Smite - Book of Battles

by MissBlackRock

This story is a collection of high-action fight sequences between two or more randomly selected Gods, that takes place in a light-hearted modern AU, or iteration, of the game's original canon, with references to the real world. These fights were written for fun and for YOUR entertainment! Picture the "Book of Battles" as Smite if it was a Shōnen anime! I hope you enjoy.

3. Chapter 3 - Massive Potential!

Welcome back! This is the second fight sequence in the Book of Battles. I hope anyone reading enjoys this one just as much as the first.

This one gets a bit more personal, between two of my favorite characters in the game!

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DISCLAIMER:

The power of the Gods depicted in this story are not completely identical to what is seen in-game. Though they share resemblance, the strength, abilities, and power-levels of most featured Smite characters have been scaled-up and dramatized for your viewing pleasure.

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Chapter 3 – Massive Potential!

Above the Yosemite National Park, the blue skies shined vibrantly with the help of the blazing sun. The whole region was illuminated beautifully with a soft, warm light. The wind blew perfectly, providing a pleasant breeze to the already cool air.

The water was clear, the leaves of the trees swayed gently, the large mountains shined majestically, asserting their dominance with their almighty shadows. Waterfalls and rivers ran through them, rock fields were scattered all over the area… it was nature in its finest form.

No sign of human development was visible other than small cabins and park ranger outposts, all in charge of keeping the park clean and safe.

The untouched beauty of nature was something worth saving, and with the help of the Gods, the Earth would be around for a long time to come.

Down within the park, brave, adventurous humans would be exploring and experiencing nature first hand.

On a dirt road in the middle of a vast pine forest was a large pickup truck loaded with supplies for local resting outposts that spotted the park, which were used by tourists and other visitors for food and rest.

A Park Ranger grunted as he loaded two heavy boxes full of canned vegetables onto the back of the pickup truck. He glanced at his two partners and took his Ranger hat off to wipe his brow of sweat. He looked up and around, taking a breath of clean air to observe his gorgeous surroundings.

"Say, we haven't seen a single deer or something our whole time out here. Don't you guys find that weird..?" the Park Ranger asked.

The Ranger's two other partners were crouched over one of the truck's rear tires. A little prior to their stop, the three Rangers were on their way to an outpost, when their truck struck a large rock that was left out in the road, popping its tire and knocking the truck off balance momentarily, causing some of the supplies in the back to fall off from the impact.

One of the other Park Rangers turned to face the first, shrugging her shoulders. "I dunno. I'm pretty sure it's their mating season, since summer just started. They're all probably near some grasslands or something instead of wandering around the forest. It makes sense to me, at least," she responded plainly, her hands on her hips.

The first Ranger nodded his head once, shrugging his question away. He walked around the truck, picking up the final box of fallen supplies and lugging it into the back of the truck. He sighed and walked back around, leaning on the back of the truck.

He glanced at the third Ranger, who was trying to repair the flat tire.

"How's it looking..?" The first Ranger asked.

The third Ranger shook his head, he looked up and slapped his hand down on his lap. "Nah… we gotta call for a tow. The hole in the tire is too big to fix with patches, so... our options are... we can go into the forest and find a tire out of the blue, or we call for a tow and get pulled to the outpost. Cause that rock really messed up the truck."

"Hm... damn," the first Ranger exhaled, shaking his head.

"Are all the supplies loaded back up?" the second Ranger asked, motioning at the carjack for the third Ranger to remove it. She tilted her head and crossed her arms.

"Yeah, everything is loaded up. I guess you can go radio in for a tow. It's all we can really do," the first Ranger sighed, clearly annoyed.

The second Ranger nodded before whipping around, her pony tail tasseled in the air through her hat's gap. She hopped into the truck and grabbed the radio that was attached to the car's communicator system. She tugged on the wire and put it to her mouth, speaking into it as she pressed the button on the side of the radio.

As she spoke into the radio, she watched as her two other partners greeted a trio of hikers that was making their way through the forest to reach a mountain pass that was popular for cliff jumping and rock climbing.

"G'day, folks!" The first Ranger waved with a smile.

"Good morning! Uh, that looks pretty bad. Do you three need any help?" One of the hikers asked.

The third Ranger stepped up next to the first and shook his head, smiling politely. "No thanks, we just got a little unlucky with a big rock on the trail. I hope you all have been enjoying the park though."

A second hiker nodded, taking his water bottle out from his large backpack. "Yeah, it's beautiful out here. There's nothing like experiencing the wilderness with a couple of friends! We were on our way to Rockyfall Pass to see if we can do a bit of photographing. The mountains of this place can give some truly beautiful views."

"Yeah, nature is awesome, ain't it!" the first Ranger chuckled, the trio of hikers laughing along with him. The third Ranger grinned, before craning his neck over his shoulder, looking at the second Ranger, who was still in the car.

"Hey, are they on their way yet?" the third Ranger yelled.

The second Ranger stepped out of the truck and closed the door behind her, waving and smiling at the hikers before turning to her partner. "Yeah, they're coming. They should be here in ten minutes or so."

One of the hikers looked around, noticing the silence of the forest. He turned to look at the three Park Rangers, his expression one of worry.

"Say, I haven't seen nearly as much wildlife out today in the park as I normally do. Is there something up? Have they all been rounded up for something, maybe some sort of study the park is conducting?"

The first Ranger shook his head. He looked at the hiker with a keen eye before taking a moment to look around for himself. "Yeah, I noticed the lack of animals out today too. No birds, no squirrels, no rabbits... no nothing. I don't know why."

The second ranger sighed, brushing her curly fringe out of the way of her eyes. She perked it up and let it billow gently in the breeze that passed through the trees. "I already told you guys, it's summertime, maybe they're all out doing other stuff. Plus, the trail doesn—"

Just then, as the Ranger was halfway through her sentence, the entire National Park was flooded with a dark, sinister feeling. The air suddenly felt heavy, the atmosphere felt harsh and menacing. All six humans felt deep shivers go down their spines as the hairs on their bodies stood up, goosebumps appeared, and their eyes grew wide with fear.

The blood flushed out of all their faces as they all suddenly fell onto their knees… before collapsing onto the ground, their eyes faded to a cloudy gray. Saliva slowly oozing out of all their mouths.

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A winged God stood atop a faraway mountain that overlooked a majority of the park, neighboring mountains and hills dotted the horizon with a beautiful view.

His dark armor glistened in the sun, his large wings flapped lightly in the breeze. His face was hidden behind a mask that displayed no emotion at all. In his mighty spiked gauntlets, he held his deadly weapon.

The weapon that he used to deliver one of the things that all life could not escape, and naturally feared.

Death.

"Oh... that is quite the feeling. The sensation of life being drained away from the bodies of animals and humans alike... it's wonderful. So many souls, so much fear, so much death. Just as intended," the God spoke.

He twirled his scythe around and breathed in the fresh, deadly air.

The God then snickered to himself quietly, his deep voice filled with evil. He had just put an end to the life of every living thing in the entire National Park. The plants, trees, animals, insects, and the humans had all just shared the same fate.

Thanatos kept quietly chuckling to himself. He overlooked the park, looking at how dull and barren it all looked now. The beautiful colors had all disappeared. The trees and flowers had lost their marvelous color, and were now all colored with pale grays and monochrome. Innocent animals and people laid lifeless in the same spots where they were all alive and healthy mere seconds ago.

The God of Death couldn't stop grinning behind his mask.

He sighed deeply, looking up at the now gray sky.

"Mmm… that did help lift my spirits a bit."

