Minato : Oh wow, whaddya know! She actually shut the fuck up and fought without cowering behind little boy's stick legs for once in her miserable life. I should give a little respect but meeeeeeeh. Instead, I will bless you goofs with a picture of moi, be sure not to stare too long or hard lest you will be blinded by the glorious light!

sta . sh/0ya2joyrnwd

Yes, that is a picture of me talking and blessing you people through the top author notes. Credit to the artist, seriously, I have more fan art of me than my filthy author has pictures of himself on his phone, HAH!

Megami Black : HAHAHA! I barely say a couple of hundred words and I am already the best part? Bless your already enlightened soul. Also, stealing my catchphrase are you... cute...

Guest : I fucking hope so.

Clevernameeh : Yes! You have reached nirvana by finishing that fic but huh huh huh huh me saving Hamuko!? This Hamuko!? Fuck no! Almost started cheering for Ryoji when she started going on and on about her bond, yuck. I'd still smash that bitch into the ground, no matter how psychotic he is. Ryoji has never EVER beaten me, not even at weakest and he damn sure ain't doing it now. Bless your soul, regardless of the questions.

RockyRua : STOP CALLING ME A FALLEN MESSIAH! Do you want another genocide, son!? Anyway, finally we are over the Hamuko part and little boy is coming in with maximum butthurt. This ain't gonna be a counter and slow battle like that girl. Little boy is gonna close the distance, power charge the fist and knock Ryoji the fuck out... or get knocked the fuck out himself. I am rooting for him and I swear, if he loses, I will descend from the skies like the gorgeous messiah that I am and smite him. He is not allowed to lose with my face, a much uglier version but my face regardless! Go little boy!

Before you read this... : I own all their asses!

Another wave of death and decay exploded the moment the two blades made contact, metal crashing into metal with every bit of power and killing intent packed in the swings, dark mist and buffeting winds brushing past the two bitter rivals who glared ahead with unblinking eyes, shimmering with unadulterated hate and bloodlust.

Ryoji smirked when he saw the surge in his cold silver eyes, almost cackling to himself because he was no messiah, just another mortal who had given in-

Minato screeched in his face and Ryoji grinned back at him, eventually disengaging and swinging a slash that Minato slipped through before bolting forward, not giving a crap about defense and just colliding into the bastard as hard as he could, lifting him off his feet and dragging him along as he kept hammering and mauling Ryoji as he held onto him.

Ryoji planted his feet on the ground and hurled Minato to the other side but the blunet landed on his feet and moved faster than before, ducking under the next swing, widening his base and spearing Ryoji backwards, plowing on until he smashed the appraiser into the nearby pillar and pumped a Garudyne into his left hand, clenching it and locking his eye on his target-

Ryoji dodged the wind infused strike that ended up shattering and scattering the pillar behind him and the appraiser launched the debris towards his brother, forcing him to move back but only for a second as he gave another scream of insanity and got in Ryoji's face again, smashing him into the nearby structures as hard as he could-

Minato missed the next shot and Ryoji took the chance, taking flight into the skies to clear his head a bit and enjoy the hell that was unfolding before his eyes. He stared at the wild card from above and a cruel smile came to his lips. He had clearly touched a nerve by ripping Hamuko to pieces, damaging her permanently with no hope for healing and the effect of that was clearly visible on Minato, as clear as the maelstrom of insanity in his eyes.

"Get back down!" Minato screamed at the avatar of Nyx, blood leaking out of his temple, palms and eyes because he was pushed to a corner like never before. "You scum sucking son of a bitch! Get down here!"

Ryoji chuckled-

"FUCK. YOU!" Minato lost it and immediately summoned, not playing around like their battle and sending Siegfried into the skies to launch a repeated volley of almost innumerable slashes, forcing Ryoji to defend and deflect the incoming damage by his blade until the output was pushed up a notch and he was forced to come back down-

Ryoji saw the glint, that maddening glint of Death in his single eye and grinned, hurling his blade forward that was blocked by Minato who lunged forward and launched a left at his temple, momentarily forcing him backwards-

Ryoji came back and slammed his right into Minato's face, getting a crude screech of so many negative, evil emotions-

"Seems like I touched a nerve, huh?" Ryoji questioned, getting a punch to his chest that blew him backwards until he dug his blade into the ground and came to a stop, immediately looking ahead and slipping to the side to avoid the blitz of Minato who rebounded and pressured forward, swinging his fist behind his blade to rip the bastard's head off-

Ryoji countered and smashed his right hand into Minato's throat, grabbing it and squeezing until Minato powered out of the hold and grabbed a hold of him, wrapping his arms and pulling him down to slam a couple of brutal knees up his face until he was pushed back by a blast of darkness from Ryoji-

Flashes of her gnarly wounds slashed his psyche and Minato raced through the mist, shrugging off the pressure of the attack and charging a number of elemental spells into his blade which he launched at Ryoji with every bit of the force in his muscles-

Ryoji collected the nearby mist into his sword and barely blocked the incoming steel, hissing and closing his eyes when the numerous elements clashed and melted into the darkness, bursting into a cyclone that lashed out at the two rivals, sending them skidding along the ground-

Minato launched his blade and immediately followed, summoning the ultimate spear into his grip and launching a volley of slashes just a millisecond after Ryoji dodged the incoming katana-

Slice-

Ryoji glanced at the wound on his shoulder and shook his head, moving his way out of the slashes and zapping forward when the time was right, grabbing the spear and launching Minato forward, right into his fist which he smashed into his forehead-

"YOU PIECE OF SHIT!"

