I felt a bit more comfortable on this chapter than the last, considering this is just a big fight, so it was a bit simpler. Anyway, Kagutsuchi is back for another round with Matt! And he's got a few more tricks up his sleeve than just the dragon form. So get ready for a wild chapter!

By the way, thanks for the reviews last chapter! I really appreciate them. Good to see you back Viper!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters (except the OC's) Percy Jackson & The Olympians, Heroes of Olympus, or Trials of Apollo. All of that belongs to Rick Riordan.

18. Dragon Slaying Isn't Always Fun

Matt

First step when fighting a bigger opponent; Use their weight against them.

Now…that would work in a normal situation. Two mortals in a street fight, maybe. But this isn't a street fight, and we're not mortals.

So the rules sort of go out of the window. Especially when you're dealing with angry, mindless gods. And I'm in the same ballpark. My power's far higher than before, and I need to be extra careful or this entire planet's gonna blow up from a single punch.

You know how the saying goes. With great power comes great responsibility. And boy is it a big responsibility to learn aura control and dispersion. Not easy, either. It sort of makes me wish there was some force dedicated to blocking stray aura blasts from hitting land or splitting the atmosphere, that way the fighters didn't have to worry about it.

But that doesn't exist. And if I'm being honest, it's a good thing to be disciplined in that regard. It's simple checks and balances. You don't get to have all this power without some risk and annoyances.

But anyway…where was I? Oh right, Kagutsuchi. He's dangerous.

I managed to get my hand burnt to a near crisp, but in doing so, I blocked off that uncontrollable fire from escaping his mouth. That was a real problem, especially with how strong he is. Given ten seconds, it could incinerate me, and even if not, he could use it as a distraction to land a hard blow.

Well, maybe scratch that last part. I don't think Kagutsuchi is smart enough or in the right mindset to come up with strategy. But still, it can incinerate me. Bad stuff all around.

I kept my distance long enough to heal my hand with Viribus, then sheathed it back to a necklace. Kagutsuchi stood with his head ducked and shoulders squared, like a bull, waiting for me to strike.

Playing the patient game? Alright.

I dove at him, sparking a violent reaction. Kagutsuchi threw his body back and slammed his fists forward, prompting my mirror counter.

Our fists met perfectly in between us, knuckle on knuckle. His raw strength wasn't a joke at all, he pushed against me with a force akin to Zane, both times I fought him. It was worse than overwhelming, because at least then you know the outcome immediately. With Zane though, and now, neither side could gain the edge.

My feet were planted wide, posture straight, arms bent at just the right angle. Yet when I pressed against him, he didn't move.

Kagutsuchi's face was scrunched with effort, his eyebrows tight in fury. I felt a painful wave course through my arms as he pushed down on me, my legs buckling. Okay, maybe I was wrong about us being completely equal. I mean, we were pretty close, but he had a size advantage. And when the power difference is this close, normal leverages and advantages start to come into play.

So maybe using their weight against them will work. Going back to my first point.

And the same goes for Kagutsuchi. He can use his weight against me, as he's doing now. It's harder to resist an upward force than a force coming from middle ground.

I won't win this struggle. I need to find a way out of here now.

So I switched grips. I relaxed my fists and grabbed onto his, pulling down on his momentum so we were eye level.

Here goes nothing. I thought.

I slammed my forehead into his as hard as I could. It had an effect, his eyes were shut tight and he recoiled back. But it wasn't enough, so I pulled him down again and repeated the attack.

It stung, but it was a good attack from this position. I started coming up with my next move, thinking of going for a knee to the chin then following up by jumping over his head, maybe coming from behind-

Until he headbutted me.

He returned to sender one hundred times over. Kagutsuchi lifted his head up and absolutely rammed my skull in, sending me into the ground ten feet. Pain far worse than before throbbed up and down my head, my neck, and even my shoulders. It was like he vibrated my entire skeletal structure, knocking bones out of place.

I laid in the crater maybe all of two seconds before Kagutsuchi dug in and wrapped his fingers around the collar of my chestplate, yanking me out and holding me above his head.

Tilting my weight, I hoisted my knees up and planted my boots right in his nose…feeling his face stay in its spot.

Yikes.

Maybe Kagutsuchi isn't so dumb, because he knows, just like I know, that my body's in a horrible position. He took advantage of the horizontal spot I'd put myself in, lifting me up and slamming me down on his kneecap, hitting me right in the center of my spine.

A cry of pain escaped my mouth, unable to hold it back. "AGH!"

Now I had stimulants of agony running up and down, all over. From the headbutt and now the knee, that pretty much covered my upper and lower half.

He finished by switching grips to my ankles, spinning me around, and tossing me in the air. With my vision blurry, I couldn't really see where I was going, or how high I even went. Just the green of the grass below, so at least I hadn't been sent in the water.

I windmilled my arm to change momentum, allowing me to somersault and land on my heels, skidding back. Alright I'm down, where's this guy at?

Oh shit…he's right in front of me. Running on all fours, bounding like a wild animal.

