grins from the two teenagers.
Minato skidded backwards and got up, cracking his neck. "Whew, that got the blood flowing."
Ryoji didn't really move from his spot, just was forced a step backwards. He followed Minato and cracked his neck. "That facade won't fool me."
"What facade?" Minato chuckled.
"You're still trembling from the inside," Ryoji said. "Acting confident will not help you, not against someone like me."
"Hahahaha!" Minato laughed in response. "Do you really think, after all I've been through, after all what you've done to me... I'm afraid of you?"
"..."
"You hurt and mutilated me badly, but don't think for a second that you intimidated me," Minato scoffed. "Truth is, I can't be scared of a punk who has spent more nights crying into my shoulder than even Hamuko!"
Ryoji frowned, chewing on his bottom lip. "Watch your mouth."
"Come on little boy," Minato said, beckoning him over with his hands. "Intimidate me, I dare you!"
Ryoji screeched out loud and rushed at him, evoking another laugh from Minato who took his stance and crouched down again, both eyes carrying a malicious glint, thirst for vengeance and blood.
"Come on Minato!" Hamuko shouted at him from afar. "I won't be able to sleep at night! Kick his ass!"
"Alright darling," Minato chuckled. As soon as he got close, Minato started moving, sliding away from the first few punches that breezed past him, drawing out another sneer but the next punch connected to the side of his face, snapping his head backwards.
"Die!" Ryoji said, launching the follow up strike with every bit of force he could muster-
Minato tilted his head to the side and got close, grinning in Ryoji's face for the missed strike. "You call that a punch?" the blunet taunted and spat out blood on Ryoji's face, freezing him in place.
Ryoji had little time to dwell on the disrespect as Minato clenched his hand into a fist and fired a barrage of fists which Ryoji weaved through with little difficulty but even then, he could see Minato was holding back somewhat, not firing at full speed.
Ryoji caught his fists and smashed his head onto Minato's, pushing him backwards but just as Minato disengaged, he kicked the legs from under Ryoji, knocking the appraiser to one knee.
Minato stumbled for a few steps but pushed his head forward with the same cheeky grin plastered on his face. "On your knees already?" the blunet mocked. "Damn, Nyx spend time on you, I see."
Ryoji's eyes flashed red and the shadow lunged forward, crashing into Minato and wrapping his hands around the throat of the insolent-
"Oh no,"
Minato growled.
"This won't work on me," Minato repeated, pulling the hands away from his throat. He held Ryoji in place, hands entwined with his as the two struggled, growling and hissing at each other as they tried to overpower the other. Minato knew it wasn't going to be easy but for Ryoji, the surprise was much more because this had never happened before-
Minato stopped playing and fired a knee up his stomach to break the hold. Ryoji stayed in the same place, guarding his face to block the incoming punches but Minato went low and started punching his body, as hard as he could. He pushed Minato away and surged forward again, pulling back on his fist.
Minato cross blocked the strike, leading to another explosion of magic but this time, Minat grinned and Ryoji scowled, somewhat impatient and surprised. The struggle ended as the same way as before, as Minato kneed him stomach and started punching into his stomach, finally making the appraiser take a step back.
"He took a step back," Sho blinked. Ryoji had NEVER taken a step back, no matter how hard they attacked. "Huh..."
Ryoji gritted his teeth, slamming his elbow to the side of Minato's head, sending the blunet almost crashing down but he held a palm against the ground and hopped back up, tilting his head from left to right.
Ryoji stared him down and hissed. It was hard to believe that a broken mortal was taking so much time.
"Don't wet your pants, little boy, there are no personas," Minato assured.
Ryoji lost it and crashed into Minato again, leading to the two teenagers struggling around each other, clawing, punching and kneeing repeatedly until a sharp punch from Ryoji broke it up, sending Minato skidding backwards.
Minato looked up and smirked, running a thumb just below his own eye before shrugging his shoulder, asking him what the hell happened.
Ryoji did the same thing and looked at his thumb, finding a little of ichor on the edges.
He was wounded...?
The shadow pressed his thumb and more of the liquid came out of the wound just below his eye.
He was actually wounded!
Ryoji roared out loud again, shaking the place but Minato shook his head and bolted, getting up in Ryoji's face during the roar, giggling and chuckling, almost wanting to punch his fist down Ryoji's throat but he refrained.
"Time to die-" Ryoji opened his eyes and saw Minato just inches away from his face, looking way too relaxed for someone who was facing the God of Death.
"Cute," Minato slapped the black haired teen hard across the face. Ryoji looked back at him with wide eyes, did he just...
"Did you just-"
"Nice scream but that won't work in somebody that just doesn't give a shit,"
Ryoji reached out to grab his throat but Minato pushed it to the side and grabbed a hold of his scarf. "Stupid boy!" the blunet spat and started slapping Ryoji, repeatedly, as hard as he could, still holding him in place.
Ryoji had more than enough power to push him away but he had trouble coping with the fact that a mortal was slapping him. Hamuko had slapped him before but she was terrified back then, Minato on the other hand, laughed in his face and then slapped him without a care in the world.