Just then, a high-pitched, young voice rang into Thanatos's ears. He closed his eyes behind his mask, and lifted his hand up to his face to rub his eyes, completely forgetting he had a mask. He cracked his neck before turning to the voice.

"Welp, time's up, Thana! Bring this place back to life, come on!" the young voice had said.

Its speaker stood a few feet away from the God of Death wearing skinny blue jeans, black Converse, a striped yellow and white shirt, and a blue and green floral windbreaker. Bright blue and green wings were spread out behind the figure's back, designated holes were tailored in the shirt and windbreaker in order for the wings to be operational.

The figure flapped its bright wings cheerfully, their hands on their hips. They gave Thanatos a little wink as he turned to look at them.

"Well come on, what're you waiting for!" the figure said loudly.

Its high-pitched voice and obnoxious tone bothered the God of Death to no end.

"Alright, fine. Just… let me enjoy this for one more min—"

"Not a chance, nuh-uh! Come on, Thana, we don't have all day! You wanted this, and you asked me to come all the way out here! I didn't come to watch you… kill everything. That sucks…" the winged figure said aloud.

They was smaller, sleeker, younger, unarmored, thinner, and curvier.

Thanatos exhaled loudly. He turned to the park and lifted his hand out into the open air. He closed his eyes behind his mask as his hand began to glow with a dim purple. As his hand's dark purple energy grew more ferocious, the harder the wind blew. Eventually, the wind was blowing extraordinarily heavy, the wings of the two individuals flapped gently in the air.

Finally, Thanatos slammed his fist shut as the energy dispersed. In a massive wave of life, the park grew radiant. The plants, animals, and humans were all brought back to life in an instant.

"There. Are you happy, you little brat?" Thanatos asked, turning to his companion.

The figure nodded their head.

"By the Gods… you can be so annoying. Sometimes, I wonder why I'm friends with you…" the God of Death groaned, face-palming.

The figure let out a high-pitched: "Awwwe!" as they rushed forward, jumped up, and hugged the God of Death tightly. "It's cause you know I'm fun to hang out with," they said happily, a huge grin on their face.

"Yeah, whatever…" Thanatos grumbled in a low tone, not even bothering to hug back.

The figure sighed. "Aw, come on Thana. You know you can't just kill everything like that. You'd be abusing your powers. Yeesh, I'm surprised Athena or Terra haven't shown up yet, considering you briefly eradicated all life in this huge park for about a minute. I'm sure they'd be here yelling your face off right now."

Thanatos nodded his head, gripping his scythe. "There is no doubt they both sensed a sudden loss of life, but something tells at least one of them knew I was going to reverse the effects, anyway," he said plainly, looking up at the sky, which was now clear and blue.

The figure had their arms crossed. "Of course one of them knew! I'm right here with you! Athena would've seen that coming from miles away!" they laughed.

"Oh, shut up… you're just a little girl. What can you do against the God of Death," Thanatos grinned behind his mask, craning his neck to face the girl.

Jing Wei whipped her hair, her twin pony tails flailing about, her bangs fluttering to the side, hovering above her eyes cutely. She smiled a wide-open grin, her perfect white teeth shining in the sunlight. She giggled briefly, looking up at her deadly friend.

"Well, I can clearly do a lot. The whole reason we're both out here is because you're salty that you lost to me in that show," Jing Wei winked, still grinning.

Thanatos grumbled quietly underneath his breath before releasing an audible grunt. "That was complete and utter nonsense. Two whole episodes dedicated to that fight and I end up losing?! You should've perished, your injuries were irreparable! You only won because of… plot armor, or whatever it's called," the God of Death growled.

Jing Wei broke out into a fit of laughter. She slapped her knee and brought her hand neatly underneath her chin, giving Thanatos a smug look of glee.

"Hah… and I remember you always told everyone that you don't watch television, and that you hate that show the most because it's overrated or whatever, yet here you are, all grumpy because you died in it," she taunted, her bright cyan eyes glittering with enjoyment.

"Ggh… I guess the show isn't too bad. I don't like watching TV usually, but… I guess I got bored one night and just started watching it," he said, shaking his head in disappointment. At himself.

"Heh, well it is a pretty good show! They still air it even though it's over, so that's how you know it's still on high demand. Plus, The Arena gets a ton money off it! That show is basically just free advertising! The Arena gets cash, we get cash, the actors get cash, broadcasting and streaming companies get cash, everyone gets cash! Except for the millions of people watching, but… still! They get the entertainment!" Jing Wei smiled, before pausing.

"Plus! Why're you complaining?! You do know that—"

"Be quiet! I haven't finished watching all of it yet, so don't spoil anything. I'm like, almost done." Thanatos snapped.

"O-Oh… right! What episode are you on…?" Jing Wei asked.

"I'm about to watch the twenty-fifth when I get home," Thanatos replied, looking at his gauntlet's built-in watch.

Jing Wei's cheeks flushed with red. "Heh… that episode is interesting. I'll tell you that much," she said, chuckling nervously.

"How so…?" the God of Death asked, turning to his winged companion.

Jing Wei rubbed the back of her neck, her face and neck reddening more by the second. She squealed briefly, shaking her body of the wiggles, before rubbing her face with her hands. She looked up at Thanatos and giggled behind them.

"Oh, nothing! You'll just have to wait and see," Jing Wei smirked.

Thanatos tilted his head briefly, before nodding.

"Fair enough, I guess" he'd say. He paused to think, rubbing his mask's chin. "The actor that plays my character is pretty good-looking, so at least they got that part right."

"Pfft! Yeah, he looks better than the real Thanatos," Jing Wei joked, walking up and nudging the other God, who towered over her.

"Eh… let's not get carried away here," the God of Death replied, chuckling lightly.

Jing Wei rolled her eyes and shared the laugh with her friend.

The two Gods shared a moment of silence, observing the beauty of the National Park.

Thanatos stood at 6'2, towering over the 5'4 Jing Wei. Their wings shined brightly, their fists were clutched with anticipation, and the mood was set as the two Gods mentally prepared.

They both sighed at the same time, as they turned to look at one another. Thanatos looked down and Jing Wei looked up.

"Can't you look at me without that mask on…?" Jing Wei shook her head, her eyes narrowed.

"You'll have to knock it off me. It's time you show me that what you did to me in that show isn't just a result of lousy writing," Thanatos replied, tilting his head to the side a bit.

"Eh… I killed you in that fight. We're not taking it that far…" Jing Wei exhaled.

"If we were, I'd certainly win. I'm the God of Death, it's in my name. I can kill most things by simply looking at them," Thanatos boasted.

Jing Wei pokerfaced, before scoffing. "You know that doesn't work on other Gods, so. If you want to kill beings made of divine flesh and blood, you've gotta do a little bit more than just look at them. Plus… I know you're stronger than me. You're one of the major deities, so it only makes sense you've got more power," the young teen said, rubbing her head.

Thanatos laughed. "Yes, I'm aware. But just remember that any God can grow stronger than another if they bother enough to put the work in," The God of Death said plainly.

Jing Wei looked up at her friend with an eyebrow raised. "Thanatos, The Hand of Death… encouraging me? Woah, this is new!" Jing Wei laughed.

She paused to rub her eyes, before looking up. "And… I know that. But it'll take years of training for me to surpass Gods like you, or Bellona, or Athena, or Thor. And it'll take entire lifetimes to surpass Chief Gods like Zeus, Hades, Poseidon, Chronos, Nox and Janus."

Thanatos swatted the air with his hand. "Well, of course. They're Chief Gods for a reason. They've been around since the beginnings of the universe, or in some cases… even before it. They've had a whole lot of time to grow strong and powerful, as they should be."

