I'm gonna warn you guys now, this chapter is about to be something else. It may not be really long, but I am so proud of this chapter. Please let me know what you think afterwards!
And I usually don't ask you guys to go and check out the reviews for this story, but I got a great one yesterday. If you go and take a look at them, you'll find someone compiled a list of all the messed up shit that's happened in this arc so far. Guest, if you're reading this, I want you to know I cried laughing at that list. It's so comically messed up I couldn't help it. Just all of that, listed off casually. Amazing. Please actually keep a tally of what I do it's amazing.
Speaking of reviews, you guys sure wanted the next chapter quick huh? I think we're sitting at 14 right now. So as promised, here's the chapter! I really want to find ways to interact with you guys more, cause I loved the broad range of feedback I got last chapter. If anyone has any ideas, I'm open to them! (I know what one of you is going to say. You know who you are if you're reading this ;))
Putting two parentheses together like that looks weird. Now the word count if over 4k. Anyway!
Enjoy!
Steph stared at the man in shock, her memory reminding him who he was. Neptu Skylancer, the former leader of the Skylance Demon Hunters. From what she had heard the group had been dissolved, with splinter groups forming from the remnants. She doubted he had links to any of those, as she had heard he wanted to leave that life behind him.
"Y-You..." She started weakly, still unable to speak as he entire body trembled in fear. "W-Why are you...?"
"We can give you all the details later," Another voice said. Steph turned to find a blonde woman standing there, wavy hair in a ponytail. She recognised her as well, she'd worked with Neptu back when they fought them over Gin. "Right now we need to fight this guy." This just made Hades laugh.
"Oh yeah?" He asked. "And you two think that you can take me on, huh? That's an interesting take."
"It's not about whether or not we can," Neptu replied. "We have to, no matter what." Hades smirked.
"Ah yes, a heroic mantra as he swoops in to save the girl,' he mocked. "Such cute words you spouted just now. I'm sure it would rivet the readers on your auto-biography you'll write after beating me."
"You aren't taking this seriously at all, are you?" Neptu demanded, making Hades laugh. "You killed how many people, and you're joking about this?"
"I don't want to hear about death tolls from you, Demon Hunter." Hades retaliated, making Neptu fidget. "Did you think we didn't know who you were? We watched your fight with the Fairies. Saw you get your ass kicked, I mean. And now you wander back here to help? Let me give you an idea as to why that's a bad idea." Hades snapped his fingers, and Steph gasped as dozens of skeletons rose from the ground, circling them in an instant.
"What kind of magic is this?" The blonde woman asked as the skeletons enclosed on them. "I can feel the evil rolling off of these corpses."
"Agreed," Neptu replied as his body ignited. A wave of bright purple flames rolled off of him, instantly incinerating all of the skeletons. Hades scoffed.
"Cute magic," he said. "Seems to be Devil Slayer Magic, although it seems to lack a certain something. What have you done to yourself, Demon Hunter?"
"Routed the evil from my body," Neptu replied as the flames returned, engulfing his form. "As I did from those skeletons. Did you rise the dead?" Hades laughed.
"Did I, I wonder?" He asked. "This whole country-no, this entire continent, the whole world even, was built upon a foundation of bones. The dead that suffered and died for some paltry cause. They rest beneath you even now. Gone and forgotten. How many warriors died nameless? For nothing? I raise them and they are nothing, just as history remembers them."
"Neptu that isn't possible," the woman said. "Raising the dead is-"
"I know, Elizabeth." Neptu replied. "No wizard alive would actually be able to revive the dead. Last one who did was cursed to live forever. I doubt Ankhersam would just ignore him. So it's got to be something else. Creation magic most likely, and he's just got a sick sense of humour." Steph wanted to believe that, she really did. But the feeling that those skeletons gave off, the way they made her feel...It sure didn't feel like basic creation magic.
"Are we going to continue talking meaninglessly?" Hades asked. "I do love squabbling, but Zeus gave me a job to find the target. I really should follow through."
"Ah yes, I was told about the situation." Neptu replied. "Nasty business, this whole ordeal. Although I suppose the best way to repay my debt to Fairy Tail would be to get in your way, just like they did to me!"
With this, the battle started.
Neptu burst forth in an explosion of fire, raising his leg to kick Hades in the chest. The man didn't move for a moment before side stepping to the right insanely fast, Neptu missing by mere inches. The man gave Hades no time to respond, landing on a tree and kicking off towards him again. He raised his fists and attacked with a flurry of fists, all of which missed their target. The more Steph watched, the more she felt like Hades was using Sound Magic. How was he avoiding all of those hits, like Drake and Erik did? The Olympian fell back and raised a hand, which was coated in dark magic.