That was no facade.
Minato really didn't give a shit...
Ryoji freed himself from Minato's grip and jumped back, hand around his cheek. He could feel a bruise forming from the repeated slaps. That little bastard. "I'll show you fear..." the appraiser swore, getting pissed off just by looking at Minato who was staring at him without blinking or twitching in fear.
"I don't give a fuck who you are," Minato shook his head. "Come on, roar loud because next time I am going to stick my fist into your throat."
"You are making me really angry," Ryoji stared at him, moving his head to the side. "You wouldn't like that..."
"HAHAHAH!" Minato jeered and flipped him off. "Kiss my ass, you goddamn abomination."
Ryoji growled and charged at him, irises now blood red.
Minato looked away briefly and blew a kiss to Hamuko before staring at his friends, especially at Sho. "Watch closely. There is nothing to fear," he turned around and faced Ryoji with a scowl, toying time was finally over. "Can't wait to make you cry again, Pharos!"
Ryoji slipped somewhat upon hearing his old name and Minato started ripping hooks into his body, following it up with more knee strikes, hard enough that he felt Ryoji shudder against him slightly.
The black haired teen blocked the next time and tossed Minato to the ground. He jumped on the blunet and hammered a number of punches to his face until Minato clasped his wrist and kicked the legs from under him again, forcing Ryoji to fall backwards.
Minato hopped to his feet and kicked Ryoji hard in the stomach, hard enough that the kick lifted him up from the ground.
Ryoji caught the next kick and and flung Minato to the side, making the persona user crash against the pillar.
"Hm," Minato pushed himself up and started pressing forward again, closing the distance between himself and Ryoji. The two locked gazes and growled, clenching their fists at the same time.
"Come on!" Ryoji dared.
"Nyx may have your soul but your ass is mine!"
Ryoji waited him and as soon as they got close, the two started swinging, aiming to take each other's heads off. Minato endured the strikes and started moving again, slipping and weaving through the powerful punches but during the whole scuffle, he kept talking with a shit eating grin on his face.
"Can't wait to go back home,"
Block.
"Gonna spend a night with Hamuko and then lick your tears off my shirt,"
"Grrr!"
Minato sidestepped the next strike and crashed his knee up Ryoji's solar-plexus again.
"Gonna be one hell of a night, your ass here, Hamuko next and your tears at the very last,"
Slip.
"Are you going to cry again, little boy?"
Ryoji struck Minato hard across the face, making him stagger backwards. The appraiser smelt blood and closed in, uncorking a number of punches to break his goddamn face and then rip his tongue outta his blasphemous mouth-
Minato took the first punch and looked up, grinning in his face before he blocked the follow up strikes. The last shot broke his guard and Minato ducked under immediately, going back to punching Ryoji's body.
Ryoji sent a punch crashing to the back of his head and Minato pulled back, kicking Ryoji hard on his right leg just when he was about to back off. The appraiser stumbled momentarily and Minato came back, almost knocking him to the ground as he started kicking his right leg.
"Pitiful!"
"HAHAHAH!" Minato laughed out loud, taking the next punch which sent him to a knee but he jumped back up and blocked the downward smash. He got close in Ryoji's face and kept talking shit, mouthing off which only made the God angrier. "I sure hope Nyx punches harder than you."
Ryoji started overpowering Minato down but the next knee strike actually made him hack out saliva. "W-What the-" the blunet soon freed himself from the grip and kept abusing his stomach with more punches and for the first time ever, Ryoij was taking damage...
He could feel Minato's punches carving a hole into his stomach.
Ryoji shook his head and screeched out loud. He grabbed a hold of Minato's throat and pushed him to the ground. "You insolent fool!"
"Fuck you!"
Minato rolled away from the punches and ran forward as soon as he got up, kneeing Ryoji in the middle of his chest.
"Grrr,"
Ryoji cupped his ankle and lifted him off his feet, repeatedly slamming him against the ground a number of times before he sent him crashing into the wall, while he tried to regain his wits-
"Oh no, you don't!" Minato was moving the moment he got on his on his feet, pressing forward without take a break. "Come on boy, this is far from over."
Ryoji was forced out of his trance and he got back up, panting slightly as Minato pressured him with a storm raging in his eyes. "Stay down!" the shadow demanded and rushed again.
"Bow down and apologize again, Pharos!"
Ryoji widened his eyes, the blasted memory flashing across his eyes. He actually used to bow down for forgiveness, he used to bow down to a mortal as disgusting as Minato-
"Gack!"
Ryoji backed away from another another knee strike and surged forward, throwing a sloppy strike to take Minato's head off.
Minato pulled back to avoid the strike and just when Ryoji closed in due to momentum, Minato countered over the top, his fist colliding to the back of Ryoji's head, scrambling his brains to the point of-
"Huh...?"
Ryoji lost his senses and was greeted by...
...
Darkness...?
His vision blackened out and he remembered no more.