The hand of Death then smiled at the small Goddess behind his mask. "Of course, us major Gods are still powerful in our own ways, and you should be proud of that. And… don't forget that you're still very, very young. You're seventeen and still in high school. A runt still," he said, placing his hand on Jing Wei's shoulder.

"Eh," Jing Wei shrugged. "Technically I'm a lot older. A lot of us are," she giggled.

Thanatos groaned as Jing Wei began to laugh. "In this current century, Jing Wei, you know what I meant."

"Of course I did, silly. Now come on, I actually want to see how well I can stand up to you. I've been training with Susano and Amaterasu as always, so… I'm excited to test out how far I can push my limits."

Thanatos slowly nodded, turning his body over to face Jing Wei.

"Fine then," he spoke.

Jing wei's brows furrowed, and she smirked too. Her wings shot open and flapped a singular, powerful time, sending her body flying backwards with a surge of wind.

Thanatos felt the wind and kept his face still behind his mask.

Gathering some distance with a singular flap of her wings, Jing Wei landed a couple dozen meters away, skidding to a stop and huffing. Preparing herself.

Thanatos stood stationary still in the distance.

The two stood atop the rocky mountain, the wind blowing gently.

Thanatos leaned forward, his scythe behind his back, his arm arched in front of him.

Jing Wei got into position too, snapping her fingers and summoning her custom-made katana, a blade forged and gifted to her by Susano and Amaterasu, her primary trainers. She eyed Thanatos, slowly beginning to grin at him from how excited she was.

"You brought the healing pots, right?" Jing Wei asked.

"Of course," he confirmed. "Now, let's hope you can last more than five minutes."

The two glared at one another for a bit more. Jing Wei's face slowly got more serious as she looked right into the eyeholes of Thanatos's emotionless mask, straight into his true eyes.

The God of Death was straight-faced, as he was ready to take this seriously. The two Gods crouched lower in their stances, about to strike.

"It's time!"

"Alright!"

With a massive burst of speed, Thanatos burst forward. The ground below him cracked with pure pressure as he flew forward, his fist reeled back to send out a massive punch directly in front of him.

"Tgh!" Jing Wei grunted out as she lunged forward last-second, attempting to match Thanatos's speed.

She threw her fist out right before she made impact with him and felt as her naked fist clashed into Thanatos's armored gauntlet.

A huge shockwave of wind exploded outwards and sent a wave of heavy air through the entire park. The sheer force of the shockwave sent out a ring of pressurized air that kept on expanding, shattering any stone that surrounded the area and flattening the area out even further, destroying the layout of the mountain's apex that the two had been standing on top of.

"What the hell…? He started off at such a high speed! I thought were gonna take this slow, but apparently not…" Jing Wei thought to herself as she pulled her fist back.

Thanatos retreated as well, preparing himself.

"This should be interesting!" he remarked.

"I'm ready for everything you got!" Jing Wei shot at him.

The two backflipped simultaneously, before rushing into each other and locking into a massive flurry of rapid attacks. They weaved back and forth, clashing and clacking their weapons together at a lightning-fast rate. Sparks and shockwaves rang out as the two Gods dodged and blocked one another's attacks, hovering above the ground and flying back.

Thanatos weaved backward with his wings and swung his scythe widely and harshly, Jing Wei reacting perfectly to dodge. She ducked beneath the scythe and shot backwards, kicking off both her feet.

She slid back along the ground, her converse grinding against the stone floor as she came to a stop. Thanatos pursed, piercing through the sky and spinning about as he flew.

He landed right in front of her with a massive ground pound, dust and stone erupting upward from the force of his landing.

"Hmph!" Jing wei grunted, her wings sending her backwards with another powerful flap.

He looked up and exhaled for a brief second.

"Running away…" he thought, disappointed.

His wings sent him forward, chasing Jing Wei and leaving a streak of wind behind him.

Jing Wei kept thrusting her wings out backward, sending her flying in the same direction.

Thanatos dove forward, his hand out as he pursued the smaller Goddess at breakneck speed. He formed three clones of his scythes, glowing a bright lavender color of energy, directly above Jing Wei.

He slammed his hand down below him, sending all three down as he flew.

Jing Wei looked up and yelped as she glided along just above the ground, moving at a high speed. She dodged the first scythe, watching as it exploded with an explosion of bright purple energy upon impact with the ground. She looked up at the second and flew out of its way before launching her leg into the last one and deflecting it.

She watched as the duplicate scythe spun into the sky and detonated in a massive cloud of smoke.

Jing Wei looked back in front of her and stopped flying, before hearing a horrible sound from her left. She spun to face it, throwing her forearms out in front of her.

"Not so— fast!" Jing Wei yelped through grit teeth.

Thanatos powered through the young Goddess's guard as he dropkicked her, his armored boots slamming into her arms.

Jing Wei shot in the opposite direction from the force, spinning about rapidly as she recovered and sent herself beaming towards Thanatos with a few rapid flaps of her wings.

"There we go," Thanatos huffed, finally seeing some retaliation from the Oathkeeper.

Jing Wei gripped her katana before slashing it down as she flew over the God of Death, Thanatos reacting to move his body out of the way.

He spun around and swung his scythe upward to counter, Jing Wei blocking by thrusting her katana down onto its curve.

"HAH!" Thanatos yelled out as he attempted a second time, Jing Wei barely dodging to the side.

The small Goddess threw her own body forward, body slamming the God of Death and catching him off guard. He watched as Jing Wei twirled around and launched a high-impact roundhouse kick right into his chest.

"Gch—?!" Thanatos grunted out.

She… managed to hit him!

Thanatos felt as all the air was drained from his lungs. A jet stream of air blasted out from his back as he gutted out with pain. He felt himself lose control of his movement as he launched backwards. His vision became tunneled as he was engulfed in a cloud of dust.

"Hah, yes!" Jing Wei cheered as she watched Thanatos slam into a large boulder that was leftover from the mountain's destruction.

A huge cloud of debris covered the area, hindering Jing Wei's ability to see her opponent. She calmed herself and focused her guard, trying to sense the other deity.

Just then, she heard a whizzing sound behind her. She spun around—only to receive a brutal punch to her cheekbone, her face being forced to turn away again. She yelled out as her body was completely rocked and she shot deep into the ground, creating a miniature ravine.

Thanatos chuckled quietly, watching as Jing Wei stood back up in the distance, rubbing her cheek. She dusted herself off and grinned back at the God. Her twin pigtails flailed around like flags in the wind.

"That was mean, doing that!" Jing Wei yelled.

"I can do much worse," Thanatos announced, holding his scythe.

He clutched his fist and reeled it back, and it began to glow with a dim lavender-colored energy.

Jing Wei watched from the distance as tons of brightly colored purple scythe duplicates formed behind the God of Death. More and more kept forming, glowing brightly.

"Let's see how well your reactions are!" Thanatos yelled out, whipping his scythe forward, but not throwing it. The hundreds of scythes began to spin, faster and faster until they were mere circular blurs. They all suddenly lasered forward, all aimed for the young, winged Goddess.

The Oathkeeper cracked her neck as her eyes flashed turquoise.

She flew forward, breaking the sound barrier instantly.

She dodged to the left, right, right again, up, left, down, left, up left, right, down, left!

The Goddess felt as the scythes she dodged all exploded nearby as she continued to fly forward. She made contact with the ground as her feet kept her moving forward, boosted by her wings, skipping and hopping over and under more scythe duplicates. She flipped over a few and twirled between them, Thanatos watching with wide eyes behind his mask.

