A/N: Rybalov: To answer your question, meeting a god is a pretty unlikely thing in the first place. More than that, after a heretic god appears, no one is notified. By the time people find out, a Campione has usually gone after the god, or the god has come forth near a Campione in the first place. Aside from that, most magic has no effect on heretic gods, meaning that the fight will end in the defeat of nearly anyone that isn't a god-slayer. In Anya's case, she just got extremely lucky and used a forbidden spell. It's just common for god-slayers, since it's their fate to meet each other. Evangeline isn't human, so she can't become a Campione, but her killing a god is entirely possible, right?
Anya returned to the hotel and waited for her fellow mages to return. Her exploratory mood was completely ruined after the meeting with the snake-eyed god. Despite the lack of desire to enjoy the city, she was overcome by a new desire to see how much she'd progressed with her fighting skills. A fight with a god, while in this case, unavoidable, was the perfect chance to test herself against an equal opponent instead of faeries and spirits and the like. Excited, the Rakshasa Rani began to practice her hand-to-hand combat.
Elspeth, Stephen, and Tom finally came into the room around sunset.
Stephen spoke up first. "Your Highness, it seems that the reported rituals were done in order to summon a god for the purpose of a second, greater ritual. They seem to have slipped up and summoned a heretic god."
Elspeth was next. She brushed dark brown hair out of her eyes and spoke. "From the details of the creature that was reported, it seems that a naga was summoned. It killed all of the mages working on the ritual."
Anya spoke up here. "I've met him. He requested to fight me in the north in two days' time. It'll be dangerous, but I'm excited. I'll take him on!"
Tom cleared his throat. "Your Highness, it would be best to know more about one's opponent before going after them. Please keep this in mind."
Anya flushed slightly. "Y-you're right. Sorry."
"It's no problem. You are still learning how to fight properly after all." The tired man continued. "The naga are associated with snakes and bodies of water. Striking snakes and flowing water are difficult to avoid, so you must be careful. Also, please remember to use your Authority sparingly. Do not be hasty."
"Yes." The mage queen addressed the mages around her. "Please support me."
As one, they responded. "Yes, Your Highness."
Tom had explained to her earlier that mages obeyed the Campione because only they could slay heretic gods. In order to secure the safety of themselves and normal people, they were obliged to support their rulers. The synchronized obedience was an expression of this.
Her allies at her back, Anya walked northward from Antalya's center. The group arrived in Cumhuriyet Meydani, a beautiful area north of the city. It had a beautiful fountain in the middle of a paved circle of street. Here, Anya stopped abruptly, her senses burning slightly before sharpening, her heartbeat picking up slightly.
There was a large fountain before her. In a burst of water from the fountain, the heretic god appeared before it.
His snake-like eyes stared directly at her, ignoring the other mages. "Thou hast come, Rakshasa Rani. I will kill thee here." There was no malice in his words, only calm declaration of fact.
Anya took a steadying breath that seemed almost disruptively loud over the sound of her heartbeat in the empty streets. "Let's get started." The small mage activated [Regalia of the War Goddess].
Suddenly, the heavens opened up and a deluge fell upon the circle of pavement surrounding the fountain. Water rose from the ground and fountain and formed into a bow in the god's hands. He drew back and released. An arrow of water flew through the air at the god slayer.
The Campione leapt to the side, avoiding the attack. She flexed a hand, trying to generate flames, only for them to sputter under the rain. She gritted her teeth before chanting. "Fortis a tius lilith lilioth. Cantus Bellax!" The magic song of war was cast, raising her speed and strength. She ran toward the naga, who had already fired at her.
She twisted past the arrow as turbulent wind blew about. Forcing more magic into her fist than normal, she threw a punch at the god.
He ducked it and leapt back, slashing at her with a sword of water.
Ignoring the explosion from her strike, the mage queen lunged forward and caught the god's wrist. She threw another punch at the naga, aiming for his nose.
A snake shot out from his sleeve and wrapped around her body, stopping her movements.
The water blade flew out to cleave her flesh.
She could feel it begin scraping the skin of her neck.
Burn! Flames erupted all over Anya's body as her magic flared, killing the snake and causing the naga to retreat carefully.