"Heh,"
When Ryoji woke up, he found himself on the floor with Minato standing over him, looking down at him as the appraiser tried to stop the building pain at the back of his head-
Pain...?
The members of SEES saw the whole thing play out. Minato had told them to watch and they did, not believing it actually happened.
Minato had knocked Ryoji down.
Knocked the God of Death down.
"He knocked him out," Akihiko blinked. In boxing, that would have been a stoppage and a win for Minato.
"I can do that too!" Sho growled.
"What happened, God of Death?" Minato questioned, looming over the fallen shadow who kept staring up at him in wonder, still trying to fight back the building pain around his skull.
"What the hell just happened?" Ryoji shook his head. "Explain! What did you do to me!?" he demanded.
"Like I said, still just a kid," Minato sneered. "Some God you are, boy."
Ryoji punched a hole into the ground and jumped back on his knees, panting like crazy as he struggled to control the hate in him. He looked up and stared into Minato's eye, an absolutely murderous expression marring his face.
"Enough of these fucking games!" Ryoji howled like a demon. "I am going to rape your damn soul!"
"Rape my soul, yeah right," Minato scoffed. "Quit this bitchy, childish tantrum and fight you son of a bitch!"
Ryoji screeched venomously and took off running, rocking the ground as he took off at full speed, running in a zig zag patter as he closed the distance and collided into Minato, almost bringing the fool to his knees.
Minato hissed when Ryoji bit him on his shoulder, chewing his flesh-
"Get off me, you piece of shit!" the blunet demanded and started punching the back of his head over and over again but every hit made Ryoji chew harder, until Minato grabbed a fistful of hair and ripped him off his shoulder.
Ryoji chewed the flesh and bolted, looking to bite his face off this time.
Minato blocked the bite with his own forearm and growled. "Bitch!" he spat and kicked the legs from under him again, sending Ryoji to the ground.
"Ugh!" Ryoji rolled away from a kick and got on his hands and knees, trying to stand up but the repeated leg kicks from Minato made it a little difficult for him to stand pr put weight on his right leg which he had constantly targeted.
Minato turned his head to the side and smirked at his team. "Are you watching closely?" he whispered. "He can bleed just like the others, there is nothing to fear."
Ryoji got up and took a deep breath, trying to stay calm-
Minato paced around in a circle, his cocky smirk easily filling Ryoji with hate. "Tick Tock..." the blunet said, rocking his head back and forth, reminding him of his limited time in the world. "You said something along the lines of : Molesting my paralyzed body or something?"
"..."
"You're kinda short on time, squirt," Minato reminded. "Are you sure you can kill me and then put defile Hamuko like you promised?"
Ryoji gritted his teeth and bolted but this time, Minato met his charge head on.
"Here is your answer : No, you won't put your filthy hands on Hamuko!"
Ryoji roared in response.
"Or any of my friends, bank on that!"
Minato endured the explosion of dark energy that smashed into his body and ducked underneath the rapid punches, moving out of his line of fire. He turned on the spot and lunged head, slipping past a straight to punch Ryoji in the middle of his nose.
Ryoji stopped his charge and rag-dolled the blunet to the ground, stomping hard onto his chest. "Time to die, just like your parents-!"
Minato cupped his ankle before the next stomp and growled, twisting his leg hard enough that Ryoji fell to the ground. The blunet quickly stood up, looking to break his leg until Ryoji kick him on the side of his head with his other foot, sending Minato to the ground.
The two jumped back up at the same time and got back at it again, with Ryoji firing punch after punch in hate and Minato moving around, countering whenever he saw an opening.
Some blood splattered onto Ryoji's face.
A little bit of ichor fell on Minato's lip.
Ryoji licked the blood from his face. "Tch..."
Minato lapped up the ichor. "Disgusting... HAHAHAHA!"
The appraiser looked up saw and his blood on Minato's face. His face stretched into a heated glare but he was just as confused. How and why the fuck was this happening!? There was no way his blood was on someone else. Made no goddamn sense.
Minato saw the crimson liquid on Ryoji's face and laughed out loud. "You never looked better, you piece of fucking shit!" he hollered out loud, breaking free from the grip to punch his face in.
Ryoji blocked the punch and replied back with a nasty haymaker which sent Minato stumbling. "Tch!" the blunet composed himself and ducked low when Ryoji came in, twisting his body to the side and kicking Ryoji hard in the stomach which made Ryoji hop backwards.
Ryoji clutched his stomach and took a step back, grunting in pain.
Minato rushed forward and started kicking his body senseless, shin to his ribs and sides as hard as he could.
Ryoji caught the next kick and dropped Minato with a straight to his face. He tried picking him up again to toss him around but Minato rolled away.
"No rest for the weary," the blunet chuckled, crouching on his knees to wait for Ryoji who was already in the middle of his run.
The two snarled in hate and took off, colliding into another heated scuffle in which both of them got hit and rocked, both crashed down only to get up and keep punching each other, hoping to break each other's faces.
"Come on little boy," Minato taunted as he backed off to block the punches. "Give me your best shot-!"