For a second, I froze solid, just watching him zig zag, coming at me like a lightspeed bear. If I didn't know he was unpredictable before, I sure do now. I honestly don't know what to do with that.

But if I had to guess…he's gonna attempt a dive and tackle me. Perfect opening for a chin shot.

And he did just that. Hm, unpredictable, sometimes predictable. Interesting. Kagutsuchi leapt forward about twenty feet away, straight towards me like a spear. I slid my foot back, lining up a shot. Judging by the speed he's going, I should knock him into next week about…now.

BOOM!

I introduced my fist to his chin. This hit was enough to flip him in the air, but not much more than that. He landed on his feet like a cat and just came back for more.

Or at least I thought he would. Instead of pouncing, he puffed his chest out and forced my makeshift biter mask off his face, using an all-out blast of fire.

It tore through my aura mask and erupted into the open, inches away from hitting me if I hadn't teleported.

That reaction time came with pure luck. I reappeared behind Kagutsuchi, watching for half a second just how large and destructive that fire is. It spans to the size of a skyscraper in width, and stretches as long as the horizon, probably able to reach the other side of the world if left unattended.

I ran forward and grabbed his hair, which wasn't hard, since it's so wild and long. I probably could've done it blindfolded.

Anyway, I pulled down as hard as I could, diverting the path of the fire towards the sky. Kagutsuchi let out a groan from his belly at the resistance, and tried to swat me away by flailing his arms behind him. Luckily for me, his shoulders are so wide that he can't reach the sweet spot I found right in front of his spine. I can sit here all day.

Well actually…I can't. I need to do something at some point. Even if he's not the sharpest knife in the drawer, he'll figure out soon enough a way to squish me or break free from my hair grab.

So that meant I didn't have long to stop that fire. And you might be wondering, why stop the fire in the first place? Shouldn't you worry about you know…beating him up first?

Don't get me wrong, that's heavy on my mind. But that fire's enough to burn me, which means it's hot enough to melt the entire world with ease. And I can't let that happen. If innocent lives are at risk, in whatever way, I need to attack the source. That's my top priority.

I kept one hand wrapped around a tuft of his hair, while the other snaked it's way around his chin to clamp over his mouth. Again, the fire's heat immediately burnt my skin, making a sizzling noise and sending waves of freezing chills down my arm. And yep, I said freezing chills. It's so hot that it feels cold.

Channeling every bit of my aura down to my hand, I formed a bar of aura and attached it to his mouth, effectively stopping the fire spout again. It really is like a spout. Seriously. I mean, how does he even live with that? That's gotta be hurting him as much as it does me whenever it hits.

Another horrible thought occurred to me. What if that fire doesn't stop when he dies? Say he gets stabbed in the chest or something, dies, and then the fire keeps coming out of his mouth. Would decapitation stop it? Nah, probably not. The only sure solution would be the cannon, more than likely.

So that's what I'm going for. A cannon.

But I'm not getting anywhere in this state. I'm going to have to bust out the bolt to boost me.

I placed the new mask on his face and went to retract my hand. But before I could get an inch away, he reached up and grabbed it, squeezing so tight that I could feel my bones crunching like a glowstick.

My mouth opened, a loud, long cry of pain came out as he twisted his hand, breaking my wrist in half. Clean and quick, but it hurt like hell, and even more so when he made me his personal backpack by leaning forward and throwing me over his head.

I landed, feet facing away from both of us, head even with his for just a second. Kagutsuchi spun around and stomped on my gut, pinning me down to the ground, not allowing me to squirm or even budge.

He began to assault my vulnerability with wild haymakers, the first two hitting my face, swelling them upon near impact. After two doses of pain, I wised up a bit and brought up my forearms.

His onslaught knew no limits. He continued bashing my arms with his knuckles for Olympus knows how long. Eventually, both limbs got numb from the beating. I raced through my mental arsenal for a counter.

But it wouldn't stop. Gods have infinite stamina, so Kagutsuchi can do this literally all day. And while none of his strikes were precise or skillful, even a blind squirrel finds a nut once. And when he did, it hurt. Bad. His strength more than makes up for lack of skill.

If I can just outlast this for a few more seconds, I can come up with a strategy. Come on, Matt, think. What can you do right now?

First, tools. What do I have?

Weapons. Viribus and the Bolt. Both are gonna have to be activated, which leaves me wide open for a direct attack. That's no good.

What else? I have...my legs.

Kagutsuchi's pinning me down by my stomach, with only one of his feet. I can use my legs to knock him off balance and bring him closer...

I began to apply my strategy. Picking my legs off the ground and bending them so I could kick Kagutsuchi in the crook of his far knee. It was successful in bending it and knocking him down to ground.

But he still remained on top. The next idea came quickly when I saw how close his neck was to me, just in reach of my legs.

What I did next borderlined on Jiu Jitsu. Using the strength of my core, I hoisted my legs high enough above his shoulders to bend them around his face, latching my shins onto his forehead.

I pressed and arched my back with all I had just to break his posture, but it had little effect. He was built like a Heavenly Diamond cyborg. Sturdy and unbreakable it seemed.

