Chapter 44:
Blades clashing, shockwaves reverberating across the sky and land, destruction being left all around, Markus' focus wasn't on any of that. All Markus was focusing on was not dying and killing the archangel in front of him.
Samael went for an overhead strike that would've beheaded him if Markus hadn't ducked. The shockwave produced from the swing of the scythe destroyed the ground and air behind the demigod. In a flash, Markus was nothing but a whirlwind of blades, Excalibur and Caliburn alight with golden flames. While he was able to inflict damage, Samael was not grimacing in pain. In fact, he was grinning.
He kept swinging his scythe with deadly accuracy, each swing becoming faster than the last. When Markus liquefied his body to avoid damage, the scythe cut his intangible left arm. Pain exploded on his left side. It was so nerve-wracking that Markus almost dropped Excalibur. His eyes were wide in shock as Samael laughed.
"Do you really think your pagan powers can save you? I'm the archangel of death, boy. Nothing can stop me from reaping your soul!" he cackled. He went for another strike, taking advantage of Markus' shocked expression. The archangel was stopped, however, by a burst of golden lightning that lit up his body, making him grunt in slight pain.
Markus took this time to draw water from the air and quickly heal himself before he attacked. So, liquefying his body didn't work. Probably phasing as well. That was annoying. But didn't stop him.
As Samael was recovering from the lightning, his head popped open like a balloon, blood spraying everywhere. Markus wasn't satisfied, however. He dashed forward, moving at the speed of light and hacking and slashing with the legendary blades. Samael's body was being destroyed, one swing after the other. Markus finished it off with a blast of a storm laser, incinerating the archangel. The sky lit up with the light from the laser.
His attack fading away, Markus kept his guard up, still waiting. After a couple of moments, his senses screamed at him to move, which he did. Luckily, he was able to avoid being bisected by the familiar swinging scythe.
"That is really getting annoying," Markus growled to particularly nothing.
"On the contrary," Samael's voice echoed out from the wind. "I find it particularly amusing."
Then a dark miasma formed, clotting into a ball. Then a body. And then hair, organs, parts of flesh. Finally, Samael's black robe formed as he gripped his scythe, whole again.
Markus clicked his teeth. "Regeneration... now I know why people complain about my healing."
Samael grinned. "'Tis a useful ability, no?"
The son of Poseidon shrugged. "Maybe. Not fun to fight against-" He raised both of his weapons to block a wide swing from the fallen angel. "I was talking, you know?" Markus spoke, glaring at his opponent.
"I know," Samael responded.
"Rude," Markus muttered, before dispersing into golden lightning. Samael's body spasmed as the powerful lightning arched across his body. Suddenly, runes and seals lit up from the destroyed ground. A large barrrier encased the electrocuted fallen angel's kneeling form.
Samael inspected the barrier, turning his head to look for where Markus was. "Clever little boy. Now where are... oh." He looked up, and saw the sky light up with a golden hue.
"Αστέρια Οργή. (Asteria's Wrath)." Markus intoned from his position high up in the sky, standing on a water platform. The sky seemed to part, before opening in millions of places. What came out from these openings were falling stars. More specifically, meteors. Markus wasted no time as his spell commenced.
It was a beautiful thing to watch, millions of falling stars heading towards the ground. People found the sight of shooting stars in the night sky to be magnificent. Now, looking at these humongous glowing meteors falling towards the ground where Samael was trapped, Markus found the same beauty. It was amazing, seeing a beautiful sight that could cause extreme devastation.
Samael tried to break out of the barrier, but it was no use. Space/time runes ran across the barrier. He tried hacking and slashing it, but it remained strong. The reason being was that his energy was being sapped. He didn't notice it from before, but he could now. His strength was being used to power the barrier. "Tricky bastard..." Samael muttered, before the first meteor hit him.
The ground practically exploded as star after star fell on it. Markus could see how the stars kept on destroying the ground, destroying the houses, nature life and human life. He grimaced, before schooling his features. He didn't like innocents dying, but he had no choice. He couldn't hold back anymore. This was a being that couldn't be destroyed by simple spells. He needed to pull out the big guns. Hopefully, their deaths were quick.
The spell continued, scarring and damaging the earth greatly. It kept on continuing for five minutes. Markus could feel Samael's presence on the ground, knowing that he was receiving the full brunt of the attack. Αστέρια Οργή was a continuous barrage that was meant for powerful gods who couldn't stay down or enemies who kept regenerating. Nevertheless, Markus didn't let up for even a second. Putting up his backup plan, Markus pooled a massive amount of his energy into the sky.
All over the world, everyone could feel the power of Markus' spell. Hell, practically everyone could see it. Mortals screamed and ran about like headless chickens. A couple of religious people believed that it was the end times coming near, and the heavens were opening up for all the dead people to come in and the angels to come out.
The Olympians viewed all of this from their thrones. Practically all of them were afraid, knowing and sensing who it was that was the cause of this. Zeus said nothing, looking morbid. For the first time, he felt that their death really was coming, and it was very near.
From Mount Othrys, Atlas clenched his jaw tightly as he observed it. He knew who was the cause of this. And he didn't like it one bit. Because the inkling of fear in the pit of his gut was growing. Artemis barely took notice of this, doing her best to keep up the sky. She could feel the power of the attack, though. And it frightened her.
All of the demigods on the side of the Titans either shivered, shat themselves or fainted out of fear. The golden sarcophagus, where the Titan King's essence was, glowed in displeasure.