Jing Wei finally grabbed ahold of the last remaining scythe clone and threw it up into the air, using her body momentum to launch it high into the sky, Thanatos looking up, a bright explosion of his own energy detonating within the clouds.

He looked back down, only to see Jing Wei launching her foot into his face.

"Tagh!" Thanatos grunted as he flew to the side, but this time, he was prepared.

He caught himself with his arms and flipped back up, preparing. He reacted perfectly to his opponent as he felt his scythe clash with Jing Wei's katana.

A shockwave sounded off once again.

The two Gods traded blows, sparks flying. Jing Wei swung low and swept at Thanatos's legs with her own, the God of Death tripping and falling onto his back, only to get kicked up into the sky. His wings caught his body as he stopped, the God looking forward to see Jing Wei zipping up toward him, moving so fast that she appeared to be a blur.

The two clashed once again, zipping and clashing in the sky, the air filled with brightly colored shockwaves every time their blades made contact.

Thanatos launched his scythe up into the air and began to throw naked punches. Jing Wei blocked and dodged his blows, managing to strike the God in the side with her blade, slashing his armor.

"Look up!"

Jing Wei yelped as she flashed backward, dodging the scythe from above.

She watched as Thanatos caught it and used its momentum to swing it over his head.

"That's not what you were supposed to… DODGE!" Thanatos laughed as he brought his scythe down upon Jing Wei in a massive overhead attack.

It was far too fast, and Jing Wei could only block with her sword. She felt the momentum and impact of the attack shook her body as she blasted down toward the ground.

"Fuck!" she yelled out, trying to recover with her wings.

But she failed.

Jing Wei made impact with the ground and left a crater in her wake. Rising from the smoke, she lifted herself up onto one knee and looked up.

Thanatos was incoming.

Jing Wei yelped as she felt him bring his heel into the center of her chest, delivering a clean hit and forcing her body back down into the center of the crater, crushing into it and shattering the stone underneath her, the shockwave of the attack forcing the crater to expand outward and grow in size.

"GHCK—AH!" Jing Wei cried out, her throat constricting as saliva rushed up her body and shot out of her mouth, flailing out into the air in messy wet streaks.

Thanatos kept the Goddess pinned under his boot, glaring down at her, scythe in hand.

"Weak."

A taunt?

Jing Wei's eyes narrowed. She swallowed her pain and grabbed onto Thanatos's foot, trying her best to lean her body upwards.

Suddenly, the God of Death pulled it back, but the young Goddess's grip was too strong, and she ended up holding on.

Jing Wei grunted with effort as she pulled herself up using her opponent's momentum, launching herself up his body and slamming her kneecap up into his jaw. She then came down with a right hook upon his temple, a left uppercut to his chin, before finally reaching back with her right hand, summoning her katana in her grasp, and siphoning it with her energy.

"HYAH!"

Jing Wei slashed Thanatos up his torso with her blade, her energy causing the strike to ravage the God's armor, leaving behind a bright glowing, cyan-colored cut.

He yelled out with pain as he launched into the sky, the cut smoking from the heat of the energy.

Jing Wei pushed on, her blade glowing into a brighter shade turquoise. More power infused into it.

Thanatos caught himself with a grunt. He spun his scythe around with anger, doing the same as Jing Wei and powering up his weapon with his energy. His scythe glowed purple as the two began to strike one another, each releasing grunts of effort.

Turquoise and purple flashes of energy sparked through the air, and as the two began to attack faster and faster, moving through the air at a more rapid pace, slashing and dodging one another, weapons clacking and smashing together- parry after parry, deflect, more dodges, redirecting through the air,

Their wings sending them in different directions,

Cutting each other off,

Vanishing in an afterimage and reappearing in a different direction,

Smashing into one another,

Flying and tearing through the air in an attempt to out maneuver each other,

The sky was illuminated with the view of the most high-speed dog-fight that anybody, God or mortal, would marvel at, if they could keep up with it. They two dotted the view with what seemed like hundreds of rapid pulses and flashes.

The air rippled with rings of wind as the two Gods fought at speeds that were unfortunately invisible to mortals, though. And blurs to other Gods, depending on power level.

Jing Wei slashed and swung her katana about, sliding and clacking her blade against Thanatos's scythe.

She threw a kick forward, Thanatos blocking it with his knee. Another shockwave. The air rumbled.

The God of Death swung his scythe horizontally, Jing Wei ducking to dodge.

She then countered by attempting to slash up his body again, but the God of Death managed to weave back and dodge.

He threw his right fist forward, attempting to punch the Goddess, but watched as Jing Wei dashed to his side and launched her elbow into his back, her wings allowing her to redirect her momentum backward into her opponent's backside.

"UNGH—!" he grunted, performing a full 180 turn and slashing his scythe out in another arc attack.

Jing Wei ducked again and then rammed her other elbow into his ribcage, forcing the God of Death to hunch over from the stunning blow. He then let out a loud yell as the Goddess delivered one last attack to the side of his head, her fist ramming into his cheek, cracking his mask and sending him spiraling through the sky and crashing into an entire mountain, violently smashing off one of its cliff-faces, and hurtling down to the ground.

He finished his plummet by splashing into a large lake.

Jing Wei boosted down, her katana in her hands.

Just then, she watched as Thanatos erupted out of the water, surrounded by a powerful purple aura of death, kicking up water all around him as his raw energy created a literal divot, or dent, in the water right below him, hovering right over its surface.

He dashed forward her, throwing his scythe mid-flight.

"Phew—" Jing Wei exclaimed as she dodged the scythe and tore through the air, sending her katana slicing int Thanatos's arm plating in a flash, ending up behind him.

She spun around to strike again but paused when she heard a noise behind her as Thanatos' scythe returned to him after he had thrown it.

"Oh shit!"

Jing Wei's body became transparent as Thanatos leaned to the side, dodging his own scythe and allowing its gathered boomerang-momentum to run its course and zoom right past him to hopefully hit his opponent.

But instead, the scythe phased right through Jing Wei's afterimage.

His eyes widened. He focused on his own scythe as it came back around and landed in his hands—but as he focused on catching his powered-up weapon, he dropped his guard.

He felt the water below him fire upwards like a spout- the wind around him betraying him as it sent him launching upwards into the air, completely out of control, regardless of his wing's efforts.

"SHIT!" shouted the God.

He was able to catch glimpses of Jing Wei flying up alongside him, grinning, her hand glowing.

It was her Persistent Gust ability. She had knocked him up into the air with a massive typhoon of pure wind-force.

"Tsk! I forgot you had those cursed powers!" Thanatos grunted, still trying to catch himself with his wings.

"Yup! Now c'mere!"

Jing Wei flew forward, digging her fist into the side of Thanatos's head, sending him thrashing through the air and crashing through dozens upon dozens of trees, his body slamming into the ground and skidding into it, leaving a deep indentation in the ground.

He let out a few grunts as he stood up and looked down at himself, his own armor loose and scratched. He looked up to see Jing Wei blasting through the trees, her hands glowing.

"Hrah! Huah!" Jing Wei grunted as she punched the air in front of her, sending out streams of wind as she flew forward, streaking through the wind.

Thanatos tried to use his arms to block the incoming air-punches, but the streams of air were too pressurized and concentrated and moved in unpredictable patterns.

They began to strike him on different parts of his body, the God feeling his gut and sides become pummeled by the devastatingly powerful shockwaves, grunt after grunt escaping him as they continued to barrage his armor, denting it, and damaging his insides. Even some saliva began to sputter out from the mouth opening of his mask, from how violent the attacks were.

"T-Tchh… kcgh—"

Thanatos slowly staggered back, looking up as Jing Wei tore through the air and crashed into his guard, his arms barely even able to block any real damage.