But at least it hindered his eyesight, which in turn hindered the already weak accuracy of his punches. He caught on to this and just settled for grabbing my forearms and squeezing them.

Him squeezing my broken wrist brought out another cry from my throat. The pain was amplified by a hundred then, a huge, unbearable wave shooting through my nervous system. It almost broke my willpower.

But thankfully, I'm good at taking pain and morphing it to anger induced adrenaline. The agony faded away, replaced my a burst of energy. My wounded, high pitched cry turned into a low, furious growl.

I jerked my head to meet his own wrist. What I did next was really unorthodox and foreign to me, but it was the first thing that popped in mind.

I bit him.

Not clamping down or nibbling, either. I opened my mouth wide and sunk my teeth right into his skin, pushing down with all of my jaw power.

Kagutsuchi grunted and tightened his grip, knocking my bone out of place even more. It made my growl louder, now resembling a lion.

I writhed and whipped my head around, like an attack dog does when biting an intruder. I heard and felt the skin tear off, the warmth of his Ichor flooding my mouth.

The pain made Kagutsuchi squeeze as hard as he could and fully tear my arm off. And I don't mean that as an exaggeration. He literally pulled so hard that my skin tore easily, separating muscle tissue, fat, the whole nine yards, severing my arm from the elbow down.

His scream was muffled due to the aura mask, but mine wasn't. I'd rarely felt such pain. This might even take the top spot. The feeling was indescribable.

"AGHHHHHH! FUCK!"

My first thought was to teleport and heal with Viribus. Otherwise, I'd die of blood loss. But every time I tried to concentrate, the waves of shock hit me, knocking me completely out of focus. Vision fading to black, back and forth, I wasn't sure if I'd be awake in the next minute.

Throughout this entire debacle, I hadn't really felt afraid. Maybe afraid that someone else would get hurt, but never for my own safety. Now though, a hint of fear crept through my neck and into my being. If I pass out...I'm as good as dead. Kagutsuchi can have his way with me, and I won't be able to defend against him.

It would've been a hell of a lot easier to get out if he took his knee off my belly, but me biting his arm wasn't enough. In fact, it just pissed him off even more. He threw my severed arm on the ground, which by the way, looking at your own arm separated from your body is...really freaky. I'm not going to lie, I felt vomit rising in my mouth at the sight.

He pushed his weight against me and aimed the mask at my face. I watched as my makeshift mask heated up from the fire, melting away fast.

Not thinking, I started to lift my right arm to push his head away, only to be reminded that it's not there anymore. The action caused more blood to spurt out of the stump. Again, vomit inducing. I switched to the other arm and just in time, grabbed his neck to divert the fire.

It burst through right as I pushed his head, killing the aura mask and exploding against the ground. The fire burned through the grass and dirt easily, sinking all the way down to bedrock. Its heat seared against my skin, a different kind of pain than the arm, and that's just being near it, not even in direct contact.

I gained a little bit of my energy back when the worry returned. The worry of others getting hurt. If Kagutsuchi's fire is aimed anywhere but me...someone could be in danger. We're talking world destruction here in just a few seconds.

Not to mention I'm the one diverting his attack. It's my responsibility.

Grabbing onto his hair again, I yanked his aim away from the ground and towards my face, creating an invisible barrier of telekinesis between us to keep the fire from melting my skin away. It was hot enough on my palm. If it hit my face, I'd be out for the count indefinitely.

But I knew the barrier wouldn't hold up forever. His fire was stronger than such a thing. Again, I was forced to think of a way out of this crazy predicament.

My eyes fell to my severed arm and trailed down to my watch. The one containing the Master Bolt. That's right! I always wear it on my right arm.

Before my training with Zeus, I would've freaked out over potentially losing the watch. But after learning telekinesis, I had nothing to fear. In fact, a brilliant idea came to me.

Using telekinesis simultaneously in line with the barrier, I wrapped my mental force around the watch and shimmied it off my wrist, into the open air. With a tug, it flew over to me, and I managed to catch it with my left hand.

Yes! I thought. Now I can actually turn the tables in my favor and get this psycho off of me.

I squeezed the watch and brushed my aura against the bolt's, igniting both the physical and spiritual connection I had with it. Upon my activation, it burst forth from the glass and materialized into the beast I loved. A coiling, long zig zag of pure energy, bright like a blue sun.

Its light was so intense and abrupt it actually made Kagutsuchi flinch, and look at it, confused that such a thing had entered the fray.

He has no idea what's about to hit him. Or well, never mind. He actually has some idea, since I used it on his dragon form earlier. But this will be different.

I gripped it tight and stabbed down on his shoulder. The bolt sunk easily into his socket. I yanked it out as quick as I shoved it in, ichor following and clinging to the weapon like a dipped paintbrush.

This attack was finally enough to get Kagutsuchi off me a little. His knee relaxed and his body lurched upward in response to the pain. I took advantage and gathered the bolt's aura into my own, entering the advanced state that amplified my power a gajillion times.