Other pantheons could feel the power that the spell was producing. The Asgardians became tense, with Odin gripping Gungnir tightly. He wasn't acting jovial or carefree. He was serious. And he was not happy.
The Egyptians also sensed the power, and immediately became tense. Their Hosts could do nothing against this power, and they were useless. They only hoped that the power wasn't aimed at them.
The Shinto gods also took note of this in Takamagahara, the Shinto Heavenly Planes. As he sat on his throne, Susanoo did his damnedest to avoid the gazes from Izanagi, Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi. He knew that he was going to receive a long lecture from either one of the gods for taking a champion from a different pantheon.
Finally, Αστέρια Οργή ended. And the result was a barren wasteland, scarred and scorched. Plant life, houses, Junkyard, humans, shops, everything. All of it was gone. Most of Nevada had suffered from the spell. The Hoover Dam was practically destroyed from the shockwaves alone. Everyone had quickly evacuated from the construction site and snackbar before they had been destroyed. They took cover The dam rippled harshly, the naiads had quickly found cover deeper in the water.
Markus inspected the ground where Samael was trapped. With God Trigger, his eye sight had improved drastically. So he could see that the barrier had been obliterated, along with the fallen angel. Only his cloak, scythe and smoking remains were all that was left of him. He must've been regenerating constantly to try to keep up with the constant barrage. He could even see the black miasma slowly forming, allowing Samael to regenerate, albeit slowly.
Pretty soon, the fallen angel had formed. Though, he looked completely exhausted and haggard. His body was hunched over, panting heavily. While physically he was fine, his power had practically been halved due to the constant regeneration, which took a toll on him. Not to mention that his full power was restricted in this realm.
He wasn't smiling anymore. He was now glaring up at Markus. He didn't say anything, only grabbing his scythe and flaring his wings. He flew up in the sky to meet Markus. Making his water platform disappear, Markus fell to the earth, meeting Samael's charge. Both of their weapons clashed, and the sky exploded.
(In the Mirror Dimension)
The last thing any of the questers saw was Markus pushing them through a portal, before they landed in Hephaestus' Junkyard. Only, it wasn't. They could tell that they were in the Junkyard, but they could tell that there was a certain... wrongness in it. As if it was fake. They could tell that all of the junk in the yard was fake. A mirror image.
"Where are we?" Grover asked, a little scared at the quietness of the whole world. The two Hunters had exited the Junkyard, inspecting the taco shop, the plant life, everything. It was all empty. No one was in the shop, the grass, land and plants were still. It was as if all life had been extinguished.
"I don't know," Percy answered, both his swords out. "I-I don't think we're in Hephaestus' Junkyard. This-This feels wrong."
"I know what you mean," Thalia added, inspecting where they were. "It's like... It's like this is a copy. An imperfect copy. And it feels so barren."
"You think it was Markus' magic?" Percy asked, knowing that his brother had a hand in this.
"Definitely," Thalia answered, trying to figure out what was going on. "I think he sent us here, to get away from... that angel." She shivered, remembering the aura of Samael.
"Which means that he's facing him. All on his own," Percy said, his worry increasing the more he thought about it. "We have to get out of here."
"We can't," Adria answered, running back to the group with Zoe beside her. "We inspected the whole land. The lakes. The shops. Everywhere. It's the same all around. Empty and barren. It looks like our... own world. But empty. Like..."
"Like a mirror," Zoe finished, frowning. "My guess is that that bo- Markus... has taken us away from the world as thy know it through the use of magic. Though I do not know of such magic. Nor that it even existed."
"I'm starting to get less surprised at what Markus can do," Grover said, with the others nodding. "But what we do know is that he's facing that angel all on his own. And he sent us here for our own safety."
"We have to go back. We have to-" Percy started off, but Zoe interrupted him.
"And do what?" she said, frowning. "What do thou intend to do? Thou saw the power that being gave off. He is stronger than the Olympians themselves. What could thou possibly do against such power?"
Percy didn't say anything, only frowned. "But he didn't have to send us here!"
"Yes he did," Zoe insisted. She didn't know why she was defending Markus, but she knew that he did it to protect them. The thought both annoyed her and oddly warmed her at the same time. "We would all be a burden against that being. Slaughtered the moment he decided to get serious. He was right to send us here."
Percy grit his teeth, furious. While he could see the truth in Zoe's words and Markus' actions, he still felt annoyed. The entire reason that he trained for the last two months was to be able to stand at Markus' side and face any danger ahead. Now, it was like nothing had changed. Markus was facing the danger while he was safe and sound. The thought irked him.
Thalia put a hand on his shoulder. "Percy." He turned to look at her. "I know what you're feeling. And I understand. Believe me, I feel it, too. But we can't do anything about it. Markus is the only one strong enough to battle Samael. We would only get killed."
"I know that," Percy muttered. "It's just... I thought that I could finally be able to do something on this quest. The only thing that I managed to accomplish was killing a couple of demons. I keep saying that I'm going to help Markus, but..."
Thalia patted his back with a knowing look. "I feel the same way," she admitted. "And I hate the fact that Markus is the one who has to take on the fight and protect us. It's something that I both love and hate at the same time. But this time, I'm willing to let him fight. Because I know that he's the only one strong enough to do it. Even though I hate it."
Percy slowly nodded at Thalia's words, though he didn't like it. The others simply waited, and hoped that Markus won.
(Back in the Real World)
The two beings kept on attacking each other, neither relenting. Samael managed to get in a couple of slices in, weakening Markus slightly. The scythe was extremely annoying. He felt like his soul was being ripped apart slowly. Samael was actually taking him seriously this time. He didn't know if that was a good or bad thing. And he couldn't bloodbend anymore, since Samael was preventing him.