Her skin hissed as steam rose off of it. The girl charged again, faster than humanly possible.
The heretic god caught the punches.
The girl threw a knee into his abdomen.
He shoved the knee back, not allowing it to strike him. "Hh!"
The second her foot touched the ground, Anya drove the foot into the ground, maintaining pressure on her opponent. She drove her elbow into the side of the naga's torso.
The resulting explosion drove the two apart. The naga stumbled back. The magic had no effect, but the physical strike did.
The god-slayer charged again, not wanting to give the god a chance to retaliate. She heard the god mumble something. She couldn't hear it clearly or understand it.
"Nagapasha!" A glowing projectile flew at her.
Even powered by magic, Anya couldn't avoid an arrow at point blank range. It slammed into her chest, knocking her off of her feet. The projectile expanded and turned into a mountain of snakes that wrapped around her completely.
As the battle between god and devil queen unfolded, Tom watched carefully for a chance to distract the heretic god. He silently called up an afrit and waited for a chance, loading it into his gun.
The heretic god used a divine power and his queen was trapped in a cage of serpents.
It was too soon for him to intervene, as it would only distract the god momentarily.
As he raised his gun despite his better knowledge, he felt a spike of magic from beside him. Elspeth raised a staff and intoned quietly. "Open the nine locks, and come forth from the hoard of Lægjarn…"
His eyes widened. Was she really going to try to hurt a god to buy time? He knew that his thought was hypocritical, but he was concerned for his subordinate nonetheless, more shocked at the girl's uncharacteristic brazenness.
Anya strained against the binding snakes, but made little headway. Even generating flames resulted in no damage. If normal magic didn't work, then this was an Authority? To counter that, she activated her own Authority.
She felt a burst of heat and magical energy and a grunt of surprise from the naga as she struggled in the bindings.
Taking this chance, she drew her sword. "I follow the divine law of just war and revel in it. In this cause I fight!" Divine bronze pushed the snakes about her hand aside and appeared. She flicked her wrist, freeing her elbow. Using her new mobility, the Rakshasa Rani tore apart the serpents binding her.
She instinctively swung her arm upward before her vision was cleared of snakes and heard a gasp of pain.
As the snakes fell, she saw the naga had been pierced by her sword.
He slid backwards off of her blade. "Thou hast broken Nagapasha…" His eyes gave a sense of sharpness.
Water rose and formed into arrows.
They fired like bullets, shattering pavement.
Without even giving herself time to think about it, Anya cut them down as she tried to dodge as many as she could. She felt a few pierce her abdomen and shoulders, but she ignored it.
A light flashed and Anya tracked it perfectly as she continued to defend.
She twisted and cleaved the second arrow of light apart. "You need more than this to defeat me!"
More water rose despite the amount being used for arrows. It coalesced into a giant spear the size of a bus.
She bared her teeth. "You underestimate me, snake god!"
He stared at her, this time with hatred. "Come then, god-slayer. I shall tear thee apart."
She dashed, cutting the attacks down and living up to the designation of 'war goddess' that belonged to Bellona. Her arm lashed out, driven by super-human instinct.
The spear flew.
The divine bronze gladius rent the air apart with the force of its swing.
The spear suddenly flashed. "Nagastra!"
An explosion rocked the air and the three mages watching the fight shaded their eyes.
The car that they were using for cover was pierced by several shards of metal.
Upon closer inspection, they were made of shining bronze.
The mages couldn't help but be worried.
A voice rose above the dying explosion. "Just war is declared! Flee and hide before me! Be hunted down and razed to the earth! There is no safe haven from my wrath!"
Though her sword had broken, Anya still had the other god slaying spells from her authority. She revealed her torch. At this range, there was no escape. Gouts of divine flame wrapped around her opponent, igniting him and holding him in one place.
He screamed. "You! You are a member of [Steel]?!"
There is no mercy for the opponent. They will be crushed if they cannot match the power that defeated the goddess of war. Thinking this, Anya took no extra time in preparing her next weapon even as she rushed her opponent. "Know and fear me! I am bloodshed!"
The naga began to chant in a language that she didn't understand.