The kick I delivered to his chest sent him soaring backwards, hitting the ground and ragdolling into a belly down position.

It felt good to finally stand up and breathe a little. However with each breath came a wave of unbearable pain everywhere. Kagutsuchi's hits had done a real number on me, and the amount of blood I've lost from the arm wound was no joke. I needed to heal up fast or it wouldn't matter if I had the bolt or not.

I dematerialized the bolt for a second to unsheathe Viribus and hold it. Coupling that with summoning my arm back to me, I reattached it by placing it where it needed to go and tapping Viribus to the gap in the skin. In seconds, it worked like glue, conjoining the separated pieces and producing more blood like nothing even happened.

I sighed at the sensation. The pain was gone.

And now I had two hands again. Two hands for two weapons.

Materializing the bolt again, I held it in my right hand. I'm right-handed anyway, so if I throw the Bolt, it'll be a far more accurate shot from there. Whereas with Viribus, I can use it in either hand. Doesn't really matter.

Most of my being has evolved a little. I've always had a sense for justice and protecting those that can't protect themselves. It's grown stronger over the years, which is a good thing. But inside of me, there's also this tiny part of my psyche that enjoys a good fight. Maybe it's just part of being a man, or maybe it's just this fight in particular, and how it's become incredibly primal, brutal, and animalistic...I can't help but feel a shred of respect for Kagutsuchi, and general excitement.

As long as I keep justice and protection at the top of my mind, then I don't think I should be ashamed of feeling such a way. There's just this vibe of giving it all in battle and testing your abilities against an opponent that's pleasing. Kind of like how I sort of respect Atlas. Don't get me wrong, he's an evil, bloodthirsty monster. But boy could he fight. Plus, the way he told Ouranos off for trying to boss him around will never fail to make me smile.

I moved my head to the side back and forth, popping the air bubbles in my neck. "Alright...let's kick this up."

Jerking my arm forward, I threw the bolt at Kagutsuchi, who just now managed to get to his feet. I anticipated his reaction time to be a little stiff, but to my surprise, he saw the bolt coming. When he caught sight, he caught it in between his hands, stopping it from impaling his chest.

Okay, he may have blocked attack one, but I've still got something else to throw.

I threw Viribus at his head, and it rang true, bonking him in a rather cartoonish manner. He dropped the bolt, and it fell normally with gravity like a tin can. I stopped it inches from the ground with my mind and brought it back up to meet Viribus. Since my training with the bolt, it knows my intentions way better, so when I wanted it to mold itself around Viribus like a cage, it did so.

Shifting from a bolt to just pure electricity, it created a blue cage around Viribus. I had to take a second to just admire how cool it looked, since I'd never fused the two together before.

Then I got over it. With another push of will, I forced 'ViriBolt' to shoot at Kagutsuchi's face.

There was a burst of blue and a shift in Kagutsuchi's stance. It hit him and knocked him off balance, just like I'd hoped.

The next move appeared in my mind. Follow up with a barrage, keep him disoriented, then go for the finisher.

My body obeyed my mind, moving into action. I separated ViriBolt back to normal, and back to my hands before they could hit the ground, but I never dispersed them. Instead, I wielded them both as handheld weapons, which is foreign for the Bolt, since I mostly throw it. But it can be used in the same way as a sword too, it just takes better aura control to handle the stray energy. Luckily, I'm equipped for such a challenge now.

I jumped after him, closing our distance with ease. I met Kagutsuchi as he was falling backwards, and landed in front of him. That's when my onslaught began.

Returning the favor, I unleashed on him for a solid ten seconds. Pure, unadulterated blows dealt with all my anger and adrenaline built up from the pain. Not just that, but drawing from the deep fire inside me that's always existed. Like I said before, the fire of justice and protection. As corny as that sounds, it's true.

But within that same fire, lies an ember of enjoyment. My mind screamed-

Here we go! Left! Right! To the chest!

I delivered a devastating punch to the jaw with the bolt hand, then a smack to the other side with Viribus, pushing his head left and right. Then I yanked my arm diagonally, the extension of the bolt met his forehead and left a thin cut down to his jaw, golden ichor leaking out in trails.

As good as that felt, Kagutsuchi's dizziness didn't last for long. I went for an uppercut with Viribus right for the chin, but he caught it in his hand.

Keep in mind, this entire time I had kept up the barrier to block his fire, so he was half-blind in seeing me. With an iron grip on Viribus and me still attached to it, he flung me around and slammed me on the ground, then jerked upward, launching me into the sky.

I flew up high above the ground, and Kagutsuchi followed, not using flight, but just a powerful jump. I must've soared a thousand feet in the air, and he caught up to me like it was nothing, delivering a hard, wrenching punch to my front that only sent me higher.

With the wind knocked out of me, and Kagutsuchi gone from my view, I got a bad feeling in my gut, other than the pain from the blow he dealt. My instinct's were telling me to get out of there now, or else I'm about to get burned.