As they locked blades, Markus could feel Samael having the advantage. He was slowly being pressed back. To counter this, Markus decided to do a risky move. Carefully manipulating his energy, he sent it to his eyes. His eyes quickly glowed and shot out storm lasers, aimed at Samael's own eyes. The archangel roared in pain as his eyes were vaporized. Markus followed it with a headbutt, his eyes stinging.
As Samael backed off, Markus chanted a spell. "Άρχισε η Άνοιξη!" A blue light covered his body, mixing with the emerald aura he produced.
Rejuvinated, Markus surrounded himself again in an armour of gold lightning, his form buzzing erratically. As he blitzed towards the distracted Samael, afterimages were left in his wake. He was nothing but flashes of already fading light, destroying Samael each time he tried to regenerate. He figured out that each time Samael regenerated, his power diminished slightly. All he had to do was force the archangel to keep on regenerating, so he could keep on weakening.
Like before, black miasma had formed and tried to stitch Samael together, but Markus trapped that in a barrier. Commanding it to flatten, he crushed the miasma and caused it to be destroyed.
Markus waited, his spell still active. Good thing, too, because the surroundings suddenly darkened. An aura of death practically bathed the world. Inky black darkness formed on the ground, and a large cross rose from it. What was strapped to it was a crucified creature. it had Samael's fallen angel wings, but now had other bizarre features. He had the lower body of an Asian dragon, the upper body of a man, and his face had Samael's features. Only, there was a blindfold covering his eyes that dripped blood. His arms, legs, wings and tails were nailed to the cross by old nails.
A wave of pain, hatred and resentment filled the air, along with death. The creature that was Samael broke free from his restraints, blood sprouting from the wounds. His blindfold peeled away from his eyes, showing eyes that were black as night. Samael roared, and started transforming into a another creature.
"And I thought I took too long transforming," Markus muttered, seeing the scene in front of him. Holding out his hand, Markus blasted a storm laser at Samael. The laser did nothing to him as black scales started forming on his skin, from head to toe. His teeth elongated to fangs, and his body stretched and contorted. His back rippled, and another set of wings protruded from his back. These were dragon wings instead of fallen angel wings.
In a few seconds, Samael had transformed into a large black dragon. It was fifteen feet tall, and looked deadly and menacing. And the amount of power rolling off it made Markus' skin crawl.
Still feeling the boost from his Άρχισε η Άνοιξη spell, Markus dismissed Excalibur and Caliburn. Instead, summoned Kusanagi from his pocket dimension. "Time to go dragon slaying," he grinned maniacally. " Επικαλούμαι: Avatar της θύελλας. (Invoke: Avatar of the Storm)."
Just as he finished saying the words, a gigantic geyser of emerald energy erupted from his body, dwarfing the blue aura from his Άρχισε η Άνοιξη spell. The emerald aura started to take shape. What was rapidly being formed was a colossal giant that quickly grew to thirty feet in height. Armour magically formed around the storm giant. Blue ethereal knee braces formed on his legs, along with a blue loincloth. More armour made out of energy started to form, from a war helmet to greaves to a chest plate. And he stood in the head of the being. Pretty soon, Markus' storm giant had formed. (A.N. - If you want a better description, think of the storm giants from Forgotten Realms, and by extension Dungeons and Dragons. The only difference is that Markus' storm giant is wearing Spartan armour).
Commanding his storm giant to hold its hand out, Markus drew his magic to form a giant energy version of the Kusanagi, drawing power from the original. It crackled with powerful lightning.
No words were said between the two. Samael roared while Markus commanded his storm giant to run forward. Samael flew to meet his charge. Markus' Kusanagi was raised and slashed at the dragon's claws. There was a loud BOOM, a shockwave being produced that destroyed the air around them.
Samael tried to move around the sky, but Markus was much quicker. Kusanagi sailed through the air and sliced at Samael's side. While this was only a shallow cut, Samael the dragon roared in pain.
Markus didn't relent, making his giant move quickly. Another slash had Samael fold its wings and land on the ground harshly. Another slash made a scar open up on his reptillian face.
Having enough, Samael wailed loudly. Darkness pooled on the ground. Out of it was a humongous construct, formed purely of bones. The construct rapidly formed into a massive being, almost matching Markus' storm giant in height. It roared, unleashing another wave of death that killed any remains of life on the earth around them.
Markus clicked his teeth. Quickly summoning three speed clones, he gave them a sealing scroll each and told them to gather nature energy for him to absorb. They quickly scattered off to do their own job.
The bone monster roared, charging at Markus' storm giant. He commanded it to cleave the monster in two, only for it to dodge and grapple him. He grunted, feeling the touch of death slowly surrounding his storm giant, weakening it slightly. He struggled, tried to command it to move or do something, but it was for nought. Pretty soon, the aura of death would reach him, and it'd be game over.
"Κατακλυσμικός Παλάτι! (Cataclysmic Palace!)" he shouted out, calling out the name of his backup spell.
Instantly, the sky exploded. Lightning bigger than Zeus could ever produce and dark clouds formed in the sky. Following that, large tornadoes almost as tall as Markus' giant were formed, the wind violently whipping around and slicing at the bone monster and Samael. The sky literally split apart, allowing lightning and rain to come lashing down. Markus commanded the rain to mix with the toxic and harmful elements in the atmosphere and create acid rain.