"HAHAHAHA!"

Minato snatched the spear and sliced through the armor, smashing the blunt end of the spear into his face and moving right to avoid the counter, eyes locating an opening which he gladly took by digging the blade into his exposed stomach with a roar of hatred-

Ryoji lurched forward slightly as the spear tore through his innards, causing a shower of ichor to explode out of his back and gather around the two like a pool of blood, bits of organs and skin floating on the surface-

But-

Despite that-

"Is that all, Minato?" Ryoji coughed and then laughed coldly, not bothered by the new wound and the fact that Minato had his goddamn hand into the wound, trying to grab and rip off whatever organs were in that filthy husk of his. "You'll have to try much harder than that."

"That's what your whore mother said," Minato spat, hardening the eyes of Ryoji who screeched out loud, forcing out an explosion from inside his body to repel Minato who dragged to a stop, teeth biting onto his fingers because he could barely see anything but red in his vision. For the first time in battle, he was shuddering violently, almost able to taste the disgust and hatred in his mouth for what the son of a bitch had done to Hamuko.

"Come on, bitch," Minato gripped his spear and started walking. "I'll assure you, I'll pound both of you bitches till you can't walk anymore."

Playtime was over.

Ryoji met his charge head on this time, infuriated with all the talking. He had already made a mistake of getting into a shit talking contest with Minato the last time they battled. This time, he was here for one goal and he was not getting into petty dialogue with a broken mortal who was going to meet his end soon.

The two screamed over the brutal sound of their blades meeting, overriding the thunderous shockwave and whiplash that emerged from the contact, rearranging their organs but neither of them refused to back off, launching their punches at the same time-

Knuckles collided but Minato pushed forward, projecting a blade fist into his grip and shredding through his stomach, streaking the glove upwards to his throat until Ryoji opened his mouth and expelled a purple beam of energy form his mouth that exploded point blank, launching the blunet out of range with a host of new injuries.

Minato pumped a few speed buffs into his body and went right back to pressuring Ryoji, constantly moving his head to avoid the repeated bursts of energy from his mouth and firing back with a slew of punches, kicks and slashes, occasionally summoning different gloves whenever he found an opening to his face-

Ryoji caught the lunging punch and twisted the limb, hurling Minato over his shoulder and slamming his limb into the ground below with a sickening grunt and barely missing the stab that he had aimed for his forearm as Minato rolled away, getting a kick up his gut which lifted him off the ground and sent him crashing to the pillars-

Ryoji picked up the pace and Minato exploded out of the broken debris, slamming into Ryoji and digging the blade into his exposed gut once more, crushing the metal inside his body but to his dismay, Ryoji did not stopped and launched his blade over his head, forcing him to move back but the blade managed to cut open a wound on his shoulder, drawing out a grunt.

"You're as resistant as your filthy mother!" Minato roared over the earthquake and Ryoji hissed back at him, moving out of his grip and launching bits of reddish energy in his direction, something that Minato moved through with little difficulty and screamed out loud at the appraiser, ducking low and exploding forward after a couple of speed buffs, shredding through and ripping his right side to chunks of flesh-

Ryoji moved back and carried on battling, blocking the next slash and swinging his wings to blind Minato who grunted, shadows getting his way which left him open to a couple of punches and gashes from the blasted blade which had cut Hamuko open-

The memories came back in a rush and Minato kicked the charging Ryoji backwards, immediately moving forward to grab and wring his goddamn neck-

Ryoji took flight and quickly came back down, blinding and smashing Minato into the ground but the blunet quickly sprang back up, blocking the blade and kicking the legs from under him. He stepped forward and almost kicked the head off Ryoji's shoulder, actually turning his head around a complete 180 but much like before, Ryoji shrugged the mortal wound off and grabbed his leg, launching his so called brother into a bunch of nearby rocks back first-

Minato coughed out blood and released his limb from the grip, bolting forward and smashing his knee into Ryoji's face as he tried to get up-

Minato gained a little bit of distance and spat out blood, glaring backwards at Ryoji who got back to his feet, a prominent dent visible on the corner of his temple, something which would have surely killed a normal mortal but the appraiser was still standing, despite missing chunks of his flesh here and there.

"That body will give out sooner or later," Ryoji pointed out. "You are fighting a God, I do not slow like you filthy mortals."

"You said that last time, you incestuous piece of fucking shit!" Minato shot back with venom, the words alone leaving a bad taste in his mouth. "Fuck that, I don't care about tiring you out, all I care about is your filthy fucking head in my hand!"

"Try your luck, Minato," Ryoji welcomed him to try so. "I underestimated you last time and you got lucky. That pitiful miracle will not happen twice."

"Gonna take your fucking head home with me," Minato hissed.

"What will you after that, huh?" Ryoji fired back. " Will you fuck that broken whore of yours? She'll never be the same after what I did to her and you know it!"

Minato flinched and pulled back, putting a hand to his mouth and shaking, shuddering, nodding slowly and closing his eyes in an attempt to control-

"Kiss her all you want, summon as many personas you want, she will never be the same, ever again!" Ryoji reminded him and Minato cut him midway through with a bloodcurdling scream that managed to stun Ryoji momentarily because that was as loud of a screech he had ever heard.