Ryoji whipped around on the spot and fired a kick which the blunet easily caught.
Minato went high with a head-kick that connected on the dome just when Ryoji punched him in the middle of his nose.
The two backed off, holding onto the aching spots.
Ryoji glanced at his face and frowned. Minato was breathing hard, out of disgust more than exhaustion. He looked like some sort of caged animal, just waiting to maul the shit out of him.
Minato glanced at his face and grinned. Ryoji was breathing hard, out of exhaustion more than disgust. He looked... confused, being a God meant not having to deal with resistance and fatigue, until now that is.
"I am going to slaughter you," Ryoji swore. "Going to burn you to ashes! Mark my words!"
"Yeah right," Minato scoffed. "Like I said before, until you take my life from me, you're nothing!"
Ryoji roared in response and started chucking sphere of dark energy towards the blunet who crossed his arms and endured the explosions. "One, two, three..." he whispered and took off running, slapping the incoming blobs to get close to Ryoji.
Ryoji backed off and concentrated, forcing out an explosion of dark energy that circled out and formed a dome, a shield of magic to keep Minato away.
Minato ran through the shield which shattered like glass upon the collision. Ryoji blinked, feeling a little bit of light surging across his frame but it quickly disappeared when the dome collapsed down.
"That won't work on me," Minato said, sidestepping the barrage of punches.
Ryoji came forward and just kept punching, refusing to stop despite Minato reflecting and dodging most of his strikes.
"Damn, look at you Pharos," Minato's head whipped to the side after a successful strike but he turned back and went right at it like nothing had happened.
"All grown up,"
"Shut the fuck up!" Ryoji growled, knocking the blunet down.
Minato hopped to his feet and crouched down, slamming his knee into his sides.
"And full of shit," Minato mocked, whispering into his ear as he held him like an older brother.
Ryoji saw red and detonated another explosion of dark magic which sent Minato flying into the pillar. Time was ticking and no matter how hard he punched, the blue haired bastard kept getting back up, just like now-
Minato got up and leaned against the pillar, shoving his hands in his pockets. "I've got all the time in the world... Do you?"
Ryoji ran for him again, pulling back on his fist.
Minato looked at his friends again and smirked. It was working... Finally, they were looking... alive...
Another cross block led to more explosions of dark mist which kept spiraling around the two teenagers, seeping out from under their feet and their fists which were clenched, tangled around as they struggled, bloodlust surging in their eyes and rolling off them in waves.
"I hate you," Ryoji growled.
"I fucking hate you too!" Minato screeched back. "You son of a bitch! You think I forgot all you did to me!?"
"Fucking bitch," Minato spat. "Can't wait till Nyx shows up, gonna fuck both of you bitches till you love me."
"Watch your mouth!" Ryoji pushed him back, skin cracking slowly, by every word and second.
"Or what?" Minato taunted back. "Are you going to do something about it?"
"Grrr!"
"Do something about it," Minato shoved him back and slapped him hard across the face. "Do something about it, motherfucker!"
Ryoji surged ahead and head-butted the persona user hard, making him stumble. Seeing the daze, Ryoji bolted again, charging another cloak of darkness around his body.
Minato ducked low and sidestepped, tripping Ryoji who crashed onto the nearby pillar head first. The blunet jumped on him and started bashing his head against the pillar, until Ryoji caught a nearby rock and crushed it the wound on Minato's face.
Minato hissed and backed off, trying to pull out the remains from his face. The healing took care of the major wounds but there were still a few-
Ryoji grabbed a nearby pillar and smacked Minato hard across the face, making him somersault through the air until he landed on his head with a thud.
Ryoji easily held up the broken pillar and aimed a downward swing to squash Minato against the ground.
Minato rolled away and jumped to his feet, blocking the next swing with his knees. The force nearly knocked him to his knees but he gritted his teeth and kept standing, looking ahead to stare at Ryoji who was grinning.
"Stupid boy!" Minato channeled darkness into his fist and punched the pillar, causing a shower of rocks and debris that rained down on the two teens, catching Ryoji was surprise who rubbed his eyes to get rid of the filth and dust.
Minato rushed through the rain of debris and caught a large rock in his palm, promptly crushing it to pieces against Ryoji's temple with a sick cackle.
Ryoji's knees buckled again and Minato fired another straight which sent him crashing to the ground. For the second time.
Minato looked back at his team and shrugged his shoulder. "Are you watching this...?"
Mitsuru nodded slowly. Minato was actually fighting on equal ground. She never thought anybody would be capable of fighting on par with Ryoji.
"Go on!" Hamuko found her voice and kept cheering. "Break his face! Destroy him for what he did!"
Ryoji came to and growled upon hearing the red haired bitch shout. When did she get the life back in her? He had left her almost broken.
Ryoji sprang up and held a palm against his busted temple, feeling the ichor run down his fingers and the soft, bruised flesh, all because of-
"Minato!" the appraiser roared out loud again, harder than before but like always, the blue haired teen stood at the same spot, not a bit intimidated.