Raising the ethereal Kusanagi, lightning gathered at the sword, zapping the bone monster. It screeched as it was reduced to dust.
The lightning gathered at the sword again, Markus condensed the lightning, changing the colour from electric blue to pitch black. With a roar, Markus' storm giant pointed his Kusanagi to the slowly healing Samael. The black lightning bolt sailed towards the dragon and electrocuted him. Samael screeched as the ground was obliterated by the attack. An explosion was created, one identical to a nuke going off.
Markus sighed in relief, the negative effects of the death field leaving him. Cataclysmic Palace really helped him there. The spell was a massive area-based spell. It affected the sky and weather to an extreme, allowing both of them to be in disarray. Which worked perfectly for him. Drawing on his divine powers, he drew the lightning and water from the rain - which wasn't acidic - to him. The result was making his storm giant grow in size as he kept on absorbing parts of the storm. (A.N. - Picture Sasuke's Indra Susanoo from Naruto).
Another awesome thing about his Avatar of the Storm spell was that he could draw lightning and water towards it and it could become stronger. Grinning, Markus began his assault.
The giant tornadoes and hurricanes formed buffeted Samael, pushing and dazing him. Lightning crackling from his ethereal blade, Markus used his golden lightning this time and continued to zap Samael. Due to the dragon-slaying attributes from Kusanagi, the lightning kept on destroying his scales and damaging him severely.
Desperately, Samael summoned more bone monsters and dead summons, but Markus kept on destroying them before attacking the dragon. He impaled his blade into Samael's spine, causing crimson blood to fly everywhere and for Samael to screech even louder than before. He flailed pathetically, wings flapping and limbs slapping the ground. Markus channelled lightning through his blade, making Samael cry out even more.
His spell still active, Markus decided to end it all. Lightning bolt after lightning bolt pelted Samael, destroy more and more scales and frying him. The acid rain was also doing its job, wearing away at the dragon. Each attack was like a nuclear bomb exploding each time. Markus was content with letting the barrage continue. After a few minutes, Markus ceased the continuous bolts. Stalking forward, Markus raised his sword, deciding to end it.
Just as he was about to swing his sword downwards, black tendrils of darkness sprung from underneath Samael's dragon body. Surprised, Markus tried to move his storm giant, but it was futile. They trapped his arms, halting his downward strike. His giant's torso, legs and neck were also restrained.
Samael hissed painfully in laughter. "I'll admit it, boy. You are too strong for me to handle. At least in this realm. But let's see how you handle battling in my field." With that, Samael opened a large portal of darkness. What was revealed on the other side was nothing but dark orange flames. From his point of view, mountains of skeletons were piled together. In fact, Markus could see nothing but bones. A river of fire flowed through inside the image. At first, Markus thought it was the River Phlegethon, but he corrected himself. It definitely wasn't. And the portal reeked of evil.
Markus commanded his storm giant to move, but it was futile. The giant was fading quickly, its energy being sapped from the black tendrils. And he was quickly being sucked in as if he was being drawn in by a black hole. Samael kept on hissing in laughter as he slowly sank into the portal. However, just as he was being sucked in, his speed clones had arrived near him. They quickly opened the sealing scrolls and gave him the large amounts of nature energy they had gathered. His Yang and Fehu tattoos burned so brightly that his skin boiled. He had enough time to accumulate the energy before he was dragged down through the portal.
(Hell, Samael's domain)
Markus was immediately drawn through and into hell. At least, he assumed that he was in it. The entire place reeked of the aura Zerith had when he crossed over into the world. (A.N. - The scene looks like the setting in Seven Avengefold's song 'Buried Alive).
Markus' storm giant had faded completely, the portal closing behind him. He managed to land on a large pile of bones that was sturdy enough. Suddenly, Markus' God Trigger wore away, his crown of thorns turning into normal hair and his eyes turning back to normal. scaring him. He still had enough energy to maintain God Trigger! Why had he gone out of it?!
A familiar hiss of laughter rang out, reverberating through the entire hellish world. Markus slowly turned to see Samael in his dragon form. Except his size was different. Before, he was an intimidating fifteen feet high. Now, he was huge. No, gargantuan. He practically filled the entire world of hell around him. He was still the same type of dragon, but he released a world of power that made Markus' knees buckle.
"Are you surprised that your 'god' form had vanished?" he cackled in glee. His voice echoed with power. "Here in hell, no pagan god can enter. They are practically as powerful mortals in here. Meaning that your form and that troublesome blade won't work here. You're in my world, now! And I'm going to make sure that you suffer a thousand deaths before I let you actually die!"
Markus shook in slight fear, the heat and aura of the place getting to him. Along with the knowledge that his strongest transformation was useless. As well as one of his most powerful weapons. H-He couldn't stand up to Samael like this. He was weak while Samael was growing stronger as he stayed here. What could he do? What could he do?! He was going to die here! He was going to die and-
He bit the inside of his cheek, hard enough to draw blood. He closed his eyes, calming himself, before opening them. What the fuck was he thinking?! He didn't plan to die in hell! He wasn't going to leave Percy, Thalia, Grover, Annabeth, Katie, Silena and all of his friends. He wouldn't! So he was not going to cry like a bitch! He was going to stand up, fight, and slay this fucking dragon!
Focusing on the top of his back, Markus activated the Rage of Sparta. Thanking every decent Olympian and god, he felt that the boost was working. With a roar, a blood red aura erupted around his body. His sea-green eyes turned into crimson. This was no God Trigger, but it'd do.