"And I am done with her yet-"

"FUCK YOU!" Minato clasped his ear shut and dove back into the battle by launching another torrent of spells for the God who sliced through the incoming storm with his darkness infused blade, hastily moving back as Minato came rushing out of the fading magic, crashing his blade against his and almost knocking it away from his grip-

Ryoji expelled another burst of purple energy directly in his face and Minato shut his eyes at the last second, suffering numerous cuts on his face but he managed to grab a hold of Ryoji and forced his mouth shut, causing the remaining energy to explode down his throat before he hurled the dazed appraiser to the ground-

"Useless!" Ryoji quickly moved back up and ripped a good bit of flesh from his right shoulder, getting a grunt and a straight left from Minato who grabbed the crown on top of his head and smashed his head into his knee, quickly wrapping his arms around Ryoji's neck to choke the consciousness out of the bastard-

Ryoji flipped Minato over his shoulder and grabbed onto his wrist, digging his blade into the side and kicking the metal down towards his hip while relishing the grunt of pain from Minato who rolled backwards and kicked him on the side of his head before standing up, digging the blood stained sword from his side-

"F-Fuck," Minato coughed out blood, intense pain shooting through his damaged kidney which was pierced open by the blade that Ryoji drove into his side. He held a hand against the gaping wound and gritted his teeth-

Ryoji took advantage and tackled the blunet into the rocks and pillars behind him, smashing the back of head off the sturdy structures a number of times until Minato slipped through his grasp but remained in close quarters, controlling his wrists and clocking his head with a number of short elbows-

Slice-

"You piece of shit!" Minato ripped his right forearm from Ryoji's mouth and clocked the God on the head to send him stumbling backwards-

Summoning another blade into his grip, Minato took off running and Ryoji willed the massive sword into his hands as well, swinging a counterslash the moment Minato lunged forward and torqued his entire body into the next attack, his blade shattering to bits the moment it made contact with the sword of the appraiser but the impact succeeding in catching Ryoji off guard-

Ryoji pulled back and grunted after the tip of the spear tore into his shoulder and he narrowly missed the one meant for his head, swiftly blocking the tip with his blade when Minato launched another long range thrust to stab his throat-

"To hell with this!" Minato released the spear and projected the evil gloves around his fists, quickly closing the distance and rocking Ryoji with a left he unbolted after ducking under the swing of the weapon which he kicked to the side and exploded forward with a number of fast paced strikes for his head and body, slamming his knuckles into the flesh of the demented God as hard as he could manage-

Ryoji caught his senses after the dozenth punches and started firing back, moving through the barrage of punches and slicing his right leg open when Minato attempt a kick and pulled back to nurse his bruised leg until the sound of the blade slicing through the air caught his attention he immediately held up a cross block with both of his fists, stopping the incoming slash with the evil gloves.

The collision led to a swirl and blast of evil energy and the gloves around Minato's grip growled lowly while the wielder looked up to stare at the entity in front of him, snarling and shouting various profanities at the son of a bitch who had ruined Hamuko for the rest of her life.

"I'm going to shatter my knuckles on your face, you disgusting piece of shit!" Minato swore. "I swear on everything I hold dear, I will return every wound you inflicted on her, a fucking thousand fold!"

"It's still about her, huh!?" Ryoji lost his senses after hearing that and discharged another beam of purple energy from between his jaws, forcing the blunet to duck and move back to dodge. He stopped with a few yards between the two of them and looked around the already devastated top, mere minutes into the battle. "It was, is and will always be about her, huh?"

"For once in your miserable, wretched existence you are right!" Minato spat back. "Here, eat a dick because you deserve your favorite prize, you fucking bitch!"

Ryoji clenched his jaw at the volley of insults and glanced at his fists, the same hands he had used to murder the thugs who had attacked Minato, the students who had bullied Minato, the punks who had tried to mug him and last but not the least, Takaya and Jin who had actually attempted to kill him.

"What about her?" Ryoji said after a few seconds of silence, glaring and scowling at the male who he once called a brother. His face contorted into a murderous glare and a gust of wind brushed past Minato who looked on, not giving a shit about the antics of the accursed entity. "You are always going on and on about the wounds she got, the scars I gave her..."

"Speak up, you little shit!" Minato yelled at him.

"What about the wounds she gave to me?" Ryoji spat with venom, breath hitching inside his throat due to the surging hatred and other bottled up emotions. "What about... What about..." he looked straight ahead to stare Minato straight in the eye, catching him off guard when he exploded forward, screeched out loud in utmost hared and clashed his blade against the katana that Minato had summoned to another eruption of dark magic and a sickening sound of metal against metal booming in the area-

"What about the wounds she gave to your little brother!?" Ryoji roared over the loud boom of the impact, slamming his other hand against Minato's cheek and digging his fingers inside to tear his flesh apart, streaking the gash all the way down until Minato crashed his knee up Ryoji's gut and slapped him hard across the face-

"Little brother?!" Minato spat and Ryoji came right back, grabbing and clawing at his throat until Minato broke free from the grip and slammed the avatar into the ground, hammering him with a couple of punches as Ryoji screeched back, clawing and tearing off the flesh on his face and neck with his bare hands as the two continued to wrestle and maul each other, screaming over each other until Minato slammed his knee against his stomach and Ryoji rolled away.