Literally. I spun my head and shoulders around quickly to see Kagutsuchi above me, somehow. He hadn't displayed teleportation or flight abilities throughout this entire fight, but he had to get up there and remain somehow, so I guess he had a few tricks up his sleeve that I didn't know about.

My lost concentration allowed him to break through my invisible barrier, freeing the fire again. It's massive orange width hid his frame from view, getting bigger and bigger the closer it got. My first thought was to teleport behind him and give him a taste of his own medicine. Perhaps the cannon I'd already planned.

But then, luckily, the filter in my brain began to argue. That blast is enough to destroy the planet, and you're the only person here that can block it.

I sighed, "Shit."

Just before the blast hit me, I created another barrier with my mind, spreading out to match the width of the fire. It hit me with just enough force to send me flying towards the ground. Slower than when I came up here, but rapid enough to have me worrying about my sturdiness in holding this thing.

I can't deflect it. That's for sure. A continuous blast like this can't just be redirected, nor dispersed, since it literally comes from his freaking body. So...what can I do?

Maybe I don't have to redirect it or disperse it completely. But...I could disperse it temporarily and regain some footing.

I spun the Bolt around to a throwing grip, dropped the barrier, and slung that thing as hard as I could.

It pierced through his fire with ease, ascending through the middle and all the way to the top, where it smacked Kagutsuchi in the face.

For a frame of a second, I was able to admire the sight of the fire rings pushed away by the Bolt, creating this tornado-like structure that echoed across the clouds, painting them in tiny strokes of orange. Then at the apex, this firework display of blue that erupted from Kagutsuchi's face eating the Bolt.

But from what I could see. No ichor. He must've been able to block most of the impact, but the force was still there.

I capitalized on my chance to attack again. Relocating my aura fragments like Zeus taught me, I vanished from below to above, pulling the Bolt back to me and coming down on Kagutsuchi's head with Viribus.

He recoiled a bit, but turned around and swatted at me with his hand, to which I ducked back, surprised at his grit.

"Man, you're really tough..."

He did something that surprised me. The fire once again started to come out of his mouth, but Kagutsuchi sucked it back in his mouth, and closed it, trapping it.

I reared my head back, confused. So he can actually somewhat control it? Then why...

But looking closer, for the instant that he stood still in the air, I saw how much pain he was in. The skin around his face was bright red from the undertone of the heat, water building in his eyes. When I looked at his mouth, I expected to see something resembling the Predator's deformed mouth, but no, it was completely normal.

My line of vision trailed down to his feet, and that's where I discovered how he'd been floating in the air and flying around. Below the soles of his boots, sat two small propellers of fire, pulsing up and down, the condensed force enough to make him hover.

I found it strange that he had to do such a thing, considering he's a god, and an incredibly powerful one at that. A part of my brain thought back to the scarce information Asuka- or well, Amaterasu gave us back at Camp about him, and I remembered her saying that he burned his mother, Izanami, right at birth. That and an enraged Izanagi cutting him to pieces for the accident, creating eight gods from his split.

Not sure about those eight gods, or how Kagutsuchi's even standing in front of me, but that tiny piece of info sort of lets me know why he's as wild as he is. If he accidentally burned Izanami at birth, and then Izanagi immediately cut him up...then that means I'm the first person he's really fought, ever.

Wow.

The fact that he's doing this well is really impressive. Sure, maybe it has everything to do with raw power and durability, which are off the charts, but there's a shred of surprising adaptability behind all that.

He pressed forward with his fire. I saw his fist coming at me when his shoulder flinched, and I instinctively dodged, avoiding it. He tried to hit me again on the opposite side, and I moved. Rinse, repeat.

I clocked him in the nose with a clean jab, angering him. He growled, steam emitted out of his nostrils from the pressure. I could practically see the meter of anger rising from just the sight of me.

He clasped his hands together and tried to knock my head into my stomach, but I blocked with the bolt hand. His midsection wide open, I stabbed him with the blunt end of Viribus, doubling him over and knocking him straight forward.

I flexed my energy and reappeared right in his middle, planting my fist in the same spot as the stab. Kagutsuchi's mouth opened a fraction, letting some fire escape. But not much, because he clamped it up right after. Though I'm not sure why. That's his best bet at killing me and keeping me away from him, unless...he wants to see.

Makes sense. That fire must be blocking his view from getting clear shots in. He must not want to only rely on that.

In an attempt to knock me back, he snapped his knee and outstretched his boot to kick me. I was fast enough to react, but his reach was too vast, it caught me before I could block it.

However, my reaction time allowed me to grab onto his foot, stopping myself from going into the neighboring continent. I pulled myself back into the zone and punched his chin.

The smirk on my face melted when he copied me, almost cheekily and self-aware. To keep himself from flying up, he latched onto my arm, pulled himself down, and used his other fist to crack my jaw in half.

An enormous hit. Way harder than my uppercut. I can't hold on. The world turns into a mesh of unrecognizable colors around me as I spin in all directions, tumbling towards Earth.

Finally, when the ground becomes visible below me, I'm already crashing into it feet first. The grass and dirt tremble, a crater deepens, and I stare up into the clouds, expecting exactly what I saw.