Samael laughed, amused. "It's useless. This little parlour trick is even weaker than your 'god' form. If you couldn't beat me as a god, than how can you hope to beat me as a puny mortal?"
"First of all," Markus said with a sneer. "I was practically raping your ass until you had to cheat and drag us down here. If you hadn't, you'd be nothing but some dragon-hide clothes for me to show off." Samael snarled at that. "And second of all, as powerful as a god is, being mortal is much better."
Focusing on his Yang and Fehu tattoos and runes, he entered Sage Mode. His tribal markings appeared on his face, elongating past his face and streaming down his body. Due to the massive amounts of nature energy he'd absorbed, he was was infinitely more powerful than when he fought Heracles.
Gritting his teeth, he activated his steam armour, pushing it the maximum. His muscles bulged, trying to escape his skin. Steam burst and poured from his body. He knew that using so many power-ups at once dangerous, since he was pushing his body to its limit. He could potentially die from this. And yet he didn't care. Besides, he didn't plan on dying anyway.
Using one final trick, Markus roared. His body was now armoured in a sheen of his golden lightning. So... Rage of Sparta, Sage Mode, steam armour and Lightning Armour... yep, he was ready.
"If you are done," Samael spoke with a bored drawl, "then we can continue with this farce of a battle."
"Yeah," Markus agreed, using his space/time magic to bring out Ascalon, the legendary dragon slayer (A.N. - The sword has its Fate/Stay Night appearance and design). "Let's."
The two combatants charged forward. And hell exploded in a flurry of power.
As the two clashed, Markus was immediately pushed back by Samael's ungodly strength. Heading towards the giant bones of a snarling demon, Markus quickly applied kinetic energy to his body. Before his body touched the bone construct, Markus immediately bounced off of it, shattering it due to the force. He charged towards the fallen angel/dragon hybrid.
Shockwaves were made from the force of the two fighting. The ground shook. The river of fire shook and spilled onto some of the bones, destroying them. The mountain of bones trembled and fell apart. With a swing of Ascalon, parts of Samael's scales broke. With a swipe of Samael's arm, Markus' body got a couple of claw marks.
Samael got in a lucky strike and sent Markus flying. Although he was able to perform a quick Air Hike and managed to right himself, before heading back towards Samael. The dragon opened his maw and lobbed a hail of deadly poison at the demigod. Smirking, Markus vanished in an extreme burst of speed similar to teleportation. Appearing at Samael's wings, he hacked into one of them with a mighty strike. Samael screeched.
Using his toxikinesis, Markus took control of Samael poison and shot it back at him. Still feeling the pain from Markus' attack, he couldn't do anything as he was covered in his own poison. Samael hissed and screeched, his poison eating at his scales and skin. His poison was deadly to every being, especially dragons. That also included him.
Furious, Samael tried to claw at Markus, but he zipped out of the way, frying him with golden lightning. Samael roared, causing Markus to be pushed back from the shockwaves, and landing harshly on the ground. Before he could get up, Samael's clawed hand pinned him down, the claws digging into his flesh. Markus screamed in pain, blooding leaking out of the holes in his body.
Samael released Markus from his hold, only to slam his fist down on him again. And again. And again. Markus howled in agony, his bones breaking with each strike. His lower half was nothing but a mangled mess. He coughed out a fountain of blood, choking on it.
Samael hissed in laughter, relishing in his pain. "Oh, don't worry. You won't die yet. The fun has just started! I'm going to take my time breaking you and making you squeal like a pig!" As he was just about to raise his fist up to strike, he saw that Markus was grinning. "What is so funny? Does your coming suffering amuse you?" Markus still grinned, pointing weakly upwards.
Curious but annoyed, Samael looked up, only to receive a sword to the right eye. He roared in pain as Ascalon dug deep into his ruined eye, reaching into his brain.
'Markus' kept grinning, only to disappear. The real Markus summoned Excalibur to his hand and slashed Samael's other eye. "Can't believe you fell for such a simple illusion," Markus mocked. He took both swords out and started hacking and slashing into Samael's abdomen. He dug Ascalon deep into his gut and used kinetic energy to move across his scaly underbelly, still digging the blade deep into the dragon (A.N. - In the same manner as you do as Kratos when you fight Cronus in God of War 3, after getting out of his stomach).
Markus immediately moved before Samael's blood could touch him, knowing and sensing that his blood was poisonous. He moved out of the way as Samael clawed at the area where he was at.
"I will destroy you, boy!" Samael snarled, hatred and pain pouring off of him. "Forget suffering! I will make it so that your soul is broken under the torments of hell! You will be ERASED!"
Markus didn't say anything, dodging and moving out of Samael's wild and furious swings. Activating his War God Speed Impulse, his perception of time slowed down dramatically, allowing him to see and process everything in great detail. He could see Samael's outstretched arms, his large body, his remaining good wing, the blood from his eyes hissing and bubbling against his snout and face.
Taking care of his arms first, Markus' arms moved in a blur. He saw in slow motion as his swords chipped, hacked and slashed off each scale Samael had, reaching into bone. Markus severed off a part of his forearm, making the dragon screech and allowing Markus to move onto the next arm. He knew that Samael was weakened due to the wounds he'd given him. He was slowly getting stronger and trying to regenerate, but he wasn't allowing him.
He moved onto the next arm, not allowing him to recover for even a second. He kept on chopping and chopping and chopping until nothing but a stub remained. Samael cried out in pain, poisonous blood trailing down his eyes like tears.