Minato touched the gashes on his cheek and neck, glancing at the blood on his hands and reminding himself of his own promise. He was never going to cry over a son of a bitch like Ryoji ever again, he had wasted too much tears and Ryoji did not deserve it.

"Little brother, my ass!" Minato spat as Ryoji grabbed his blade and stood back up, his hollow eyes flashing momentarily as the moon drew closer, quaking the top of Tartarus with an earthquake but neither of the two paid it any mind. "Makes me sick that I hugged you that night, you waste of blood and skin!"

"..."

"You disgust me!" Minato continued as Ryoji stood silent, taking the verbal abuse from the irate blunet. "Makes me sick that I gave you the gift of life because you don't deserve it. You're a goddamn abomination, part shadow, part human and fucking rotten to the core!"

Ryoji glanced at his blade and gripped the hilt. "You keep talking, brother..."

Minato started walking, summoning another blade for the upcoming clash.

"I am done with the talking," the appraiser said. "I am done with this jibber and jabber. I am done with this shit talking. I am here to take your life."

"Take my life..." Minato snorted.

"Nothing else matters," Ryoji said, with a different edge in his voice and Minato raised his brow for a moment before he shrugged off the surprise and started running at Ryoji who flapped his wings and narrowly dodged the slash, hovering upwards while Minato whipped around and saw a rain of reddish sphere coming his way from the skies. He blocked the first few ones and started running, hiding behind the pillars and summoning a powerful gust of wind to launch the remaining chunks towards the avatar-

Ryoji shattered the debris with his blade and started conjuring up another burst of almighty energy in his mouth, locking his eyes and the beam towards Minato who moved out of the pillars and started running, a green storm coiling around his frame-

Ryoji discharged the build up of almighty energy and Minato jumped off the ground, the winds spell exploding under his feet and propelling him into the skies, directly into the surge of purple which was ripped apart and dissipated with the winds he had summoned, the remaining gales cutting through the skin of the appraiser who braced himself as Minato came charging at him like a cannon-

As soon as he came close, Minato reached out to grab his wing and started pummeling the God of Death in the skies, summoning the evil glove around his single fist and repeatedly bashing the same hand into the face of the appraiser who fought back while trying to remain in the skies-

"Come on, let's talk," Minato spat, yanking and almost tearing the wing off his body which drew a screech from Ryoji, followed by another almighty attack exploding against his face. He hissed as the volatile energy seeped pushed into the gashes on his face but he kept the grip around the wing, pumping a power charge and a number of other buff spells-

Ryoji stopped fighting back and screamed out in pain when Minato gave a final pull and tore the right wing off his body, scattering black feathers and sending the two plummeting at a furious pace with Minato still hammering Ryoji with short range punches and brushing away his attempts to push Minato off-

Ryoji opened his jaws and expelled another streak of almighty energy that crashed into Minato's chest, blowing him upwards and away-

"Pinaka!"

Slice-

The summoned spear tore through the flesh and lodged into Ryoji's stomach, shredding out of his back as Minato pulled himself forward and clasped his mouth shut, awaiting the brutal landing as they were just seconds away-

"Rot in fucking hell!"

Ryoji crashed into the ground first, brutally, spreading the cracks along the ground and Minato soon came crashing on top of him with a sickening grin, smashing his feet into his gut and digging the embedded spear deeper into his flesh, hissing out in disgust at the pitch of his scream which resounded in the dead of the night. "Eat a dick!" the blunet spat and dug the spear out of his stomach, kicked him over and stabbed the spear into his back, moving it deeper and deeper until it came out of his already busted gut, gluing him to the ground.

"This is for Hamuko..." Minato whispered, summoning another blade in his other hand-

Ryoji willed the blade into his hand and shrugged off the brutal landing and wound, lashing out with a lightning quick slash which caught Minato off guard. "Fuck Hamuko!" he roared, opening up a diagonal wound across his forehead and relishing the rain of blood from above that came splattering on the appraiser-

Minato pulled back, forcefully removing the tip of the sword out of his forehead and Ryoji crowded the dazed persona user, blinding him with his wings and shredding open another long and deep wound down his chest followed by another blast of almighty energy that tore into his wounds and evaporated inside his body, damaging his internal organs and sending the blunet flying due to the force.

Minato came to a stop with his back against the pillar and hissed at the two new wounds on his chest and forehead, already gushing out blood into his eyes. He blinked the red away and shook his head, moving forward as Ryoji sneered at him.

"I can see your skull, brother," Ryoji chuckled. "Just one inch and you would have been dead."

Minato squeezed the wound to stop the blood, wiping his eyes clean as the crimson liquid was constantly seeping into his eyes.

"No matter how bad you damage me, I will not stop," Ryoji declared, jabbing his blade over to Minato. "Not this time. Not until I take your life."

Minato licked the blood off his upper lip and wiped his bloodied fringe backwards, matting his blue hair with blood. "You said that last time, asshole and guess what..." he started moving forward, clenching his fists. "I am still standing!"

"Not for long..." Ryoji promised. "Let me promise you, I'll bring YOUR head to your broken girlfriend."

"Don't you talk about her..." Minato warned. "Not a single word about her from your filthy word."

"Still about her huh?" Ryoji spat.

"Deal with it, you little shit!" Minato yelled back at him.