"I told you, those screams are loud and all but this won't work on someone who just doesn't care," Minato shrugged his shoulders.
Ryoji bolted and knocked Minato to the ground with a punch to the side of his head.
Minato shrugged again and quickly stood back up, cracking his neck a few times.
"Yeah?"
"..."
"I can't count the number of times I've been knocked down," Minato chuckled. "Hell, even have my friends have knocked me down, from Yukari to Hamuko... So what?"
"Pathetic!" Ryoji spat out.
"Nope, that's called not giving a fuck," Minato corrected. "You spacing out like a lost kid after every hit, now that's pathetic."
Ryoji backed off and closed his eyes, calling out to the shadows for aid...
"Minato-kun," Fuuka choked out. "I sense shadows... They're coming here."
Minato sniggered, pacing around Ryoji who opened his eyes, feeling the shadows approaching the dungeon-
"Go on!" Minato said. "Call your shadows, call thousands of them." an unforgiving smirk formed on his face as he crouched down and sneered, mockery and venom laced into his every word.
"Just like your mother, I will take on all comers!" Minato assured and upon hearing that, Ryoji lost it.
The appraiser lost it and disconnected the link, charging towards Minato, wanting to rip his skull out of his head but all the strikes he threw were telegraphed and Minato saw them coming from a mile away.
Minato slipped the punches and countered with body kicks and straights, forcing Ryoji to slow down and guard his body. The two clashed, colliding into each other, talking shit and spitting blood and ichor in each other's face as the fist fight continued, with Minato pressing forward and Ryoji backing away to deal with the insane output of Minato.
"Knock him down again!" Akihiko shouted. "Come on Minato!"
"Beat his ass!" Junpei cheered, finally finding his own voice, despite Ryoji being in the same room as him.
"Beat the shit outta him, leader!" Sho screamed. "Screw Hamuko, you're the real leader!"
"..."
"I will!" Minato shouted from far, although Sho was not sure what he talking about...
"Don't touch her!" Minato shouted after a pregnant pause.
"Geez," Hamuko shook her head.
Ryoji backed off and panted, clutching his wounds as the exhaustion and damage began to pile up. For the first time ever, he had taken damage, actual damage and fatigue as the fight went on. He had never fought this long with anyone, there was never a need because a single shout and a small punch was enough to either kill or critically damage his prey.
Until now...
Ryoji glanced up at Minato who was more busted up but was still pressing forward like a terminator, not stopping no matter how many times Ryoji punched him or knocked him down.
Minato was a still a goddamn monster. Even after losing the connection, he hadn't lost a step. He was just as ruthless and brutal as before, showing no mercy whenever he got an opening.
"Why am I thinking that?" Ryoji spat. He was the monster, not some broken mortal who was groveling next to his feet just a couple of minutes ago-
"Minutes..." Ryoji panicked and bolted.
Minato endured the barrage of blows and started firing back with body kicks, grinning whenever Ryoji hacked out saliva and ichor.
Ryoji charged ahead after knocking Minato backwards but just like before, Minato found his footing and started moving, retaliating his missed strikes with more head shots and body kicks.
"Still no persona," Minato reminded, digging into his stomach with more hooks.
Ryoji lunged ahead and Minato ducked, moving around and coming back up at his side.
"I'm still rusty and beat up!" the blunet taunted, tilting his head to avoid the elbow strike.
Ryoji pushed forward, kicking the Fool to the ground.
"What do you think I'll do to you when I summon my persona?" Minato stood back up, dusting off his pants.
"I curse you!"
"Fuck you,"
"I swear on my existence!"
"Fuck you,"
"I will haunt you to the end of your miserable existence!"
"Fuck you,"
"I hope your parents-"
"Fuck your face," Minato interjected.
"You filthy filth sucking maggot-"
"Fuck your family," Minato laughed out loud, giggling during the back and forth.
A vein popped up on Ryoji's forehead.
"Fuck you Pharos,"
"Don't call me that!"
"Fuck you to the end of eternity and infinity, eat a dick and shut your pitiful sobbing, Pharos!"
Ryoji had enough. He held out his hand and summoned the scythe into his palms. He jabbed the blade over at Minato and swore. "I am going to cut you to pieces... No more games."
Minato eyed the scythe and clicked his tongue. He had no persona, which meant no sword for him.
He looked at the side to see the discarded pile of weapons of his friends but decided against going there. Keeping Ryoji away from them was his priority.
"Die!" Ryoji scowled and bolted, launching a number of slashes from the distance to keep his body safe from the kicks.
Minato's cheek was cut open by the first one and he hopped away to avoid the follow up, pushing away the scythe with his bare hands to save his vital parts.
Ryoji laughed, noticing that Minato was starting to struggle. "That's it, dance for me, boy!" he demanded, cutting his legs and chest open with long ranged slashes, opening up shallow wounds because Minato was able to move and reduce the force of the attacks.
"Boy?" Minato ducked under a straight stab and smirked. "Says the dude who cried on my shoulder every damn night for months straight."