"Enough!" he screamed out. "I refuse to fall to a mortal! A pagan! That is the deepest shame I can experience!" He made to move, but he struggled to do so, his injuries taking their toll on him. Sure, he was regenerating, but his blood was acting against it. The poison was seeping deep into his brain, face and other parts of his skin.
Seeing this, Markus decided to go for broke. And he knew just how to do it. He dismissed Ascalon and held Excalibur in both hands. The sword glowed a golden light, lighting up the area. All of the skeletons were bleached white. The atmosphere of evil, death and hate managed to fade only for a moment due to the light. The golden light acted like water droplets, splashing onto parts of hell. Then Markus could hear voices, echoing from Excalibur. Voices of promises and hope. Excalibur was the sword of Promised Victory. It held the wishes of mankind and was the physical manifestation of the ideals of King Arthur. And it was time he started using it well.
Grinning at using one of his favourite moves, he chanted. "While one could say there are many other swords crafted more splendidly and with better skill, this sword is an illusion far, far superior to them. Calling it 'beautiful' would dirty its appearance. It is instead something sacred, forged from people's conceptions, legends weaved only out of hope." Yes, he memorised the entire chant, because why not? It was awesome.
"It is a crystal trained by the alone of mankind, making it reign as the strongest fantasy. The crystallization of the prayer glory, and all the things etched in the hearts of those who are scattered at the sword's exuberance; the nostalgic, the sorrowful, and hallowed dreams of those who found themselves on the bloody hell called a sword represents a desire of all warriors, past, present, and future whom have been fully exposed to the nightmares of the battlefield. And that desire? To be exalted."
Markus jumped up, high in the air, facing down at Samael. Sensing his presence, Samael growled and roared. He spread his one wing and flew up to meet Markus' attack, maw raised.
"Its name transcends all boundaries! Time and space! Cultures and languages! Nations and borders! For its name is-!" Markus spoke, pausing for the energy to build up in the sword. Just as Samael reached his level and was about to consume him, Markus was already finished.
"EX-" Markus bellowed, raising the sword high. Preparing to crush his opponent.
"-CALIBUR!" He swung the sword down, just as Samael was almost upon him, jaw raised.
Immediately, the air in hell exploded with power. Everywhere was bathed in a golden light. Samael's mouth managed to bite onto Markus' right arm, before his face was practically sliced cleanly in half, before exploding in the light.
A golden arc of light sliced through Samael's body, before going onwards. It destroyed a large section of Samael's domain, splitting the river of fire in half and destroying hundreds of bone constructs, and wiping away the evil air, if but for a moment. The aura produced was calming, peaceful and divine. Samael's area of hell was practically destroyed.
The golden light continued to bathe throughout the area, a small shockwave of power being produced. Then, it began to die down, ever so slowly.
As Markus was suspended in the air, Excalibur in a downward motion and Samael being destroyed, he felt a massive amount of pain on his left arm. Looking at it, he found that it wasn't there. All that was left was a bleeding stump.
He dropped out of his Rage of Sparta and dismissed his steam armour, Sage Mode and Lightning Armour. He landed on the still remaining bone mountain, dismissing Excalibur and inspecting his stump that previously held his right arm. The stump was still bleeding, and the cut wasn't clean. It was roughly bitten off. He felt like he should be concerned about his lack of an arm, but he wasn't. He was just happy he won the battle.
Markus halted and stemmed the blood using his blood control. Inspecting the destroyed area of hell, he could see a stray scale from Samael and a small pool of his poison. He walked towards the scale and picked it up, storing it away. He then carefully sealed the poison into a sealing scroll, for later study.
Done with his task, he was ready to leave hell. Opening a small portal, he picked out Yamato. Using his teeth, he unsheathed the blade. Activating the runes on it, he slashed at the air, opening up a rift in hell and revealing the scorched earth of Nevada. Since hell and the mortal world were closely interlinked, it made sense that the walls of reality between the two were very close. Which he was thankful for.
Bracing himself, he hopped through the portal, leaving hell.
Markus' feet landed on the ground, sighing and breathing in the normal air. He looked around, inspecting the destruction he had caused in his battle with Samael. He wasn't happy nor proud about it all, but he could feel sorry for himself later.
Sighing, he decided to exert himself again. Opening up a dimensional portal to the Mirror Dimension, he saw the other questers looking anxious and worried.
"Guys!" he shouted, waving his single arm.
The others turned to where his voice came from. They're eyes went wide, seeing him.
"Markus!" Thalia screamed, running ahead of the others. She jumped through the portal and hugged him tightly, kissing him hard. Despite his exhaustion, he returned the kiss, glad to be back and feeling his girlfriend in his arm after a serious battle. It felt really good.
As both of them were kissing, they were interrupted by the screams of shock from Percy, along with the sound of someone falling. Both separated and looked to see Percy, Zoe and Adria looking at Markus in shock while Grover had fainted.
Markus chuckled while Thalia looked to what the others had their eyes on. She was able to register that Markus had lost his arm before she panicked.
"Markus! Oh my gods, oh my gods! Guys, don't just stand there! Help him!" Thalia practically shrieked, instantly at Markus' side and checking him. Adria moved the girl out of the way and inspected the wound. Markus ripped off his jacket to let her inspect the wound, wincing as she prodded at it.
"Oh my gods... are you okay?" Percy asked, extremely worried. He winced as soon as he said that. "Dumb question."
"Least you spotted it beforehand," Markus smirked, though no one was in a joking mood.
"Why isn't the wound bleeding? Where's your arm? I could possibly reattach it," Adria said, still inspecting his wound.