"I am," Ryoji said. "Every wound I inflict on you, I relish. This is divine punishment Minato and you brought this upon yourself, you unfortunate piece of human filth!"

Minato took off running, pissed off by the wound on his forehead and the blood in his eyes and Ryoji waited with a scowl, spitting out in disgust because the talk left a horrible taste in his mouth as always. "I'll bring your head to that cursed bitch of yours!" he shouted just as Minato got close, suffering another gash as the insane blunet charged forward in a straight line without concern for defense after hearing his words-

Ryoji caught the sloppy punch in his palm and Minato stopped the blade with his bare hand, just a few inches shy of his neck. The two scowled and drew back briefly, foreheads colliding against each other with brutal force and a sickening smash that reverberated through the top floor-

Ryoji tilted his head as droplets of blood ran down and seeped into his hollow eyes, eliciting another shrill screech of disgust from the avatar of Nyx who exploded forward with another flurry of rapid slashes, missing his target as Minato ducked under, summoning the glove around his right fist and sending Ryoji up in the air with an uppercut to his chin.

Much to his surprise, the torn off wing on his back grew back to full size in seconds and the appraiser took flight once again, shaking his head and roaring out loud, launching another streak of almighty towards the blunet below him who countered with a sphere of darkness, putting his weight down to endure the explosion followed by another loud screech as Ryoji came gliding out of the aftereffects at lightning speed-

"Shit," Minato cursed, getting thwacked and blinded by the damn wings of his which led to Ryoji slamming a couple of punches into his open wounds, almost sending Minato to the ground until he steadied himself and saw the raven wings flying at his face again. "To hell with this!" the blunet yelled after ducking under another swing and pumping more buffs into his fists-

Minato pulled all of his weight into his arms and tore his fists into the large wings of the God, eliciting another shrill screech of pain as Ryoji pulled back to heal his damaged wings, leaving himself open to a blitz of power charged punches from Minato who moved forward and shredded through his neck, hissing and scowling when the attack remained standing and fought back, leading to another clash of blades and a shockwave that crashed into their bodies-

"Fuck!"

The two spat in unison, getting blown away by the pressure but Minato moved faster, running at Ryoji as soon as he found his footing, quickly closing the distance and tackling Ryoji backwards, roughing him up with short punches and elbows as the two struggled, feet skidding along the ground until Ryoji wrapped his arms around his brother and launched him into the skies, immediately charging another sphere between his jaws.

"Thor!"

Thunder exploded from the skies and rained down, striking Minato who summoned the hammer into his grip, channeled more of the bolts around weapon and came back with a vengeance, smashing through the incoming sphere of energy and doubling Ryoji over with a blow to his stomach-

"Stupid!" Minato held him with his boot and raised his hammer up, summoning thunder around the steel and bringing it down to end the fight-

"Heh..."

"Gack!"

Dozens of black arms exploded out of Ryoji's back and Minato hacked out blood as the blades tore into his limbs, digging in deeper and knocking him to the ground as Ryoji stood up, looking back with a grin as the extra limbs kept Minato glued to the ground.

"Did you think it would be that easy?" Ryoji snarled, pushing the swords of the magician deeper and deeper until Minato growled, powering out of the hold and rolling backwards to barely avoid the swipes aimed for his neck-

Minato rolled to a stop and cursed, watching on as the extra limbs started dancing around the appraiser. Filthy things just exploded out of his back, each one of them carrying a blade, reminiscent of the shadow magician he fought when he first arrived to the dorm. Getting close to Ryoji was going to be a lot harder now, with the extra limbs, wings and that long weapon of his.

Minato shook his head and stood up, not giving a shit about the transformation of sorts. After what Ryoji had done to Hamuko, he didn't give a crap about defense, wounds, his health or anybody else in the wretched world, all that mattered was him EATING THE HEART OF THE BASTARD AND BATHING IN HIS BLOOD-

"Tch," Minato clutched his head, voices, screeches and memories haunting and hurting him as Ryoji watched on, pleased by the staggering amount of bloodlust that was rolling off Minato, almost tangible, so much so that he could almost taste it in his mouth.

Oh, how the tables had turned.

Unable to handle the onslaught of the haunting, Minato clutched his throat and let out another bloodcurdling scream towards Ryoji who chuckled in response, taking his stance as the blunet came rushing at him, tightening his grip around the hammer and summoning a short sword in his other fist-

Ryoji launched the numerous arms for the wild card who sliced through the limbs with his katana, dodging and moving his way out of the barrage, straight towards Ryoji who kept the pressure on the blunet, constantly gashing him up with the numerous blades of the magician, wounding his limbs but eventually, Minato powered through the mess and got close, swinging the hammer for the face of the appraiser-

Death moved back, parrying the katana and wrapped Minato around with the arms, blades digging inside his already marred flesh, drawing out another scream of pain until Minato clenched his fists, summoning a blaze around his body which detonated seconds later, burning the damn things and pushing Ryoji back to avoid the burns-

Minato rushed out of the flames, the hammer finding its mark on Ryoji's face with a resounding smash, launching the avatar of Nyx through the air and Minato followed, gritting his teeth as the shadowy limbs came rushing in his direction. "Damn things!" he shouted at the top of his lungs, cleaving the incoming arms in half and immediately pouncing on Ryoji-

"Come on!" Minato spat, wrestling the God down and exploding with a few shots to his face. "Let's talk now!" he demanded, holding him down as he continued to rain down punches and elbows from above as Ryoji struggled, tearing off the flesh off his arms and chest with his bare hands, bathing himself in the blood of the blunet who kept working, demanding Ryoji to talk. "Talk, bitch!"