She attacked the captive god with flaming punches and kicks even as she chanted the spell words of her god slaying spear. "I am destruction! I am the very flames of the conflict of man!" A dozen punches to the head, throat, and solar plexus. "Fear me who has conquered the world! Fear me who has razed nations and sewn salt to their earth!"
The heretic god then exploded into a giant serpent. The Campione's godly flames failed to damage the serpent's skin. The giant beast was no longer restrained by the flames and whipped its tail.
Anya was hit and flew into a building, crashing through glass and drywall.
The storm intensified, wind whipping the buildings and making them sway. Bullet-rain fell, piercing through all under the heavens.
Anya shook her head to clear it and stumbled out of collapsed wall. She knew that she'd be very sore from that in due time, but didn't have time to complain. She ran to confront the rain wreathed serpent, chanting. "Fortis la tius lilith lilioth. Stoke the flames and raise the furnace's output. Flames of Vulcanus burn bright and become my sword. Sword of the Forging God!"
The burning long sword flared to life and, with the power of a god-slayer behind it, evaporated the rain that got close enough to touch her. It seemed that, the heat was a part of the spell more so than actual burning air, so Anya's resistance allowed her to ignore it. Normally, it would have boiled a normal mage that tried to cast it.
She charged with the blade.
The giant snake opened its mouth and thousands of snakes flew out, striking.
Anya felt herself focus even more, far exceeding human capacity. Her sword flared and she swung it in a burst of movement. She could easily identify every snake that came and cut all of them down. She resumed running. She focused and drew on the massive magic power inside of her. The spell words that she needed came to her easily. "I am the horror of war and conflict! I conquer all, wreathed in victory!"
The blade of flames grew until it extended for over 10 meters.
In a hissing, growling voice that was physically impossible, the god spoke. "Even as a member of [steel], thou willst not cause my defeat!" He lunged, fangs glistening.
"Urr-yaah!" Anya swung the blade and batted the massive snake's head away, leaving a scorch mark. She followed up with two more strikes, which only left more scorch marks and created heat haze and steam on the scales. The strikes weren't lethal, but they were effective, knocking the snake's head away.
"-!" The god struck again, much faster than before.
Anya leapt up and swung down with all of her strength.
The snake god's head slammed into the pavement, cracking it.
"Nagastra!"
Anya forgot the rain because of her new weapon. That was a fatal mistake. One of the bullets of rain flew off and, empowered by the god's Authority, came at her chest. This time, she tracked it completely as the bullet morphed into a brilliant snake made of whirling winds and rain. She realized, with horror, that she couldn't be able to dodge it at this point. She swung her sword at the attack, hoping desperately to deflect it somehow.
She was engulfed by an explosion. "Aaah!"
She fell onto her back and her ears rang like church bells. Her vision blurred.
Anya, empty-handed, stared up at the god looming over her.
It reared back to strike.
She could barely move any part of her body and her head ached. Was her brain damaged from the spell being forcibly broken? Her ears rang. She lowered her head and mumbled. "You've heard me, so I'll say it again." She didn't know who she was talking to. Was it Victoria? Fortuna? "I am destruction. I am the very flames of the conflict of man."
"Dost thou wish to speak thine last words?" The voice seemed a bit compassionate, but dull and disappointed.
"Fear me who has conquered the world. Fear me who has razed nation and sewn salt to their earth."
"I will take this as a rejection of my offer. Falling prey to madness as you gaze upon death is shameful, Rakshasa Rani."
"Fall before me." Anya's voice rose to a shout in a crescendo. "Be destroyed!"
Finally understanding what she was doing, the snake struck.
The clouds and rain caught fire.
A bang went off.
Just as the snake's jaws were about to close, a burning winged man held the jaws open. Flames writhed all over his body, which was built like that of a body builder. It was an afrit.
Anya almost turned to Tom, but held back on that. If she looked away, she would lose her new-found advantage. She called the flames in the sky down into her hand and they twisted into a spear.
The snake clenched down and the afrit was dispelled with a piercing scream. Its mouth opened again and myriad snakes flew out again. Anya twirled the spear and burned them all away as she ran to the snake god.