Thalia looked as if she was about to cry as the others crowded around him, seeing if he was alright.
Markus sighed, the pain actually getting to him this time. "Guys, give me space. Please. I can fix this no problem."
"How?!" Thalia almost screamed at him, worried. "Markus, you lost your arm! This isn't a joking matter!"
Markus frowned. "I know that, princess. And I'd heal it if you guys would let me."
They all backed off, curious and worried.
Markus sighed, drawing on the water vapour and droplets from the rain he'd produced previously. He searched deeper, scouring any available water source or droplet nearby. After a few minutes, trillions upon trillions of water droplets had gathered towards Markus. The others watched, transfixed.
The water droplets gathered at his stump and formed a human arm out of water. The watery limb attached to his arm and was fused with a hiss as he boiled the water and made it cool down instantly. Then the arm solidified into a normal-looking limb, complete with the bones, muscles, nerves and tendons. Pretty soon, his arm had been restored in perfect condition, identical to his left arm. He clenched it a couple of times, testing it.
Ignoring the shocked looks on the others' faces, Markus concentrated, furrowing his eyebrows. Then, his Κράτος appeared on his left bicep, appearing as though it had always been there. Fun fact that he learned, his runes and tattoos had bonded to him on a spiritual level due to the amount of time they were on his body. Meaning that he'd always have the aspects that he'd carved onto his body that he wanted. Even if his body was blown up or he was dismembered, he'd always have the runes on his body. Guess the ritual had a lot of benefits.
Markus looked to see that the others were still giving him shocked looks. Before they could say anything, he raised up a hand. "I know you guys have some questions, but right now, I'm extremely tired. Like, really tired. I'll answer your questions. After I sleep. If we're going to continue, I need my rest. So one of you have to carry me." With that, he fell forward. He managed to fall towards Thalia, who caught him in time. However, he managed to snuggle into her chest, a content sigh escaping his lips before he passed out.
Thalia's eye twitched. "He's so lucky I'm worried for him, or I'd drop him," she growled.
The others didn't respond to her, inspecting the area. "Was this the result of the fight between Markus and Samael?" Percy asked, stunned that the two could cause this kind of destruction. Sure, he knew that the two were powerful, but seeing the results drove the point home. The ground was cratered and destroyed, Hephaestus' Junkyard was practically non-existent, and the sky was dark and crackling with power. Shockingly, the sky was also split in half, as if two giant hands reached up and ripped it apart. Not to mention that the air was practically saturated with death, ozone and pure power. It was as if a hundred nukes had gone off at the same time.
Zoe inspected the entire scene, looking at the snoozing Markus. "The more time I spend with him on this quest, I keep getting surprised at every point."
"I agree," Adria agreed. "I thought that the Olympians were the most powerful beings in the world, along with the Titans. Now, those thoughts are completely shattered."
Everyone nodded, taking in the scene. They didn't know how much destruction Markus had caused in his battle with the fallen angel. They weren't sure if they wanted to know. While they felt like continuing the quest, they feared what other dangers were ahead. Demons, gods and angels. Things kept on getting even more crazier as they continued the quest. They weren't even sure if quests were this bizarre and dangerous.
Thalia sighed, struggling to carry Markus. "Let's just continue on. We're all at fighting capability with one exception. If we stay if one place and rest, we're bound to be attacked again. Something that I really want to avoid."
"Agreed," Percy nodded. "But where would we go? All we know is that we're heading west."
"We should move past the Sierras and enter San Francisco," Zoe said, a frown on her face. "That is our best bet at the moment. It is also more likely that we'll get closer to retrieving Lady Artemis."
No one argued with her. They didn't really have a lot of options.
"Okay, but first: help me," Thalia groaned, struggling to carry Markus. "Gods, it's like he's a brick wall."
Percy and Grover stepped forward, helping her. "We can't go on like this," Percy decided after a moment.
"Yeah, Markus weighs a ton. Man, what does he eat?" Grover asked, struggling to carry him.
"Well, do you have any better ideas?" Adria asked, annoyed.
After a moment, Percy clicked his fingers. "I got an idea." He closed his eyes, trying to telepathically communicate with his steed. Blackjack. Blackjack, can you hear me?
The others looked confused at what Percy was doing, but he ignored them in favour of continuing. Oi, Blackjack!
Boss! a familiar voice in his head said. Well, neighed, actually. How ya doin'? Got any donuts for me?
Not the time, Blackjack! Percy chastised his pegasus. I need your help. Can you get a couple of pegasi to follow you in coming to my location. We need your help.
On it, boss! Blackjack saluted. Can I have some donuts afterwards?
Percy sighed. Yes. You can have all the donuts that you want.
Awesome! See ya, boss!
Percy cut off the link between him and Blackjack. He looked to the others. "We have some help coming. A couple of pegasi are coming to carry us to Sans Francisco."
Thalia twitched a little, but otherwise didn't say or do anything. Percy was curious as to what was wrong, but he pushed it out of his mind for now.
"Good," Grover huffed. "Because I can't carry this guy for more than a minute." He gestured to Markus, who he was holding onto along with Thalia.
Percy looked at the satyr. "Aren't you the ones that eat enchiladas all day? How can you complain about someone else's weight?"
Grover blushed while Thalia snickered. "Burn."
Grover made to retort, but the sound of the flapping of wings was heard from above them. All of them looked up to see a black pegasus followed by three other pegasi. One of them was a light purple in colour while having a violet mane mixed with some pink. There was a weird tattoo of a couple of stars on one of his hindquarters. He also had a crappy unicorn horn on his head.