"What were you saying to Hamuko, huh!?" Minato slammed the back of his head against the ground, digging his fingers into the hollow spots on the mask, screeching and cursing the God because he had blinded Hamuko in her left eye. "I'll blind you like you did her, you PIECE OF FUCKING SHIT!"

Ryoji removed his fingers out of the hollow spots and growled, clenching his palms around the wrists of Minato who yelled in his face again like a caged animal, barely in his senses and dead set on mauling the last drop blood out of the entity below him.

"To hell with that bitch!"

The shout blared throughout the top of the tower and another mass of limbs exploded out of Ryoji's back, hair like tentacles that latched onto Minato and started ploughing him into the nearby pillars over and over again while Ryoji got back to his feet, looking down to see that he was drenched in blood, much like last time but there was something different this time-

Another hateful scream alerted Ryoji and he looked ahead to see Minato struggling against the tentacles with all his might, still cursing to the heavens while he cleaved and tore off the damn things off his limbs, getting up with his face caked in blood and his expression twisted bitterly. He looked almost unrecognizable to Ryoji who commended himself for doing such a fine job finally breaking down that one mortal who refused to go down.

Hamuko had the gall to say that Minato was the one mortal who wouldn't give in and he was proving her wrong with second, growing more and more deranged as the battle progressed, a far cry from the cool and collected blunet who laughed his way into and out of the battle on New Year's Eve.

"Your friends are not holding off too well against the shadows," Ryoji pointed out, knowing they were battling the shadows despite the beating he put on them. "I doubt they will hold on for long-"

"To hell with them!" Minato shouted at him, silencing and bringing a smirk to his face. "Fuck that. Fuck everyone else in this wretched, blasted world!"

"That's right, brother," Ryoji urged him, beckoning him over with his free hand.

"There is only one goal left for me, to hell with this ball of dirt and filth, my only objective is to blast you to pieces!" he swore. "I'm to going smash everything, from your body to your filthy heart and soul."

"I welcome you to try, Minato," Ryoji replied.

"You liked biting off her flesh, huh?" the blunet asked, remembering the torn off flesh on her face, arms and neck-

"Made me sick to my stomach," Ryoji hissed. "Made me want to vomit but as long as I gave her pain, all that mattered."

"I'll bite your rotting flesh to pieces, I'll puke my life out later but all the misery you put her through, I'll put you through worse," Minato swore. "Listen to that loud and clear, you filthy motherfucker!"

Ryoji just laughed in response. What was the difference between the two of them now?

The mixture of arms and tentacles came out of his back as Minato came running, letting out another shout at the little annoyance heading his way. He battled back the wave of shadow limbs, burning and cleaving through the mess and keeping his pace until he eventually collided into the Death God-

Ryoji shoved him back and Minato screamed in pain as the blade tore into his back, forcing him to expel another burst of flames to burn the limbs coiling around him, momentarily stunning Ryoji but the appraiser moved out of the way of another barrage of hammer and sword strikes, loading up on his right hand and unbolting it for Minato's face just as he leaned in, knocking a few teeth down his throat-

Slice-

Minato snapped his head back, tearing off the flesh on Ryoji's shoulder, sending drops of ichor spraying through the air while Ryoji watched on with wide eyes, eyeing the chunk of his godly flesh between the teeth of the almost possessed blunet who was scowling, unhinged and absolutely consumed with the objective of tearing the avatar to bits-

"Haha..."

"HAHAHAHAH!"

Oddly enough, Ryoji laughed at the sight, licking the little bit of ichor off his lips and yelling at Minato-

"That's right, brother!" he urged, bringing him even close to the madness. "In the honor of that filthy bitch-!"

Minato saw red and surged forward with twin blades, nailing a kick between the legs and tearing through the armor with a slew of slashes, finally shattering the armor to bits and slipping under the burst of almighty, flipping his blades, holding them in reverse grip as Ryoji rebounded from the missed attempt and came back with a sphere of darkness-

Ryoji hacked out ichor when Minato snapped towards his direction and drilled the blades into his exposed chest, stopping the appraiser in his tracks as the steel slipped deeper into his flesh, twisting and turning as Minato gave a jerk and streaked open the wound all the way down to his stomach-

"Game over you little-"

"HAHAHAH!"

Ryoji crushed the blade with a burst of darkness and Minato was blown backwards by the mass of shadowy limbs, blades digging into his limbs and body and the tentacles taking him high into the skies. He struggled to break free from the hold and was hurriedly brought down from the skies, head smashing into the ground and a shower of blood exploding out of his already badly bruised forehead-

Ryoji looked down as the stream of blood went past his feet and just a few yards ahead, Minato started moving, coughing more of the crimson liquid and wiping his eyes clean. The apex was already drenched in his blood, mixed in with the ichor but he was losing gallons of it just a couple of minutes into the battle-

"I don't care..." Minato repeated and stood up, his blue hair now a deep shade of red and his face covered by a mask of blood and sweat. "I don't care about anything else."

"This just has just begun, brother," Ryoji taunted from afar, urging him to attack again. "The Dark Hour will never end and I assure you, you will break down and when you do, I will take your life in the cruelest way possible."