Kagutsuchi began to expand his fire attack. Balls of fire shot out of every pore on his body, creating a hail of giant flaming asteroids, each one the size of an elephant, coming down on me fast.

They filled up the sky, hundreds of them, each one capable of blowing the island to smithereens, then the next wiping Japan itself off the map. I couldn't deal with them all by myself, nor with the speed I possess. They're stretching too far.

So I decided to think smarter, not harder. If he wanted to play this game, then I'd counter with my own move. I took the Bolt and shoved it in the ground, half of it's length buried in the dirt, lightning spread throughout the area, digging holes and sparking up from several places. It was like my own little field of electricity.

With my aura and the Bolt's now mixed, we could work together in perfect unison. Meaning whatever I thought to do, it would act.

Right now, I wanted an equal amount of power to combat Kagutsuchi's destruction, and that's exactly what I got. The lightning amplified in size, uprooting the entire land of grass and peeling back it's dirt skin to unveil rock underneath. Grover and the Satyrs wouldn't be too happy with that, but hey, at least it wasn't destroying the planet. With as much power that the Bolt has, I'll take this as a win.

The lightning platform shot out bolts like cannonballs, the overwhelming numbers being matched in almost an instant. For every ball of fire, a lightning bolt met it and destroyed it. I watched as the clash happened, each explosion like a nuclear bomb, heating up the sky.

Soon, all of Kagutsuchi's fireballs were gone, and my lightning remained. I waited patiently for the next volley to come around, when I saw what he was really doing.

Building up a condensed charge to kill me.

I see, so the hail of fire was a semi-distraction. Fine. I can deal with this too.

Standing up straight, I summoned the Bolt's power back into its source and sheathed both it and Viribus back into their respective jewelry items. If I'm gonna stop this next attack...I'll need both hands and some concentration to do it.

I placed my palms above me, pointed towards the sky, and began to charge up the cannon. Correction, the upgraded cannon.

First, I gathered the energy within myself, and the world around me, as I always do. Then I reached out to Kagutsuchi's aura, and took a chunk of it as well, not surprised that he didn't resist. And on top of that, I did as Zeus taught me, placing my aura out beside me to create friction in the air.

I hadn't tried this technique yet in an actual fight, so I was a bit nervous. But I knew that if I just stayed calm and did everything the way I remembered, I'd be okay. Nothing to worry about.

I forced the disks of energy to spin around. The force created two equal sized rifts almost instantly, offering a peek into void dimensions.

The pressure the portals put on me hadn't eased in the time I left Zeus's training room. It felt the same. Incredibly strong and a struggle to keep open, but I drew as much chaotic energy as I could and added it to my cannon.

By that time, a few seconds had passed, and Kagutsuchi let his giant fire beam fly. I knew, because I could sense the massive energy approaching me fast, much faster than you'd expect it to move.

Knowing my time was up, I released my resistance on the portals and let them close up. I didn't have time to gauge whether my cannon would be strong enough or not, so I just silently hoped it was, and let it go.

All of the pent-up energy flew out in front of me and met Kagutsuchi's blast halfway. The two beams met in a bright burst of orange and red, creating a shockwave that outspread and surpassed the width of the entire country, more than likely venturing off into space somewhere.

I hardly paid attention to that, because I underestimated the power behind the attack. I figured I would have the upper hand, considering I took a chunk of his energy to help create my cannon, but Kagutsuchi's aura regeneration might be the best I've ever seen. Gods have infinite stamina, that's true, and even trying to steal their aura turns out to be a double edged sword. You have a crazy amount of energy to draw from, but it's not gonna do much to make them weaker. It'll only strengthen your attack.

But most of the time, it at least temporarily stifles them. Not him though. I could've stolen twice as much energy, and he would've regained it back like nothing happened. He was truly a freaking machine. A force to be reckoned with. I couldn't believe Tsukuyomi had the guts to boss him around, or even revive him in the first place. I would think he'd be afraid of pissing off such a monster, or taking the chance that he'd listen to him.

Tartarus is still the most powerful guy we've ever faced. But I will say, Kagutsuchi's physical strength surpasses any opponent I've stood against so far. If he had the experience and intellect Tartarus had...he'd give him a serious run for his money. In fact, if I hadn't trained with Zeus, there wouldn't be a chance in hell for me to stop this guy. Grandfather himself would have to do it.

Of all times, I shouldn't be wondering, not in the middle of a huge struggle like this, but why exactly would he work for Tsukuyomi? It's a real shame he doesn't have the right mindset. This power could be used for good, and Kagutsuchi doesn't seem like the type to be born a bad egg.

But I remembered, the only thing he's ever experienced is rejection and hatred. He was born, he caused an accident, and then his father cut him up. That's his entire life experience. No wonder he acted so wild. In fact, it makes perfect sense why he'd work for Tsukuyomi. I couldn't imagine being dead for all those years, then the first thing you see after being revived is someone that doesn't kill you, and actually wants to work with you. I'd probably go for it too, even if I didn't know what was happening.