The two Gods skid back on the ground, leaving deep marks in the dirt.

The God of Death grew angry, feeling that the younger Goddess was beginning to take advantage. He needed to try harder, but first, he had to do something to break Jing Wei's momentum.

He felt as Jing Wei's kneecap struck his underbelly, forcing him to lose focus.

"Mrnck—!"

Jing Wei landed on one leg in front of him, before catapulting her fist into his stomach in a superman-punch, striking his liver.

A jet-stream of wind blasted out from behind Thanatos's back as the God hunched over, blood suddenly splashing out from his mask's mouth.

Jing Wei let out a laugh. She's dealing real damage! Keep going!

She generated a sphere of concentrated air in her hand and grunted as she shot her hand forward, firmly thrusting the air-blast straight into Thanatos' gut in the same spot she had struck him with her fist.

"KAUGH—!"

Upon impact, the point-blank air-blast attack detonated against the God's body and rattled his insides entirely, a ring-shaped shockwave exploding outwards through the entire forest-area, an ear-shattering boom sounding off and echoing through the entire national park.

Thanatos was sent crashing and thrashing through the forest, being put through thousands and thousands of trees. He opened a single eye as he finally felt his body stop hitting trees and instead start to fall.

"Huh?!"

Thanatos plummeted down into a canyon; his wings were unable to stop him. The God hit the ground with a loud crash that echoed through the area. A small crater formed as the God lay there, panting out of exhaustion and pain.

He opened his eyes, watching as a cyan-colored streak whizzed overhead and began to speed down towards the crater, about to crash right into him.

Thanatos's armor began to glow as he abruptly released a wave of Death Energy from his center position. The cyan streak suddenly dispersed as the winged Goddess was revealed, holding her head and screaming in agony.

Jing Wei felt her body lose some of its life force for a second as every living thing around the area instantly died. Her skin went pale, her eyes looked faded, and her energy decreased severely.

She let out an agonizing moan as her speed decreased to a slow flutter, before the weakened Goddess fell out of the air, falling to the ground with a loud thud, dust exploding out from under her.

"Urgh… T-Thana… I…" Jing Wei groaned, her body shaking as she tried to pick herself back up.

The God of Death held his scythe close to the ground as he used it to stand up. He tore off his mask and threw it onto the ground. His face was dirtied and scrunched with rage. His dark teal eyes glowed with fury. A thin streak of blood lined his chin as he walked toward the Goddess.

"You're so lucky you have divine blood running through those veins of yours. What do you say we see some of it" he growled, reaching down and picking up Jing Wei by her hair.

He lifted her up and un-summoned his scythe, using the new freehand to create a sphere of his own energy in his hand.

He sent it right into her stomach.

"AAGH—!" Jing Wei yelled out, blood instantly erupting from her mouth and splattering all over Thanatos, who put his head down to shield his face.

Jing Wei's zipped-up windbreaker was ruined with a massive hole, her striped shirt underneath was also burned completely, and her red core was revealed underneath, smoking from the heat of the energy.

The God of Death chuckled, watching as Jing Wei winced and whimpered in pain, blood caught in her throat and spilling down her chin. Even tears threatened to fall from her eyes. Thanatos then lightly threw Jing Wei up into the air and reeled his fist back.

He then shot his arm forward with all his strength, his gauntlet glowing. He struck Jing Wei right in the gut, sending her body whizzing through the entire canyon. Miles upon miles. Before finally slamming into a faraway wall of the canyon, breaking straight into it and creating a completely new ravine.

A massive explosion of rock and dust went off, alerting the entire park. A rockslide was triggered. Crushing Jing Wei underneath it.

Thanatos looked down at his fist, then forward.

"Hm…"

He lifted into the air and began to fly forward at a high speed. After traveling about twelve miles, he landed where the massive explosion and rockslide had occurred. Where Jing Wei had made impact with the canyon's walls.

"Come out from under there! I know you're still alive, Jing Wei!" Thanatos yelled into the pile.

After receiving no response, he yelled out again.

"Stop playing hide and seek. This is a sparring session, not some idiotic children's game! You better not be resting up under there, either!"

Once again, no response was heard. The dust finally settled, revealing the massive amounts of rocks and boulders that the explosion against the canyon's wall had caused.

Thanatos closed his eyes shortly, his long white hair flowing in the gentle breeze. He could not sense a trace of Jing Wei's energy.

"Quit hiding yourself, Oathkeeper! Come out here and finish this fight! My death energy only works on mortals, and you know that. You're still alive! Now just…"

Thanatos grew angry. He curled up his fists and yelled out with all his might.

"JUST COME OUT!" He roarsed out.

Suddenly, from the pile of rocks, something shot out in the form of a cyan streak of light.

He grunted out loud, caught a bit off guard. He watched as the streak flew into the air and disappeared before it reappeared right in front of the God of Death.

"WHAT—?!"

The cyan figure then launched its fist at Thanatos, the God reacting to block, but the figure stopped and became transparent. Suddenly, a second appeared behind Thanatos, kicking at the back of his head, and… once again became transparent.

Thanatos growled and blocked faked attacks as he watched the amount of cyan figures build up around him.

"They're… s-some kind of afterimages… what the hell is she up to?!" Thanatos mumbled to himself, his voice stern.

Finally, after the cyan figure dispersed, Thanatos heard something thud behind him. He spun around to see Jing Wei floating a small distance away, her crossbow in hand.

"Full force, into the wind!" she shouted.

Her windbreaker was gone, her shirt was torn, revealing her stomach, her jeans were ripped and dirty, and the soles of her shoes were worn out to be completely flat. She fired her crossbow, the bolt piercing Thanatos's armor, bringing out a short grunt from the God.

He then looked down at the bolt, seeing that it was flaming with a cyan-colored flame. He looked up at Jing Wei, who did nothing but wink.

"No! You little brat, what did you—"

Just then, a massive explosion went off as Jing Wei's crossbolt detonated. The cyan-colored afterimages exploded as well, causing a chain reaction of multiple close-range detonations. Each one sent out powerful waves of air that ruptured and severely damaged the God of Death, both on the outside on the inside with their high-force shockwaves.

Thanatos ended up being slammed into a side of the canyon, a second massive explosion causing a second rockslide that buried the God of Death in thousands of tons of debris.

He did not bother to be dramatic like Jing Wei was, and instantly burst out of the rubble as soon as he could, his scythe nowhere to be seen, his armor clinging onto him by the straps.

He couldn't maintain flight, his wings damaged from the rockslide. He fell onto the ground and couldn't remain standing, staggered forward and falling onto his knees, and then onto all fours.

"Tngh… a-agh…"

The God coughed a bit, a few strings of his saliva falling from his mouth onto the stone beneath his face.

He looked up at Jing Wei, wiping his mouth clean with his forearm and grunting. He tore off his armor plates, leaving only his gauntlets and lower body armor. He wore a thin white t-shirt under his armor, his toned arms showing, his pale white skin glistening in the sun from sweat.

"T-This… is humiliating… but you… you don't have the power to best me! You've gotten this far, but this sparring session is about to end, and soon!" he yelled out, clenching his fists with pure fury riddling his face.

He was genuinely annoyed. Maybe he shouldn't be. Part of him was… embarrassed. Ashamed. He felt silly. And that just made it all worse.

Death incarnate roared upwards into the sky, a ferocious purple aura erupting around him as he let out a thundering yell of power, the ground shaking, the canyon's rocks beginning to tremble and slowly lift up into the air.