"Deal with him," the man said simply. More skeletons rose from the earth, launching themselves at Neptu. Another burst of fire disintegrated them, and Hades laughed. "Man, I need better servants."
"Typical of a boss figure to throw waves of peons at me first," Neptu replied as he flew at Hades. "Fight me yourself, you spineless coward! Fire Devil's Rage!" The roar attack flew from Neptu's mouth and made for Hades, who simply raised his hand as it came for him head on. Once the attack struck him, it was as if it died. The flames grew black and faded away, leaving him perfectly fine.
"You're really going to make yourself a pain in my ass, huh?" He asked. Neptu didn't reply, flying at him again. Altering his trajectory the man launched a horizontal kick, which Hades jumped back to avoid. A black mass spawned from Hades' hand as he did so, but it was burned away in an instant as Neptu advanced. He grabbed Hades by the collar of his suit and threw him over his head, using flames to propel the man faster in the ground. The crash that resulted as Hades hit the ground made Steph flinch, and when she looked again she saw that Neptu was sitting on top of Hades, pinning him down.
"You're not even trying," Neptu hissed, looking angry. "Am I not a big enough threat?"
"Does the lion concern himself with the actions of the ants?" Hades demanded with a smirk. As he said this, black magic began to surge from him again. The magic grabbed at Neptu like hands, as if souls tried to pull him into the void. "You are nothing compared to me! I haven't broken a sweat yet!" Neptu smirked as the magic grabbed at him more, sweeping over his clothes.
"Good," he said. "I haven't either. Another burst of fire burned the blackness away, and he grabbed Hades' head. Steph eyes's widened as Neptu's hands exploded with power, and he narrowed into a powerfully deadly stream that burned at Hades' face. After a few seconds of intense flames, Hades could be heard laughing. The same black magic as before could be felt coming back, and this time to latched onto the flames burning at him. The flames died, and Hades was revealed, relatively unharmed.
"My my, that magic is painful." He said, a single scrap on his cheek to represent the work Neptu had done. "Good thing it didn't hurt that much." Neptu growled and jumped back, which allowed Hades to slowly get to his feet.
"Lizzie?" He asked weakly.
"I don't know," Elizabeth replied weakly. "I don't recognise his style. It might be some type of occult magic unknown to us. He's clearly toeing the line of actual Black Magic but-" Hades laughed, which made Elizabeth stop in her tracks.
"Perceptive young woman, aren'tcha?" He asked. "Since you're so observant, I'll give you a small hint. Your friends magic here? We counter one another. His weird Purified Devil Slayer magic can singe my darkness, but my darkness can eat away the flames. A perfectly balanced exchange, no?"
"Balance?" Neptu demanded. "If there was any since of balance here, you'd be hurt by my attack." Hades smirked.
"Getting to be balanced has never been something I've excelled at," he replied. "Now, I suppose I should deal with the roaches shouldn't I?"
Steph realised too late she should have run here.
The darkness exploded out from Hades. It encircled the air every which way and shot at Neptu, but he easily blasted apart the tendrils that got to close, evading a few more as he blasted for Hades.
"Liz!" He shouted.
"On it!" She shouted back. She brought her hands together as if to pray, and she glowed with light. Neptu glowed as well, and Steph saw his speed increase phenomenally. He shot behind Hades and reared back his fist, ready to deliver a punch with way more force than before. Hades turned and caught the attack with his own fist, fire and blackness shooting out every which way as the attacks collided. Hades smirked and raised his other hands, also cloaked in darkness. He slashed in diagonally in front of him, claws of darkness slashing across Neptu's front. It didn't seem to do much though, as the mans body was covered in holy light. Neptu reared back and raised both hands above his head, a massive fireball forming there. He threw it down with as much force as he could, the resulting explosions cracking the earth beneath the two men and sending tremors over to where Steph was sitting. She watched as the two separated, but Neptu was going to talk anymore.
Fire burst out of his feet, and he launched himself into the air. Raising both hands again, he shot a flurry of fireballs from his hands at Hades. The black haired man blurred out of view before the attacks hit, creating even more explosions. He appeared behind Neptu in the sky, Left hand coated in darkness. He swung it down with all his might, be Neptu was ready and parried it again.
Steph gasped as Neptu rocketed into the ground this time, Hades seemingly using more power than their previous grapple. He recovered in time to dodge Hades' follow up attack, skidding to the right as the other man impacted. Hades wasted no time, rising again and aiming a hand at Neptu. Boney hands shot out of the ground and latched onto his ankles, surprising him. In the short time it took Neptu to destroy the hands holding him, Hades was on him again. He grabbed Neptu arm, and black magical power shot out everywhere. Neptu cried in pain, the blackness latching onto his arm and spreading fast. A burst of magic killed it off, but Steph knew he wasn't okay.