In that moment...I felt pity for the big guy.

We both pushed with all we had against each other, beam against beam, not one gaining an inch. The incredible force of both attacks blew wind in all directions, shaking the sea and trees miles away.

I shouldn't have been this curious, or felt this way so strongly, but something compelled me to reach inside Kagutsuchi to sense his emotions. When I did, I nearly jumped and jeopardized my entire position from what I felt.

The sheer intensity of his hatred for everything around him shocked me. Not because I didn't understand where it was coming from, but just how strong it was. The desire to just burn the world that never wanted him, to kill everything and himself...it surged in waves that vibrated my core. Every time I felt an emotion within someone else, it never shook me this much. It was like feeling the Bolt's aura for the first time and being stunned by its size.

And that was all that resided there in his heart. No room for kindness or compassion, because it was never shown to him. He had no idea what that concept even was.

What a horrible existence. Something about that makes me so sad. Not even a chance to learn or grow, just cut off for something he couldn't help.

Reading his emotions led to reading his mind. My aura shifted from his heart to his brain, and in my own, I could see his thoughts spread out like a projector. There was only one scene, and it kept replaying over and over in an aching loop.

I saw a baby sitting on the shores of a beach, wild waves crashing against the rocks in the background. It was clearly the newborn Kagutsuchi, and like most gods when their born, they aren't unaware or helpless, that was reflected here. Kagutsuchi sat straight on the sand, innocent eyes wide open, fire coming off of his skin casually, and he didn't even seem to notice.

He couldn't control it. That's why he was able to burn Izanami, it just happened, probably because he got scared from leaving his mother's womb. I could imagine with each emotion a normal baby feels, a blast of fire escapes his skin and mouth. I had no idea why he was born like that, unable to control his fire at all. Maybe it was a matter of training, something that could be honed.

Either way, it outlined his entire body and head, waving back and forth calmly like candle fire. Little Kagutsuchi didn't even mind it, hardly noticing. He instead kept his eyes on the world around him, curiously staring at the water.

Izanami was nowhere in sight, but Izanagi was. I'd never seen him before, but with the way he stalked towards the baby, I could only guess what was about to happen.

Izanagi himself looked like a hardened samurai warrior. Short gray goatee, a mustache spiking out on both sides, with wrinkles on his tan face, tightened from anger. His eyes were steeled with hatred.

Down in his hand, sat the death sword. The very same one Tsukuyomi held. Black like the night sky, and exuding this weird, eerie black smoke of an aura that even gave me chills now, just from the memory.

He stopped before his son and glared at him. Kagutsuchi looked up at him, and although he was just a child, it seemed to register what was about to happen.

It was hard to watch. The baby's eyes widened with fear, and Izanagi held no remorse or hesitation. He swung down the katana mercilessly.

I pulled myself away from his thoughts, knowing the same thing would pop up again. When I pressed against his attack with my cannon, I noticed it had gotten a great deal weaker, much more so than before, where we were equally struggling against each other.

Call it a stupid decision, and maybe it was, but I dispersed the cannon and allowed it to fade from my hands all the way to the tip of the attack. When it vanished completely, I saw no sight of Kagutsuchi's attack either. Had he held back on it too? Or did my cannon overtake it? No, that's not it. If it did, it would've at least hit Kagutsuchi a little.

What was he doing? As I squinted and did my best to see movement in the sky, I saw none. Kagutsuchi's silhouette stood still in the clouds, not budging an inch.

Despite what I just saw, I still had a job to do here. Even if he couldn't help it, he was still dangerous. I had to take any chance I could while his guard was down.

I located him with my aura sensing, locked on, and yanked, without moving. The pull was enough to bring Kagutsuchi down to the Earth.

In front of me, maybe fifty feet away, he slammed boots first on the rock, unwavering. I prepared myself for another attack, ready to bring my hands up when I saw his mouth start to open.

Above that, the sight of tears in his eyes made me hesitate. Every move appeared forced, like it was all against his will. His entire face screamed help me.

Put me out of my misery.

I almost heard the plea being sent out to my mind. A quiet whisper, a fearful request to the only person that can grant such a thing.

I nodded somberly, "Okay..."

Just as another fire blast erupted from his mouth, I thrust my hand out, shooting a beam of red and blue aura at the attack. Kagutsuchi's weakened resolve in that moment allowed my energy to kill his, drilling through the center and stopping any fire from reaching me.

Simultaneously, I summoned the Bolt back to its throwing form, teleported directly behind Kagutsuchi with the center of his spine in my sights, ready to finish this.

It'll take everything to make this instant...but it'll be worth ridding him of the pain. Whatever the consequences...I'll take it.

My heart steeled as I tapped into the Bolt's full power, unleashing it in a bright, tall burst of blue aura, coating my red one. The pillar of dual colors surged around me, lining up to the sky above like a beacon. Again, I felt that incredible feeling of invulnerability, like nothing at all could touch me. But I wasn't excited, not like before.

I pulled back into position, linking minds with Kagutsuchi again. This time, I spoke to him.