Jing Wei watched with a calm expression and an unwavering pair of eyes. She watched as the God powered up, growing stronger and stronger, releasing more and more energy. His aura was radiating brightly with lavender and purple energy and crackled with raw power. It bathed the area in its light, reflecting off her eyes as she stared right up at him.

Somehow, standing before Death himself… she smiled.

"He's getting serious," she thought to herself.

"Finally."

Thanatos growled and roared, his aura flailing and wavering in the wind. He summoned his scythe into his hand and clutched it tightly, swinging it out into the air, cutting stone on the ground from the sheer power of the swing, just with the air force.

He glared at the young Goddess, who stood before him still.

"Come on!" she taunted, beckoning him at her with one of her hands.

Thanatos grunted behind grit teeth. He let out a loud yell as he boosted forward with a now unclockable speed. At least to Jing Wei's current level of power.

A gargantuan shockwave sounded off, shattering the sound barrier instantly. The two Gods clashed, Jing Wei's wide open with pure shock and terror. She had barely been able to raise BOTH of her forearms up to block Thanatos' initial attack.

Her heart dropped into her gut.

"H-He's so much faster now! FUCK!" Jing Wei thought, hearing the thumping of her heartbeat out of sheer panic.

"Come here!" Thanatos yelled, swinging his scythe out in a ginormous arc.

Jing Wei shrieked as she jumped over the attack, front flipping in midair as she flew over Thanatos and tried to kick him in the back.

But Thanatos was too fast. He spun around and caught Jing Wei's kick by the ankle and used it to swing her into the ground, face first.

The ground cracked and shattered into thousands of pieces instantly as Jing Wei's entire body was smashed into the Earth, her insides threatening to rupture from the force, her bones breaking under the pressure. Rock flew upwards as she let out a blood-curdling, throat-tearing cry of pain, her eyes flashing cyan.

Thanatos reeled back and kept hold on Jing Wei's ankle… and from there, began to smash the tiny Goddess into the planet… over and over and over again.

With each slam, more rock flew up. The ground broke more. Crater after crater. Jing Wei's body was shattering.

Her eyes flashed in and out.

Her consciousness was rapidly fading.

Saliva and blood flailed from her mouth and nose.

Her wings were torn up, losing feathers, their bones broken.

Thanatos reeled back for one last final slam that he was sure would end the fight, right then and there.

"It's… over!"

But right as Jing Wei was hurdling towards the ground… her perception… accelerated. And for a few moments, the world moved in what seemed to be slow-motion.

Hyperspeed.

Jing Wei's eyes illuminated with a bright cyan glow, and she shot her hands out beneath herself, right at the ground, where her face was about to smash into. And summoned…

"HUH?!"

Thanatos was suddenly swept off balance and launched into the sky, being violently thrown upwards by a devastatingly powerful burst of spiraling wind. It spun him around in the air, thrashing his body with repeated blasts and bursts of concentrated air, rupturing his organs, shattering his bones, damaging his wings, disorienting him completely as he couldn't stop spinning, grunting, and yelling into the sky.

"W-What the hell?!" Thanatos yelled out, his aura flaring up angrily, his fists clenched up so hard the bones of his knuckles threatened to shatter the metal that made up his gauntlets.

Jing Wei then reappeared in front of him all of a sudden, her eyebrows furrowed with fury, her eyes glowing like torches of pure cyan.

In a flash… she vanished, leaving behind an afterimage—

And before Thanatos could react any further, he felt his ribcage shatter. His lungs were robbed of their air.

Blood shot out of his mouth like a geyser. Steady streams of red flinging through the air, his eyes wide.

What had just happened.

Jing Wei's body appeared in his vision, her foot rammed directly into his sternum.

"W-WHAT…?!" his thoughts rang out, echoing in his mind. "HOW!?"

The Oathkeeper's speed had skyrocketed. Her power had boosted. A shimmering turquoise aura sparkled and raged around her figure, her teeth gritted with effort, sweat streaming down her face as she faced the God of Death in midair.

She had boosted herself fast enough to leave behind an afterimage in front of Thanatos to fake him out, fly backwards- then launch herself back forward, all in under mere milliseconds with equivalent force of thousands of miles worth of speed.

Unfathomable.

Thanatos shot into a mountain. Destroying it entirely. Splitting a hole straight through it and ripping out its other end to land back in the massive canyon, leaving behind yet another giant crater once he landed.

Blood sprinkled up into the air as he coughed. Thanatos sat up, clutching his chest, finding himself struggling to breathe. His eyes looked into the distance, already sensing her energy coming. Not even a few seconds to recover.

But he had to match her. He had to take it further.

He slammed his foot down and widened his stance, his aura roaring upward and surrounding him as he let out another furious yell, his eyes nearly bulging out of his skull, his entire body strained, mouth opening wider and wider the louder he yelled.

"HRAH—!" he thundered, his voice reverberating through the canyon.

Jing Wei closed the distance.

The two clashed.

He felt his boots dig and crack into the ground as he slid back, firmly blocking her charging attack.

"Hrngh!" Jing Wei grunted as she backflipped away.

Thanatos was stern-faced. Glaring at Jing Wei. He wanted her to give this her all.

So the winged Goddess instantly shot into action, recovering from her backflip summoning her crossbow in her hand. She fired a barrage of explosive shots right at her opponent.

"Hmph!" he grunted as the bolts made impact with his gauntlet's vambraces over his forearms. He blocked all the explosions.

He then launched forward from behind the smoke, his arms steaming hot from the explosive bolts. He shot his hand forward and clashed his fist into Jing Wei's shin, which she had used to block his attack and fly slightly above him, about to use her other foot to clock him in his face.

But Thanatos weaved his head out of the way and closed the distance, lunging at Jing Wie with a ferocious yell of effort.

The clash began. Breakneck speed. Blurs. Shockwaves. Booms, explosions, ripples of force through the air, the ground rumbled and shook.

Thanatos weaved through the young Goddess's punches after a few blocks, adapting to her pattern and starting to strike her back multiple times.

He knocked her hand aside in one instance and connected with her jaw before weaving past a counter-attack and hooking her with an uppercut.

Jing Wei's head shot back, her body hovering backwards, before Thanatos reached out, copying her very own technique and step-vanishing forward a few mere inches to grab the Goddess by the throat and lift her up in the air.

"HMRGH…!" she struggled, her hands clawing onto Thanatos' gauntlets, trying to pry his grip loose.

But Thanatos flung her into a nearby cliff-face and sent a purple sphere of pure energy chasing after her.

The Goddess redirected and caught herself, her shattered yet still functional wings flapping rapidly, each movement was painful, but the adrenaline and power surging through her being was more than enough to suppress the agony.

She summoned her katana and deflected the blast like someone hitting a baseball with a bat, sending it into the sky with a blinding explosion.

She dashed forward, before leaving an afterimage that Thanatos jabbed right through.

"Not this again! Damn it— GAAHH!"

The God of Death felt himself get launched into the air and flailed around a second time, but this time he curled up in the air, sort of like a ball, his arms and legs attempting to shield his vitals from taking too much damage from the insane G-forces and air-whips that would normally abuse him within this Persistent Gust.

His eyes tried to grasp ahold of his surroundings. He shut his eyes tightly and felt his guard begin to get bombarded by rapid, sharp attacks. The whirlwind tornado he was caught in hit him endlessly with concentrated blasts of wind.

Jing Wei's hands moved in fluent motions. She thrust and pushed her fists forward, swinging and reeling back, grunting rhythmically. She watched as the God of Death spun and thrashed around; his body being sacked by rapid blows.

He soon began to fume with anger as his power began to rise once again.

"GET ME… OUT OF HERE!"

Thanatos roared out with power as a second wave of death energy rung out.