The affected arm was blackened. Badly.
"W-What did you do?" Neptu asked weakly, moving said arm around weakly. Hades laughed. A cold, maniacal laugh that made Steph tremble even more.
"Careful, kid!" He shouted. "I may just kill you if you don't watch out!"
Hades had changed.
His calm and collected demeanour from before had changed. His mocking was laced with venom, and the look in his eye had gone from amused aloofness to a maniacal glare. He was a monster, in every sense. The antithesis to peace. Some sort of animal, he had to be.
Neptu didn't waste any time after figuring his arm was okay. He burst in flames again and launched a tendril at Hades. The man dodged it, but the flames followed him like an angry snake and refused to give up. Eventually the flames caught up, wrapping around the mans ankle. Neptu manoeuvred it like a whip, sending Hades into the ground with a crack. Neptu launched himself into the air and flew straight for Hades as he law in the dirt, smirking up at him.
The resulting impact tossed Steph backwards into a rock face, hurting her back. She recovered as quickly as possible, looking up to see what had happened.
Hades was holding Neptu's fist in his hand, smirking up at him from the crater.
"Is this really the best you can do?" He demanded. "I was hoping someone so unique might have been a better foe!"
"Neptu!" Elizabeth shouted worriedly, Steph to afraid to speak. Blackness exploded out from Hades' hand again, crawling up Neptu's skin. This time he was quick to burn it away, not trying to hurt his arm again. Jumping away, Steph could tell Neptu was irritated. She could also see sweat pouring down his forehead. Either he was breaking a sweat, or he was nervous.
"I don't understand..." She heard him hiss. "I should have at least been putting a scratch on you..."
"You?!" Hades asked as he rose out of the crater. "Put a scratch on me?! Please! I'm above you, you worm! I've been letting you have your fun so far!" Neptu visibly gritted his teeth, bursting into flame again. This time, though, Steph watched as curvy, black tattoos appeared up and down his body, stemming from his right arm.
"Neptu don't!" Elizabeth shouted. "If you release too much of the demon's power at once you're-!"
"I know what I'm risking!" Neptu shouted back as the flames intensified. "Trust me, I know! Can't you tell how serious he is?! He's not just being full of himself!" He launched himself at Hades, and the two engaged in combat again. It got to be so fast Steph couldn't keep up, just watching the bursts of magic go off in front of her.
"Fire Devil's Blaze!" A torrent of flames shot out of Neptu's hands and raced for Hades, who let it engulf him. A fee seconds later the flames disappeared, dying like all attacks before it. He aimed a hand at Neptu, a torrent of his black magic shooting out towards him. Neptu swatted it away and flew straight for Hades, aiming a fist at his head. Hades dodged it easily and grabbed Neptu's shoulder, driving him into the ground. Darkness exploded outwards, but it was immediately eaten up by flames. Then the flames too were devoured, as the two men's magic raged against one another.
"Give it up!" She heard Hades shout over the explosions. "I'm a God compared to you weaklings! You, beating me?! Only in your wildest dreams you sack of shit! Give me more! Show me your fear!"
"Shut up and die!" Neptu shouted back, the flames temporarily overpowering the darkness. Neptu wrapped Hades up in a chain of flames and whipped him away from himself, before raising his hands over his head.
"Fire Devil's Asteroid Strike!" A massive ball of fire appeared over Neptu's head, one that consumed all remaining flora near him as it grew larger and larger. Hades just stood where he was, watching with a maniacal grin on his face.
"I'm going to enjoy killing all of you!" He shouted, voice cracking from sheer enjoyment. "I'm going to watch the flesh rot off of your bones! I'll love every second I watch the light leave your eyes!"
"Shut up!" Neptu shouted, shooting the attack off. The massive blast of magic roared towards Hades, who simply stood where he was and let it engulf him. The resulting explosions again tossing Steph backwards. She groaned as she recovered, watching the smoke weakly. Was he alive?
"Y-You can't beat him..." Steph eye's widened, and she turned to find that Simon had woken up while Elizabeth kept them out of the fight and away from harm. He had been watching the battle weakly, visible eye full of fear.
"S-Simon...?" Steph asked weakly. The redhead turned to her, and she paled as she saw his expression.
Full on, unfiltered terror was running across his features.
"You can't be beat him," He said, voice steady for the first time since she'd seen him. "He's...He's too strong! Can't you tell?! His magic is off the charts! I don't even know if he's human!"
"S-Simon..." Steph said weakly. "J-Just what exactly happened to you guys?" Simon stared at her for a moment before his gaze fell to the ground.
"It was over in an instant..." He said. "I didn't even have time to think...One minute Mami and Nami were helping me recover and walk, and the next they were both on the ground screaming in pain. He loomed over us...It was just him! Zeus and Poseidon, they were watching!"