I'll make it instant; I promise.

He didn't respond, but his shoulders flinched from hearing my voice. There was a fraction of a second where if he wanted to, really wanted to, he could've tuned around and attacked me, or defended against the bolt, dodged it, a number of things.

But he didn't.

You deserved better. I said.

Then I threw it.

There was no waiting. The distance between us sat less than my body length, so the Bolt hit him immediately, right in the middle of his back.

I saw no blood, only the explosion of blue light, forcing me to close my eyes and turn away. I felt myself pushed back from the force of the blow, but remained on solid ground. When I gained the awareness to reach out and find his aura...I found nothing. It was gone.

Thunder boomed everywhere, piercing my already covered ears, shaking Japan itself. Luckily, it went by quick, and the destructive power had been solely focused on Kagutsuchi, so the surrounding area barely got damaged.

That's not to say it didn't look a mess. It looked like a group of bulldozers came by and went to town, digging up grass and dirt, but other than that, nothing major.

I reached out and pulled the Bolt back to me, sheathing it in its watch. With Kagutsuchi nowhere in sight, and his aura gone...I assumed the battle was over.

"Well...I guess that's that." I sighed.

Young master!

I furrowed my eyebrows, looking around for Kyros. Did I just hear his voice?

Kyros?

Yes! I didn't want to bother you during the fight! Not to mention get my feathers burned to a crisp. Yikes! That guy gave off some frightening heat!

I didn't smirk. I felt pretty down about the entire situation, my pity for the fire god still in my chest. Yeah...he was tough.

Kyros didn't pick up on my tone. Anyway, I decided to make myself useful and went flying around, just in case one of your friends got blasted into next week and needed a ride back...and look who I found!

Who he found? What? Who?

You'll see!

Where are you?

Towards the forest. I'm coming over the tree line.

I turned around completely and saw a brown dot approaching fast. Like he said, he was flying just above the tree line in a straight glide. At that point, I couldn't help but smile a little. I'm glad Kyros didn't get caught in any crossfire.

It only took a few seconds before he was swooping down in front of me, landing gracefully.

He pecked at the ground and looked at me. Wow, you two really tore this place apart, huh? The grass is gone!

Yeah. Kinda hard to preserve nature when fighting a fire god.

True. Anyway, look at who I picked up!

My eyes flickered up a few inches to see Malachi standing up in Kyros's saddle, having sat down for the ride. I was a bit surprised to see him at first, but then I remembered not seeing him with Talon and Sera, wondering what happened.

"Hello, Matt." He greeted, jumping down from Kyros's back.

"Hey, man." I said, "Where were you? I didn't see you with Talon and Sera." Then I remembered another thing. When I asked Talon where Ouranos was, and he didn't give a straight answer. Maybe Malachi went to fight him alone or something.

He didn't look injured, but he did seem exhausted, his body slumped as he stood, breathing heavily.

He answered my question with distaste, "We were fighting Ouranos...when the bastard decided to escape, using Kagutsuchi as cover." He stopped himself and looked around at the battlefield. "Is that who you just fought?"

I nodded quickly, motioning with my hand for him to continue. "Yeah. Keep going."

"Anyway, I followed him, leaving Talon and Sera behind." He pursed his lips and shook his head in disappointment. "We fought for a few minutes or so through our lightning, clashing back and forth in the sky. Finally...he managed to escape from me, using an attack to distract me and disappear without a trace."

My eyes widened. "Ouranos escaped again?" I didn't mean for it to look like I was annoyed at Malachi for not finishing the job, but when I smacked my palm against my forehead, that's probably how it came off.

He looked at the ground, "I am sorry. I should've tried harder."

I looked at him, "No, man, don't say that. You did everything you could. There were so many outside factors in all of this...well, he was bound to use something as a distraction to slither away."

He tightened his fists into balls, growling, "For the millionth time, he manages to creep off into his hiding hole. I can't stand the idea of him still being out there somewhere, plotting and planning."

"Were you able to sense his energy?"

"Not after he attacked me. He must've teleported away and then suppressed it to such a point that it would've been unrecognizable."

"Makes sense." I put my hands on my hips, "That's his usual tactic."

His expression shifted from anger to worry. "Are the others okay? Is Sera-"

"They're fine, bro." I eased, "Or...at least, I think they are. Last I checked they were fighting Tsukuyomi." I gestured to the ruined ground, "I got stuck with dragon slaying duty."

He nodded firmly, "We'd better join them. There's no telling what kind of power Tsukuyomi possesses now."

"Sounds good." Just as I was about to run towards Kyros, Malachi stopped me by grabbing my shoulder.

"What's up?"

When we locked eyes, he had the grimmest expression I'd ever seen on his face. "Matt, there's something you should know. The last thing Ouranos said to me..."

"What was it?"

"I don't know what it means, or if it's more than just some empty threat. But when he said it, the worst feeling of dread came over me."

"What did he say?" I urged, my anticipation at its peak.

"He said that the next time we meet...will be the last."

(000)

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