But Jing Wei was prepared this time around as she yelled out with power, her voice finally showing through with pure rage.

Tears spilled from her eyes from the raw emotion that spurred on her strength.

Her aura spiked up around her, a bright turquoise light bathed and dyed the canyon. White particles crackled and sparked within her aura as the teenager began to push the limits of her energy.

The wave of death energy surged right past Jing Wei's body, having absolutely no effect, differing from its first use.

The Goddess's body rejected its weakening effect, her aura shining brightly. She grinned as she looked up at the God of Death, her fists clutched.

Thanatos broke out of the whirlwind and began to deflect the blasts of wind. He then vanished and appeared in front of Jing Wei, mere meters apart. He growled with grit teeth as he rushed forward, summoning his scythe just to toss it forward.

Jing Wei reacted quickly, her aura burning around her still.

She easily dodged the scythe and jumped right into a brutal melee with her opponent. She roared as she launched a punch at Thanatos that sent a surge of air in a line that cracked the ground beneath it.

Thanatos dodged and returned with his own blow that was also blocked. The fists of the two collided harshly as they glared at one another, a ring of pure air firing out from between their knuckles. Dust flew everywhere.

Thanatos watched as Jing Wei reeled her fist back and attempted to strike his side. He caught her fist and thrusted it back, launching his leg up in a kick. Jing Wei grunted as she lifted her own leg and blocked with her shin. Thanatos angrily spun around, and with a massive yell of rage, landed a massive blow to Jing Wei's cheek with a spinning back-fist that was too fast to react to.

He followed up by grabbing Jing Wei's arm before she could launch back from the force of the attack, his other hand powering up a blast that he planned to shove into her gut, point-blank.

But the caught him by surprise, turning back around and hammering her fist directly into his cheek, violently snapping his head off to the side and breaking the skin of his face with her knuckles, blood flying out through the air.

He took a single step back from the recoil, gritting his teeth as he was forced to let Jing Wei go.

Who in return powered up her own blast.

The two deities proceeded to launch their blasts at each other at the same time. Their hands connected and a massive explosion damaged both Gods point blank as the two blast attacks detonated as a single massive eruption of uncontrollable, volatile energy.

"ARGHH!"

"AAAHH!"

Thanatos flew back, his chest smoking as he launched backwards through the air.

Jing Wei was sent into the ground, her body cracking into the stone and bouncing off a few times before finally sliding to a stop.

She slowly regained her footing, looking up at the God of Death, a few messy streaks of blood lining her face, falling from her nose and mouth, the color of bruises staining her complexion.

The God of Death was panting in and out of his mouth, his back heaving with each breath. He had sustained too much damage to his core. His ribcage was shattered. Breaking into his lungs. He couldn't breathe right. His stamina was burning low. Running on fumes.

He had to end this now.

So he let out a grunt of effort as he launched directly upward into the sky and halted about a mile off the ground, glaring down at Jing Wei.

"Enough!" he thundered from up above.

Jing Wei stared from the ground, heaving for air.

Thanatos began to yell as he generated two spheres of energy, one in each of his hands. They both grew and grew as he charged them up. They began to glow brighter and brighter. His aura flared up around him and bathed him in a display of his pure energy. They also grew larger and larger, his teeth gritting and trembling as he struggled to stay in control.

"T-TRNGHH! G-GCKKK… KCH—HRAAAH…!"

His sounds of effort rang out loudly, his voice echoing with divinity.

He forced the two energy spheres together, watching as they combined into a singular blast that was powered up in both his hands. He lifted both hands above his head, holding the pending blast.

The God looked down at Jing Wei.

"It's over! You can't win!" Thanatos yelled.

Jing Wei couldn't believe her eyes. If that blast hit her, she'd certainly lose the fight.

"No!" she shouted up into the air. She refused to let this end here.

She crouched down and made her aura grow in size, her entire body trembling as she powered up and pushed her power to a new limit, even higher than before. Her eyes were wide at her own prowess.

It was the nature of the Gods, wasn't it? To grow stronger in battle. This was the only true way to gain strength as a deity.

To battle someone of either equal… or greater capability.

As she looked up, her heartbeat began to deafen her hearing. She held both of her hands up and aimed at the sky, her aura beginning to spin and revolve around her like a mighty typhoon. It spun faster and faster, the winds would send just about anybody and anything, no matter how heavy of sturdy, flying up into the sky.

But the Gods could face it. And so could she.

"You won't… be… enough!"

Thanatos finally released a massive roar as he sent his attack forward, a gigantic beam of bright purple energy firing downwards, straight towards the Oathkeeper.

Jing Wei returned with her own powerful shout of effort as her hands absorbed the power of the energy typhoon that had been revolving around her body. Using the momentum and sheer speed behind the energy typhoon, her hands redirected its flow and sent pure, raw, and ferocious Divine Energy launching outwards up into the sky in a blindingly bright display of power, the blast ending up being twice the size of Thanatos', colored in bright cyan.

The two beams clashed together, a bright light forming from the point of impact. Like a supernova.

The energies pushed each other back, each of the Gods pushing powerfully with grit teeth and eyes full of determination.

"Tnghhh… come on!" Thanatos yelled out, attempting to pour more power into his push.

"I'm not losing! Not yet—!" Jing Wei cried out, her feet digging into the ground, cracking the stone beneath her.

Her arms trembled with exertion as she let out massive yell, releasing all her energy all at once.

Her aura erupted and a massive wave of energy destroyed everything in the surrounding area. Her beam multiplied in size AGAIN, and began to push back Thanatos's own attack.

"W-What!? This sudden burst in strength, what happened—"

The God of Death saw as a massive bright light drew closer. His hands grew hot as he felt his beam become shorter and shorter. He yelled out impulsively, trying to push the beam back, but it was far too late.

Thanatos's focus broke as he felt his body become engulfed by Jing Wei's beam, his arms out in front of him, protecting him.

The God of Death's scream of pain was heard throughout the entire National Park.

Up into the sky the massive energy blast traveled.

Channeling its true power. Burning and disintegrating whatever was caught inside it.

Until finally… it began to shrink, growing thinner and thinner… until it dissipated.

Jing Wei released the beam.

Her arms fell to her sides.

She stood in a slumped position, her legs trembling, arms numb.

She was panting heavily, sweat dripping off her face and onto the ground. She stared up at the sky…

And her pupils shrunk with shock.

Faraway in the sky… Thanatos hovered in the air, his arms in front of him, shielding his face.

His entire body steaming with black smoke.

"H-H… HOW…?!" she croaked out, before falling onto her knees.

Thanatos was completely naked from the belt up. His shirt, gauntlets, vambraces, all his torso and shoulder armor… had been obliterated in the blast. His leg armor was hanging on by charred metallic shards. Revealing the black pants he wore underneath.

"HNGH…" he grunted, his voice low. Barely above a pathetic groan.

He dropped his guard. Barely floating in the sky. Stunned. Lightheaded. Winded.

Jing Wei couldn't stop. No recovery. Get up! Stand up!

She forced her trembling body onto its feet, shaking uncontrollably. Her hands slowly curled into fists.

The blast had exhausted her arms entirely. She couldn't use them. Just use your legs!

"HYAAAH!" she roared out.

And she disappeared.

"TGH—?!" Thanatos exclaimed, not seeing a trace of Jing Wei—

Until she step-vanished above him, one of her legs raised all the way.

"HRYAH—!" she belted out. T

The Goddess sent her leg downwards in a devastating axe-kick, her heel cracking into Thanatos' temple and sending him spiraling towards the ground, cutting through the air like a hot knife through butter, about to smash into the ground and create another crater to remember this fight by.