One of the pegasus was sky blue in colour, while having an assortment of colours for his mane. It looked like a rainbow threw up on it. He also had a weird tattoo that was in the shape of a couple of rainbows on his hindquarters.
The last pegasus was a maroon brown in colour, while having a blonde mane. Oddly enough, this one had a cowboy hat on top of his head, while carrying a basket of apples. He even had the the same tattoo as the other pegasi, only this one had apples in it.
It took the group a couple of seconds to register this. Thalia and Percy started laughing while Grover chuckled, confusing Zoe. Adria, however, groaned.
'Sup, boss! Blackjack greeted to Percy. Managed to get here as fast as I could! Even got some friends!
B-Blackjack, Percy struggled to say mentally while holding his stomach in laughter. W-Why do you have the pegasi dressed as ponies?
What do you mean, boss? Blackjack responded back, confused. They aren't dressed as ponies. This is how they normally look.
If anything, this made Percy laugh even harder.
"Oh gods!" Thalia laughed, tears coming to her eyes. "S-Since when were there pegasi from My Little Pony? Are they going to a party?"
"Blackjack says that these are how they naturally look," Percy responded in between laughter.
That made Thalia fall to the ground and laugh even harder.
Zoe continued to look confused. "What is thy problem?" she asked, confused. "What is wrong with those ridiculous get-up they're wearing?"
This made Percy, Thalia and Grover nearly cry while laughter as Adria did her best to explain to Zoe. When she was done, Zoe still looked confused. "I do not understand. These are... ponies from a TV show?"
"Yes," Adria answered, embarrassed.
"And what is with the ridiculous names? Rainbow... Dash? Twilight Sparkle? Applejack Are they sacred animals of Ladies Iris, Artemis and Demeter?"
The two demigods were rolling on the ground, their stomachs hurting from laughing too hard. Grover gave a couple of bleats of laughter. If anything, Adria looked even more embarrassed. "No," she answered. "They're from a TV show for children. Lord Apollo was the one to come up with the idea as a way to pay thanks to Lord Poseidon."
Zoe was annoyed at how the others were laughing. "Stop laughing at me!" she yelled, stomping her foot. They continued laughing.
After five long and painful minutes of laughing, they got on top of the pegasi. Zoe angrily declared that she would ride on Twilight Sparkle, since the name related to Artemis in a way. This made everyone, even Adria, to laugh at her. The pegasi whinnied in laughter. Furious and embarrassed. Zoe yelled at everyone to stop.
Adria joined her on Twilight Sparkle. Grover and Percy got onto Applejack, taking some apples as they did so. Thalia was able to strap Markus onto Rainbow Dash while getting onto the pegasus herself. "Markus is going to be so jealous that he couldn't see Zoe's reaction," she smirked to the others, doing her gest to get rid of her gnawing fear of heights.
Percy and Grover nodded in agreement while Zoe growled.
Pretty soon, they were in the air and heading towards Sans Francisco.
Finished! What a chapter!
So, Samael is dead, Nevada, Hephaestus' Junkyard and the Hoover Dam is practically destroyed, many pantheons are extremely wary of Markus and Susanoo might get into some trouble, Markus got to slay a dragon, Markus got to slay a dragon in hell. And the finale? Awesome to write. Followed by some humour with some MLP ponies. The last part was because since Hoover Dam was practically destroyed, there'd be no dam jokes in the story. So the ponies were the replacement. Hopefully, you're all dam happy about that.
Hope y'all liked the fight. On Earth, Markus pretty much destroyed Samael. In hell? He almost died and had to actually struggle. Something he hasn't done since coming back from his training trip. And I'm just getting started.
There'll be two more non-canon fights, then off to fight Atlas. Not telling you what they are.
Something I want to ask about the story. Should I make another story as a sequel to this one? Because - to be honest - what I have planned is going to possibly make it up to 80 chapters or something. Personally, if I saw a story with over 90 chapters or something, I might not read it. Unless it's really really good. And I know some people feel the same way, so that's why I asked. I'm content with just continuing with this chapter, as I'm greedy and want a lot of reviews, follows and favs for my story. Not that I'm not thankful for all of you guys. Let me know what you think.
Also, good news: Markus has his own wiki page on Percy Jackson fanfiction wiki. I wrote it up myself. If any of you guys are good with wikis and enjoy the story to help it if you wish. It would really mean a lot.
The link is Pjofanficwikia-Markus-Henderson-Arcane-Chaos. Thanks!
Now, review time:
1) I could adapt to either idea. Not against it. The blunt sword could go both ways. And I do like your suggestion of enchanting the force and area. Jashin won't make an appearance on the quest, but he will be important later in the story. And I already used a Hidan OC in Celestial Ascension, so... And yes, they work like their Highschool DxD counterpart. And he will time travel, though that'll be later.
2) The two fandoms are something that I like as well. And youkai will be a big part of an arc later on in the story, so be patient. Hopefully, you'll like it. And good observation.
3) I have considered your request, and I love it. Truthfully, I was going to send Markus to the canon timeline of Naruto. But the Warring states Timeline. It's actually more interesting and war-torn than the canon timeline. And it'll be something that I'll love writing. And the reactions would be really fun to write. Thank you very much for the request and you thinking that I can pull it off.
4) No I haven't heard of the Drakengard franchise. Is it good? I could check it out and get back to you.
5) Story's been updated, and it's good that you think the story's awesome.
Thanks to all those who f,f,r and r. I love y'all.
No flamers, please! Read and Review!