Ryoji drew his scythe back and launched a straight that Minato caught, came right forward and carved a hole in the middle of his stomach with another brutal knee strike.
Ryoji brought the scythe back, aiming to rip his face apart but Minato backed off, suffering another cut on his cheek. He licked some of the blood off his finger and grinned, loving the taste of iron in his own mouth. His own blood never failed to bring a thrill to him, only made him more motivated to taste more blood of his enemy.
Moving away from another barrage of rapid slashes, Minato kept moving backwards, getting closer and closer to the wall and Ryoji, grinning and cackling after seeing his blood spill to the ground, happily followed him without giving a crap.
"UGH!"
A slash on his chest.
Another on his shoulder.
One on his abdomen.
Minato caught the blade in his palm just inches away from his face. "Hm..." he pulled it down and Ryoji drew back, preparing for another volley of slashes.
"Just a bit more," Minato suffered more cuts and bruises and kept pushing the enormous scythe away with his hands to keep himself alive. He could heard Ryoji laugh every time his skin was marred with the cold steel and while he was losing gallons of blood, the blunet stayed calm.
This was nothing new to him.
He had lost so many gallons before.
Ryoji swiped him off with feet with the blade of his scythe and brought it down, impaling his chest-
"YES!" the shadow roared out. He was going to die-
Minato shook his head, pushing the blade out with his hands but this time, he held on, trying to pull Ryoji forward despite the steel bruising his hand as he gripped it tightly.
Ryoji closed the distance, pulled his weapon back and smashed his head onto Minato, knocking him backwards.
"That's it!" Ryoji mocked. "You are still just a mortal, now die like the filth you are!"
Minato was knocked back to the ground with another right hand from the God who jumped on him, looking to stab his forehead and end the fight once and for all-
Minato laid still on the ground, not moving and just panting, pleasing Ryoji who placed every bit of his energy into his hands for the final swing.
"Rot in hell!" the appraiser cursed and launched the blade for his skull-
Minato stopped playing possum and jumped away from the range and the blade ended up embedding into the wall behind Minato, giving Ryoji a small whiplash which was enough for Minato to counterattack.
Minato yelled and speared Ryoji awayl, leaving his scythe stuck in the wall. Ryoji desperately tried to power out but Minato kept plowing forward, until Ryoji's head bounced off another nearby pillar.
Minato pulled back and ended up punching the stone as Ryoji backed off.
"Shit!" the blunet growled, head bouncing off the pillar as Ryoji kept slamming it on the hard surface, over and over again.
Minato clasped his wrist and pulled him forward, sending him face first into the pillar. He pushed him down and started kneeing his face, sandwiching it between the stone and his knee.
Ryoji tasted his own blood again and froze up instead of getting thrilled like Minato.
Minato saw him freeze and kept beating his face against the pillar, shattering it little by little every time Ryoji's head bounced off the surface.
Ryoji opened his mouth and started chewing on his finger, making the persona user pull back with Ryoji latched onto him. He removed his mouth from his finger and dug his teeth into Minato's cheek, latching onto his frame as he tried to bite it off again.
"Get off me!" Minato started ripping more punches into his already damaged body, forcing Ryoji to pull back and scream in pain as his body started breaking down and his knees start to wobble after every hit, despite coming from close range.
Minato slammed against Ryoji and tied him up, wrapping his arms around his neck to pull the taller teenager down. Ryoji had no idea how to deal with a clinch and just kept thrashing, hoping to push Minato off.
Minato pulled his head down and started firing off uppercuts in quick succession, surprisingly making Ryoji grab onto him, trying to push him away, pleasing Minato who knew the answer from the start.
Ryoji was not really a fighter... Not like him, or Akihiko, or Sho...
He was powerful, more than him but like he suspected, he had no idea how to deal with adversity.
When he clinched with Sho, the redhead would drop his sword and create space to launch his own attacks, Ryoji just grabbed onto him, trying to push him back in desperation.
Minato pulled him down futher and kneed him square in the face.
Ryoji was losing his senses again.
Slam.
Darkness.
Slam.
The third knee strike sent him crashing to the ground, knocking him out briefly until he landed on the ground and woke up due to the force.
"Jump on him!" Sho shouted from afar but Minato shook his head, casually standing over the black haired teen who was struggling to regain his wits.
"Just as I expected," Minato whispered, hovering over him. "You're like a spoiled brat, used to getting whatever he wants."
Ryoji stared up at him, blinking to clear his blurry vision.
"You don't know how to deal with pressure or adversary," Minato said. "That's why you freeze up whenever I knock you down because this never happened before, right?"
"..."
"You don't know how to pick yourself up," Minato continued. "Because you've never tasted defeat."
"You..."
"You can't count the number of times I had to pick myself up from the grave, even long after you left," Minato took a deep breath. "Every day, I had to pick myself up from the grave so I could get to school."