"Nagastra!" A viper glowed and flew at her, transforming into a deadly projectile in mid-air. It raced through the rain with a whisper of lightning.
Anya couldn't risk destroying the spear and ducked, making flame come out of her foot, propelling her like a rocket, forcing the projectile to miss and curve back around, giving chase.
The serpent stared as the god-slayer leapt into his gaping mouth. The divine arrow followed her in.
Anya threw the spear directly upward into the god's brain. Next, she activated the armor in her authority, the last god-slaying spell. The viper-turned-arrow slammed into her back right after the armor appeared.
Two explosions rocked Cumhuriyet Meydani.
Anya lay on the ground, but forced herself to stand, weighed down by lorica segmentata, manica, and greaves. Using the armor of her Authority to block the explosion of both her spear and the opposing god's Authority had been a gamble, but it seemed to have paid off. She felt the magic defenses shudder and shatter. Her Authority was now empty.
The smoke cleared. Slowly dissolving into nothingness, fragments of the snake god's body lay before her, coated in flame-blackened blood. Even defeated and dying, his remaining eye was full of hatred. "I see. Thine is not the power of [steel] thou hast usurped the power of the usurper, the foreign conqueror goddess that came to these lands like myself. The shame of being defeated by the power of that god-slaying goddess, knoweth no bounds. Thou shalt be repaid this indignity in due time, either by my return or in Naraka."
Anya felt something click into place. It felt like a weight had settled in the back of her skull. She'd received a new Authority from the naga. She'd have to experiment with new combat options. She relaxed and [Regalia of the War Goddess] deactivated.
It suddenly came to her mind. Were her companions alright?! The fight had been fairly destructive. She surveyed the area. The ground was cracked and melted in areas. All of the cars were totally wrecked and any bystanders seemed to have been driven off by the heavy rain, which soaked the damaged buildings, probably causing more property damage.
She turned and saw that the three mages were alright. Stephen seemed shocked at the fight and Elspeth was shaking slightly. Her right arm hung limply. Tom rushed to her. He pulled off his coat and wrapped it around her.
Anya looked at her clothing and saw that it was mostly shredded. She tried to calm her breathing, which was still accelerated from the fight.
"Anya, you need to get treated for these wounds." He spoke clearly.
"Wounds?" She looked down at her body and frowned. She was covered in puncture wounds from all of the arrows that she'd failed to block. She also had scrapes and cuts from being knocked into a building. "Huh."
Pain lanced into her brain and she dropped to the ground in a sitting position. She couldn't move her body at all. How did she fail to notice the gaping holes? She didn't make a noise aside form pained breath. Oddly, her only thoughts were on the god that she killed. She couldn't forget the form of the Nagastra. The twisting whirling wind and water made her think of storms. Was a naga, a god of snakes and water also a god of storms? Then what was the Nagastra really?
She really needed a vacation. It felt like all she did was blow things up lately.
Suddenly, Anya tensed. She forced herself to turn her head and saw a young girl in ancient Greek attire. Her eyes were dark, beyond the dark brown that most people called 'black'. They were like the dead of night, trapped in pure obsidian. The girl's eyes did not shine, as if pulling in all of the light around her. Something about her eyes gave the impression of an owl's stare. Her hair was short, but shone like spun-silver.
The goddess, for she could have been nothing else, spoke. "Ah , one expected to meet with young Enyo, but instead one hath found the youngest god-slayer, using the power of raging Bellona. One is not sure whether to offer accolades for thy slaying of that god-eater, or spite for being one's mortal enemy."
Anya noticed that her companions didn't even register to the goddess's attention. "Sorry to disappoint you. I'm Anna Kokolova. Who are you?"
"One is Athena, goddess of war and wisdom. Only once before has one had discourse with a god-slayer in such a manner. Dost thou wish to fight?"
"Ah, no, I'd rather not."
"Such an answer was expected." The goddess seemed a bit disappointed, though she outwardly looked the same.
"Well, it wouldn't make sense to fight you right after I've fought another god, so I don't want to."
"Then in that case, one shall show leniency for thy strike against the god-eater. Should we again be met, there shall not be mercy." In a surprising show of indifference, the goddess vanished.
Yes, Anya definitely needed a vacation.