"After that, I will have some 'fun' with that girlfriends of yours-"

The reaction he got out of Minato was exactly what he wanted, another scream of hatred and a shimmer of the insanity swirling in his eyes.

"I will finish my work!" Ryoji promised, shouting over his unearthly yell. "I will drag her deformed body through the dirt of this world as you watch on from hell!"

"Shut your fucking mouth!"

"My shadows will maul her to bits and then burn them to ashes, that is what she deserves!"

Minato widened his eyes when the images started flashes and he took off in a split second, sending a pillar of flames towards Ryoji who flew up and retaliated with reddish bursts of energy, countered by an even bigger explosion of flames which spiraled upwards towards Ryoji, burning his wings until a harsh gust of wind dispelled the heat and Ryoji flew back down, a sphere of dark and deathly energy pulsing in his grip-

Minato ran towards the landing point and countered the sphere of darkness with his own, evoking another wave of pressure which crashed into their bodies as the spells meshed together, weighing down on the two rivals-

"Come here, bitch!"

Minato snatched his neck and slammed him towards the ground making the mistake of pouncing on him and Ryoji took advantage of his mistake, once again summoning the limbs from his back and holding Minato in place, cutting open new and pulling on his limbs harshly to break the bones inside-

Ryoji backtracked when Minato kicked him between the legs and powered out of the hold, unleashing another detonation of flames to burn the extra limbs and closing the distance, another short sword in his grip-

Ryoji swung his blade and Minato parried, almost collapsing to a knee but he held on, slipping in and kicking the blade out of his grasp, eating a punch as Ryoji moved back, firing a torrent of elemental spells for the blunet who raced through the damage, yelling and jumping on Ryoji who blocked the blade with his forearm, leading to another shockwave from the impact-

"Grr!"

The massive blade came back to the grip of the God and Minato fired another volley of slashes, summoning Thor's hammer into his grip and crushing through his guard with a well paced shot which sent Ryoji stumbling-

SMASH-

Minato pulled back after the shot and widened his eyes at the cracks spreading on the hammer. The shot visibly rattled Ryoji but the bastard was still standing. "Tch!" he launched the dented weapon into the gut of the incoming appraiser, launching him backwards-

Ryoji came back and smashed the hammer against the side of his head, finally making the weapon explode into bits of scraps and thunder after an audible sound of cracking, the cracking of Minato's skull as he slipped to a knee and spinal fluid started leaking out of his ear-

"That all?"

"SHUT YOUR MOUTH!" Minato shrugged off the damage and summoned the ultimate spear into his grip, launching the tip for his neck but Ryoji easily moved back, urging Minato to come close and he did, summoning a glove into his other fist as Ryoji called upon the powers of the full moon shadows, more and more limbs coming out of his back as the two raced and crashed into another heated struggle-

Minato winced when the blade tore into his flesh-

Ryoji howled when the punches shattered through his regenerated armor and slammed against his exposed flesh-

Ryoji repaired the armor in seconds and the two continued battling with a bevy of punches, bursts of spells and clashing of metal against metal echoing in the dead of the night, each clash accompanied by a wave of death and decay that further decimated the top of the tower as the pillars started crumbling under the pressure of the dark magic that bounced off their bodies every time they met in the middle-

"Fuck this!" Minato spat, stabbing the incoming limbs with his spear and using his gloved hand to hammer the God with a combo of punches whenever he got a chance amidst the mess he was fighting in, constantly on edge and wary of the blade, spells and the damn shadowy limbs that attacked him without pause, breaking his bones and opening new wounds even when he was on the defensive. "Fuck this. Fuck this. FUCK THIS!"

"FUCK YOU!"

Ryoji laughed as Minato kicked him in the gut and expelled a surge of darkness that exploded in his direction, the pressure blowing him backwards and the wild card gave chase, launching the spear to distract him and curling his other hand into a fist once more, pumping a power charge, elemental spells and buffs into his knuckles as he drew closer and closer, pulling back and loading on his buffed fist-

Ryoji saw it coming and channeled the darkness of Nyx into his right fist, yelling at Minato to come forward and he did, letting out another maddening scream of hatred as he rifled his fist forward at the same time as Ryoji-

The spells mixed in the moment the their fists met in the middle, the force erupting violently, lashing out at the two and at the surroundings that started quaking, the ground beneath their feet rumbling as a dome of darkness started forming around their clenched fists. The two growled over the booming noises, eyes locked for the thousandth time that night as the chaos continued around the two of them, reaching up to the skies but the two remained standing, knees shaking and body quivering as the darkness started spreading towards their bodies, pulsing and hurting but their gazes were still locked, the bloodlust and hatred even greater than before-

The world spiraled out of focus briefly when the build up of magic on their fists finally burst apart simultaneously, breaking the knuckles on Minato's fists and completely blowing off the hand of Ryoji who pulled back in surprise, leaving him open to Minato who took the chance while the appraiser was severely handicapped-

Minato brushed past the desperate flurry of the limbs, tearing them off his back and burning the remaining ones to ashes as he ran forward, hacking off his other hand with a slash of his blade and knocking Ryoji down with an overhand punch which he threw from his hip, cracking the bones in his own fist but managing to send the God to the ground-

Minato summoned and slammed a heavy axe into his skull as soon as Ryoji tried to move up, the blade cleaving and splitting his head in two and Minato growled, dragging the axe all the way down to his stomach and drilling it in deeper, ignoring the horrendous yelling and flinging the broken God to the other side of the area, smashing his back into the pillars and he gave chase, finally dual summoning his personas as he bolted towards the other side, Siegfried and Shiva charging up on their weapons-

"It's over!" Minato screamed as he got in Ryoji's face, clenching his fist and unleashing the fusion spell at point blank-

"Ohm!"