"I've been stabbed, blown up, electrocuted, burned, you name it," the blunet continued. "I've been beaten to near death so many times that I've lost count and now, I just don't give a shit anymore, I'll keep on going until I drop dead... Unlike you."
"..."
"Your days of being a God are over," Minato leaned down and ruffled his head, smirking slightly. "Welcome to reality kid, nobody is invincible here."
Ryoji pushed him away and stood back on his feet, trying not to show the effects of his words.
Minato smirked, easily masking the pain by taking a few deep breaths. He looked up to see Ryoji glaring at him.
Both of them had beaten the shit outta each other and while Minato was more mangled, Ryoji was the one taking deep breaths, struggling to stay up.
Ryoji had a hard time dealing with the numbness in his limbs, it was exhaustion, something he had never experienced before. They had battled for a couple of minutes but it felt like he was fighting for hours, hell even days, without pause.
The God of Death looked at the side and scowled upon noticing the light in the eyes of his filthy friends. They looked hopeful and for the first time ever, they didn't flinch when he gazed in their direction.
"He knocked him down three times," Akihiko chuckled. "That's a win for Minato in boxing..."
"He looks..." Mitsuru narrowed her eyes at him.
"Mortal..." Sho added in.
Minato gritted his teeth to control the pain as his body started protesting. He looked at the side and bit his lip, his friends were still hanging off the wall and while it had been only a few hours because time functioned differently in the tower, the amount of damage their bodies endured meant they weren't going to hold on for long.
Minato whipped around and saw that Ryoji had taken a hold of the scythe again.
"Just a bit more," Minato said to himself, patting his pant pocket.
Ryoji took his stance and Minato crouched down with a frown.
"Hm..." the blunet hummed, rolling his shoulders to warm himself up.
Ryoji panted, briefly pressing his back against the wall.
Minato saw that and screamed, breaking into a run which made Ryoji push himself off the wall to defend against Minato's charge. "Time to finish this, come on you cocky son of a bitch-"
Just when Minato got within range, Ryoji launched the blade for his face-
Minato opened his mouth, seeing the blade flying towards his eyes.
Slice-
"HUH!?"
Minato laughed after tasting his own blood going down his throat, dripping down the edge of the blade which he was holding in his mouth with his bare teeth.
Ryoji backed off in surprise, not believing he had blocked his blade by biting on the goddamn blade of his weapon-
Minato tossed the scythe far away, ended up losing a few of his teeth and a number of bruises on his lips but that was all okay because Ryoji was a little stunned and weaponless.
Minato fished something out of his pocket and surged forward.
Ryoji tried to move away from his kick and Minato tightened the hold around his old knife.
"Eat shit and die you asshole!" Minato roared and jumped on Ryoji, stabbing the knife into his right eye, drilling the steel into his face and carving a hole in his eye.
...
Ryoji screamed out, screeched and yelled in utmost pain. It was beyond horrible to listen to but for Minato and his friends, it was the ultimate sign that Ryoji... was nothing special.
He could bleed.
Minato had broken that suffocating, frightening around around him, proved the myths around the God of Death were exactly that, myths, and he was far from indestructible.
"This is for my friends your tortured," Minato gritted his teeth, pushing the blade down, shredding through the flesh and opening a wound that stretched from his eye towards his right cheek.
Ryoji pushed him away and stood up, still screaming in pain as he tried to control the bleeding-
Minato came right back and kicked him hard between his legs, making the appraiser double over and collapse to the ground.
"This for Hamuko," Minato scowled as he kicked him between the legs again, leading to a painful thudding sound. "The fact that you even thought of sleeping with her."
Ryoji struggled to get up but collapsed down as more ichor ran down his face. He never imagined he could feel so much pain. Minato had injured him like nobody ever did, hell, nobody came close to opening up a wound, let alone blinding him in one eye.
Minato gritted his teeth and popped his shoulder back into place.
Ryoji was slithering on the ground, more confused than hurt as he glanced at the pool of ichor under his feet. "W-What the fuck just happened...?" he said to himself, lost in a daze.
Minato kneed the side of his temple and took off running towards his friends, looking back to see Ryoji still on the ground, too confused and shook to get up and follow him.
The blunet nearly fell down due to the damage on his body but he made his way over to his team, first going over to Hamuko who was staring at him with her mouth slightly open.
"Oh shit," Minato hissed, gritting his teeth at the mess of wounds on her arms. The wounds looked way worse upon closer inspection. "Are you okay?"
"Y-Yeah," Hamuko said and then shouted. "He's getting up!" she cried and Minato looked over his shoulder to see Ryoji slowly getting to his feet, more of his skin had blackened and he was visibly a little larger than before.
Minato pulled out the blades from her arms and helped her stand up. "Can you summon?" he asked and got a nod in reply.
"He's coming!" Yukari screamed out loud.
"Healing spell, the strongest you've got!" Minato ordered and placed the barrel of his evoker against her temple.
Hamuko nodded and followed him, putting the evoker against his skull.
Ryoji saw them just about ready to summon and bolted.
"Persona!"