"J-Just him...?" Steph asked, unsure if she believed him fully.
"H-He's so powerful..." Simon said. "All three of them are! It's no wonder they didn't come to fight at first...It's not that they were hiding, they just didn't think we were strong enough!"
"Just who the hell is talking over there?" Steph froze at this, her blood running completely cold. She turned slowly, trying to see what was happening.
Hades had Neptu by the face in one hand, watching them from underneath his bangs. His glare was piercing, and Steph wanted to flee the second she saw it.
"Neptu!" Elizabeth shouted. "Are you okay?!"
"Get away from here!" Neptu shouted. "I don't know what he is! He's-!" Black Magic exploded out from Hades hand, and Neptu fell silent. Hades unceremoniously dropped the man on the ground as the tattoos faded from his body. Hades regarded him coldly for a second before returning his gaze to them.
While you rodents were talking, I got contacted." He said flatly. "Apparently Hermes was taken down, and we're finishing up here. So, I suppose I gotta clean up here."
"N-Neptu..." Elizabeth said weakly as she collapsed to her knees. "There's just no way...He was unleashing all of his power..." Steph didn't know what to do. She couldn't move or breath again.
"Get away from here!" Simon shouted. "I don't know what he is, but he's too powerful! Run and protect Luna, she's the only one that-!"
All talking ceased.
All light was taken away.
Steph was forced to watch, unable to move at all, as more Black Magic burst out of Hades' body. It encompassed the entire clearing that they had been fighting it, engulfing them in total darkness. She couldn't even see her own body, it was all disappearing in the darkness.
"I don't have time for runts who can't display even an inch of resistance," Hades said, his voice resounding all around her. "I have goals to complete, and I don't have time to wait anymore. By the way Dreyar, I won't be needing you anymore. Apparently Aphrodite has her with her, so I'll just go and find them. So you can just disappear with the rest of this trash. Die and drown in the river to the Underworld, you worthless sack of crap."
Steph couldn't move. Had she died? Was she dying? Where was she again? She had no idea. The only thing around her was darkness. Darkness all around here. It was suffocating, encapsulating. The void was all she saw. Elizabeth, Simon, Mami and Nami had disappeared. They were no more. She was alone in the void, accompanied only by the tears that silently fell down her cheeks as the void closed in on her. What did it feel like to drown in darkness?
Hades appeared before her. His towering form causing her to shrink like an ant. His eyes glowed dark red, and his entire form was barely visible through the darkness. The black magic warped behind him, forming like an animal clawing and trying to get to it's prey. It roared, but Hades remained stagnant. Dark claws reached for her, but could not reach. Fangs tried to consume her but couldn't get close enough. Eyes glared a hole in her, making sure she knew she was nothing more than prey.
A door appeared behind Hades. A door bound in dark chains and pulsing like a heart. It ripped itself open, and what sounded like a million screams came from inside. Like a whole country's life being snuffed out at once. It was deafening, maddening. She would never be able to forget these bloodcurdling noises.
Death. This had to be what death felt like. She'd heard this was comforting.
All she felt was fear. She was afraid. She couldn't fight it. Death came no matter what.
"Disappear."
Hades had long since left the trash where it lay, making his way to group up with Zeus and Poseidon on the way to the girl. He could only smirk as he thought back to the fear on their faces as his magic took them, absolutely certain that death had found them. He could only laugh to himself.
"Hades," Zeus' voice echoed in his head. "I felt that. What did you do?" Hades just laughed.
"I had some fun with my friends," he said with a grin. "Don't worry, they're not dead. Unless I gave them a heart attack, which is entirely likely at this point."
"Quit acting like a damn child," Zeus chastised. "We have things to do. Make your way for Aphrodite and capture the girl. It's time this foolish battle came to a close."
"Yeah yeah, cry me a river you melodramatic old man." Hades replied. "I'll find your girl and we can keep going about our business, don't you worry." Hades could sense Zeus had severed the connection, and he grinned to himself. It didn't matter who he came across, he could deal with them as easily as he had that moron with the Devil Slayer magic. Anyone who crossed his path would meet that fate. No one would be able to stop him.
"The only one who could defeat me is around here alright. She just doesn't know that. And even if she did, I'm still too strong for her! Hahahahahahahaha!"
Before anyone says anything, yes I plan on backtracking and retelling the Hermes fight. I'm just handling multiple things at once, you know! It works trust me.
Also, what did you guys think of this one sided smack down? I had a lot of fun writing it. Is this what Fairy Tail's bad guys feel like? To be super strong than get one shotted? Lol it must be. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed, leave a review! Let's try and get five!
Chapter 332: One By One