A mixture of Vorpal Blade and Pralaya to reduce the bastard in two-

Ryoji widened his eyes as the personas unleashed a mixture of slash and pierce, innumerable, cutting through and reducing the pillars around him to nothingness before tearing into his body, shattering through his armor, opening up gashes and tearing through his innards as the pressure kept increasing, the invisible attacks lashing out repeatedly into his body, over and over again, from every direction, into every single inch of his frame as the God kept screaming to the heavens, lunging out to reach and grab Minato-

"To hell with you!" Minato moved back and slapped him hard across the face-

Ryoji's armor, arms, wings and legs were hacked off by the relentless assault but the mask remained on his face, strangely, not a scratch was inflicted on the damn thing whilst the ichor flew in all directions, more of it gushing out of his mutilated body in gallons but despite that-

Minato stared into the hollow spots in his eyes and saw a flesh of red in the abyss-

"HAHAHAHAAH!"

Ryoji's laugh echoed over and over again on the top of the tower, his cold and cruel voice going off like thunder despite getting torn to bits and pieces by the ungodly fusion spell. He focused his eyes on the blunet who was growling, still not believing that the bastard was laughing like a little kid despite the damage he had suffered-

"I-Is that all..."

Minato widened his eye at the brief but stark change in his voice-

"Boy-"

Feminine voice.

Minato rushed backwards, just seconds before the build of energy exploded upwards like a storm, briefly pushing the blunet backwards because the force was vicious but even with that, he was able to hear Ryoji still laughing in the middle of the dense storm of physical energy, giggling like a little kid with an almost chilly undertone to his voice as the remains of his body came flying out of the cyclone, feathers, torn off wings and numerous bits of flesh, making Minato wonder if his head was the only thing that remained-

A surge of darkness erupted and blended in with the cyclone, forcing Minato to move back and guard against the incoming force that burst through and broke through his guard, sending the wild card flying, almost knocking him off the edge of the tower until he grabbed a hold of the edge and propped himself up, just in time to see-

Ryoji walked out of the fading mist, in one piece, completely healed and without a scratch on his body. There was a demented smile on his face, with something markedly different than before. His wings grew in size and Ryoji watched on as Minato climbed onto the top and panted, exhausted after the fusion spell.

"As I was saying..." Ryoji cracked his neck, bending it backwards and forward. "Is that all?"

Minato scowled in hatred, not giving a shit about the exhaustion on his body and soul.

"I do not know about you," Ryoji said, outstretching his hands and looking towards the evil moon in the sky. "I, on the other hand..."

Minato widened his eyes as Ryoji went through a sudden burst of growth, catching him off guard as the avatar grew almost twice in size in a couple of seconds, his limbs, wings and body growing in size to the point that he towered over the blunet who looked up to stare into his eyes with a hint of disbelief.

"I am just getting started," Death assured with another vicious smile, grabbing at his sword and flapping his wings to take flight. He hovered a couple of feet above and stared down at Minato, shaking his head at the fact that Minato was giving out deep breaths. Pity, he was just starting to enjoy the show and his brother was already slowing down. "Are you going to roll over or will you entertain US some more?"

Minato shook his head, holding out his hands and summoning his ultimate persona, Orpheus Telos, who rose up from the sea of his soul, hovering above his master who locked his sights on the evil entity and beckoned him over, far from done no matter what the hell his body was telling him.

"I am a Wild Card," Minato reminded, closing his eyes and briefly going over the numerous personas in the sea of his soul, their roars echoing in the back of his mind. He opened his eyes and summoned Lucifer's blade into his grip. "This has only just begun, you two bitches."

Ryoji laughed in response as the battle was kicked into another gear. Minato clearly had a lot more fight left in him but-

"It is useless..." the avatar of Nyx spoke, shaking his head at the continued defiance. "To live is to die, they are one and the same."

"I don't give two shits about your philosophical bullshit and the answer to life," the storm of hatred and insanity returned to his eyes and the persona behind him howled to the skies, flashing red as a result of the bloodlust in the soul of Minato. "I will reduce you to pieces, no matter the cost to this world or the people!"

With that, Minato took off running, drawing out another laugh from the God of Death who raised his blade and channeled the deathly spell into the steel-

"Well then..."

Minato closed the distance and widened his eyes as the deathly, chaotic came came rushing at him-

"Night Queen!"

"Brother..."

A whisper in the wind...

Wow, that was a looooong wait. Sorry about that but like I said before, 2018 was going to be hectic and welp, I had an accident and had to cope with law school and the workload. I am still a little bit rusty but hopefully the first part of the final battle was good enough, mostly fists and on overall brawl as Minato didn't summon but eh... he'll need it in the next chapter. :P

Remember how Death healed Minato from mortal blows? Welp, Minato is not going to put down Ryoji so easily as he is nigh indestructible right now.

As always, read and review as there are about... 6-7 chapters left for this fic. Would appreciate the support.

Cheers and see you later!