The two wild cards shouted in unison, a golden wave of energy forming from the broken shards of glass behind them, swirling around for a few seconds until the mass of golden energy exploded, engulfing the teenagers from head to toe.
"Get in!" Minato shoved Hamuko into the pulsing cyclone of healing spells and backed off, smirking as the team sighed in peace, the nasty gashes closing up and the swords coming out of their limbs as they powered out.
"No!" Ryoji shouted, half of his face entirely black in color. "How dare you!?"
Sho sucked in a deep breath and jumped down, landing on his feet. "Fuck yeah!"
"We're... healed," Junpei said, looking down at his body and arms.
"You're amazing," Mitsuru panted, smiling proudly at the blue haired wild card. "I have no words..."
Minato chuckled and knelt down, back against the wall. The miracle had healed him to the point of fighting again but the exhaustion was still heavy on him since he was rusty and never had to fight or train for months. "Just a bit more, can you guys do it?"
"Hell yes I can!" Sho demanded, picking up his blades.
"Leave it to us," Mitsuru said. "You've done your part, flawless as always."
The team picked up their weapons and evokers form the pile and stood up, gazes fixed on Ryoji who was at the absolute limit and with his wounded eye, he looked more horrible than usual but...
"No, not anymore," Yukari shook her head.
Minato had knocked him down thrice.
Fought against him and went blow for blow.
Had stunned and rocked him countless time.
Even made him bleed gallons of ichor.
Ryoji was powerful... but beatable, their leader had proved that.
"Mind giving me that?" Sho asked, snatching the sword away from Mitsuru. He shoved it inside his mouth and grinned, ready to make him pay in blood for what he did.
"Of course," Mitsuru smirked. She glanced at Ken, Fuuka and Yukari and started issuing orders. "Yukari and Amada and Yamagishi, stay with me and guard Minato."
"Leave this guy to us, just focus on keeping Minato safe," Junpei said, swinging his sword around, finally displaying his usual energy.
Akihiko, Junpei, Sho and Hamuko looked at each other and nodded, stepping forward to keep Ryoji at bay until the end of the Dark Hour.
"What if he comes here?" Ken asked.
"You don't have to worry," Fuuka smiled slightly.
"We'll handle it," Yukari smirked, crouching down next to Minato. "Right, Minato?"
"Hell yeah," Minato replied, closing his eyes briefly. "Remember-"
"Death is not to be feared, I understand," Mitsuru repeated his words and then shouted at the rest of them. "Remember what he said : Death is not to be feared!"
"Hell yea-" Sho stumbled as Hamuko brushed past the males and walked up to Ryoji, slapping the black haired bastard hard across the face, staining her own with his filthy blood.
"Your blood flows, just like the blood of a mortal," Hamuko said, showing her ichor stained hand to Ryoji who lost it.
The God of Death howled and his body was ripped open from within by the familiar, coffin clad beast who emerged on the battlefield, caked in blood and ichor, several times larger than Ryoji in his human form.
"Fools!" Death howled, shaking the place with his voice alone. "Bow to your God!"
"We'll bow to no God, ever again," Hamuko held out her fist, summoning Thanatos who spawned just behind her with another horrifying roar, making the dungeon sway back and forth. "Not you or Nyx."
Ryoji stared at his reflection and pulled out his massive, blood stained sword, ready to kill the pests and then deal with the blue haired bastard.
Sho looked over his large frame and spotted a number of bruises that Minato had inflicted earlier, his right eye was still bleeding which meant the wounds had remained despite him transforming.
"Get ready to die!" Ryoji swore, letting out another bestial roar.
"Come to mommy, little boy," Hamuko mocked and took her stance, agitating the transformed appraiser who was blinded with more memories of his old self.
The males behind her did the same, fists clenched around their weapons.
10 minutes to the end of the Dark Hour and the end of Ryoji.
1 month to the end of Nyx and the Dark Hour, permanently.
8k words of nothing but nonstop fist fighting, I wanted to write that. Why didn't Minato summon? He was trying to prove a point, which he did.
Ryoji has never taken a step back, was never surprised, never wounded or rocked and being a God, the guys were obviously wary and terrified of him because Gods are... Well, Gods, something beyond humans and given his horrifying power and terror, gave the aura of something unbeatable.
That is, until Minato beat the shit outta him in his chapter. An aura is important even in sports, hell, Mike Tyson used to scare and intimidate his foes even before they got into the wrong and we're dealing with a scary God here.
Ryoji is strong and all but I'm sorry, he's nowhere mentally strong as Minato who, like he said, has picked himself from the grave after hitting rock bottom so many times.
Minato took him in deep waters and he kinda sunk... instead of swimming like Minato.
I loved writing the battle but more than that, I loved writing the shit talk. There is no way Ryoji is winning a shit talking contest against Minato, there is way too much ammo against him.
Rambled again. Sorry about that. Once again, I thank you for the 1000 reviews, keep reviewing/asking for subway subs and I'll always deliver.
the battle ends in the next chapter, stay tuned. Cheers and good day/night!