But Jing was exerting herself.

She vanished once again, another after-image left behind. She re-appeared a few meters above the ground, breaking Thanatos's fall with her kneecap, which rammed itself upward right into his spine.

Thanatos' downward momentum combined with Jing Wei's upward movement… made this attack release a harrowing, jarring, wrenching cracking sound as it connected.

"AAAHGHH!" Thanatos cried out, feeling as his spine was obliterated, the sound of the crack booming through the entire area.

His entire body folded over Jing Wei's knee, like a wooden pencil that had been snapped in two.

The Goddess thrust her knee upwards, spun around and performed a 360 turn, her other leg swinging out in a spinning heel kick that smashed into Thanatos and sent him forward, his body turning into a rapid blur that shot forward and broke the sound barrier.

"Faster, FASTER!" Jing Wei cried in her mind.

Jing Wei burst forward and disappeared again.

She faded into Thanatos's vision, letting out a furious grunt as she rammed into him with all her strength, leading with her limp shoulder.

Thanatos' mouth spilled with saliva as his exposed back was left for Jing Wei to strike. She flapped her wings upward to distance herself a bit and sent her foot forward into the center of his backside in a Spartan-kick, and the God hurtled forward, crying out with more pain.

He was being thrashed. Unable to recover from the massive blast he had taken. Not just yet.

Jing Wei's wings shot her through the air with massive speed as she passed up Thanatos's in midair.

But she was slowing down. She had to hurry.

She slid onto the ground, her converse skidding on the dusty floor of the canyon. She looked up and spiked herself upwards, her legs propelling her upwards with massive power, sending a surge of power downwards into the ground as she flew up, the canyon's floor erupting up and falling into pieces.

Her HEAD collided with Thanatos's body as the God of Death was sent upwards, once again struck in his spine from underneath.

His entire body ached; his head was spinning from the high speed onslaught the Goddess could put on. Despite being stronger when it came to brunt force and energy potency, the winged Oathkeeper had the upper hand when it came to speed, it seemed.

He opened his eyes to see Jing Wei a few miles above him.

She had managed to recover her arms just enough to weakly hold her crossbow and aim it downwards, firing a rapid, flashing barrage of glowing crossbow bolts like a machine-gun. He began to shriek and cry out with agony as his body was bombarded with flaming turquoise bolts.

Finally, as Thanatos slowed to a stop in the air, his chest and stomach found itself riddled with Jing Wei's bolts. His vision went slow as he watched droplets of blood slowly float out of his mouth, and from every hole he had in his chest.

He watched as Jing Wei blinked into his sight, her hand aimed out at his body.

"Take this, Thanatos!" she cried.

"It's all I have!"

Her hand erupted with a point-blank energy blast. The God of Death shot downward, his insides shaking. He flailed and spun in the air, hurtling towards the earth… blood trailing from his mouth.

And then… he felt as the bolts on his body began to heat up.

His eyes widened. He grabbed onto one of the bolts with his hand, trying to rip it out. He caught himself in midair with his wings, glaring at Jing Wei.

"J-Jing… Wei…"

The Goddess was hovering in midair. She snapped her fingers, and her eyes narrowed.

"Kaboom."

"NOOO—"

A massive explosion caused by all the explosive bolts that were shot into his body hit the God of Death head on, the explosions going off from within his body, which was even worse than point-blank.

The sky erupted with a massive shockwave of air that expanded outwards in a massive ring, causing the wind to change direction throughout the entire planet.

Trees were snapped in half like twigs. Mountains were smoothened out. The oceans roared with tidal waves. The sky was clear with no sign of any clouds.

Jing Wei hovered patiently. She slowly snapped her crossbow away, and let her arms rest at her sides.

Her wings carefully carried her body, her chest heaving up and down with her exhausted breaths. She sucked in air through her mouth, her shirt torn, her bra visible underneath. Her jeans were ripped into rags that loosely covered her legs; the soles of her shoes were completely smoothened out to have no grip at all.

She closed her eyes, locking onto a faint energy signal she sensed. She flew over to it, slowly. She fluttered forward for a bit, before landing at the site of a small crater. She walked over to it, looking into it.

Laying in the center of it was a steaming Thanatos, his entire top half covered in bolt piercings, cuts, and bruises. Blood traced the outer area of his mouth as he lay motionless. The armor on his legs was loose and dismantled.

Jing Wei peered down, her twin ponytails flowing in the wind.

"Thana… get up…" she said, panting lightly.

The God of Death shifted lightly. His eyelids twitched as he opened his eyes. He groaned as he moved slowly, slowly sitting up. His eyes were wide with shock as he touched his own aching body. He turned his body over until he was on his hands and knees. He then slid one of his legs under, using his other hand for support. With a final push, he lifted himself to his feet, his knees shaking.

Thanatos looked up, panting desperately. Sweat trickled down the side of his head, his mouth was wide, taking on oxygen. He swallowed blood before speaking.

"You've… you've gotten so much stronger… d-during this fight…" he stammered, his voice shaking. \

He slowly began to flap his wings as he gently lifted up off the ground. Jing Wei watched as the other God gently landed in front of her.

"I'm honestly… impres—"

The God paused as he released a grunt, holding his side. He fell onto one knee, coughing out small spurts of blood.

Jing Wei rushed to his aid, trying to hold him up.

"I… oh no, Thana—I overdid it! I went too far; this isn't a death battle… I… I'm sorry…" the young Goddess muttered, her voice weak and full of concern.

Her vision clouded as she felt her eyes well up with tears, her pupils growing large. Her lips quivered lightly as she looked at her fellow God.

Thanatos cleared his throat before spitting, leaving another wad of blood on the ground. He exhaled, looking at Jing Wei. His facial expression softened.

"It's alright… I'll be okay. You did good."

Jing Wei shook her head. She began to cry softly, hugging the God of Death. Thanatos felt the young Goddess's energy lower, and her guard fell.

He hugged her, rubbing her back gently.

"I will be okay. Do you wanna know why…?" Thanatos asked.

Jing Wei sniffled, choking on a sob. She swallowed and backed up, her hands placed on Thanatos's shoulders. Her cheeks and nose were red, her face lined with hot tears. Her puffy eyes looked at the God of Death, her mouth slowly opening.

"Why…?"

Thanatos's face shifted into a wide grin.

"Because…"

Jing Wei's vision grew dark as she felt her body become fragile and feeble. Her eyes widened as she felt her heartbeat slow to almost nothing.

With a thud, she fell on her side, pain crackling through her as a wave of death energy struck her point-blank. Meaning its effect was multiplied.

"The lower a God's guard and energy, the more effective an attack is. And the more damage the deity will take," Thanatos narrated… dramatically.

"Young Jing Wei, this might not have been a death battle… but you should've treated it as such. A battle does not stop until the enemy cannot move and is rendered unable to fight or has been killed." Thanatos said, watching as Jing Wei moaned and sobbed, her body shaking, her skin pale, her energy lowered to that of a mere human child.

"You shouldn't have dropped your guard. Learn from this experience, kid."

Thanatos bent down and turned the small Goddess onto her back. He then bent down and grabbed her by her face. Jing Wei's eyes went wide as she felt her body lift up into the air, before being abruptly dropped.

She felt her back explode with a horrible pain that racked her body.

"THIS… THIS IS HOW YOU END A FIGHT!"

Thanatos slammed Jing Wei into the ground with his arm, the floor cracking and shattering beneath the force. Jing Wei's body was destroyed from the attack as the Goddess clung to life.

Thanatos lifted her back up, still holding her by her face. He reeled his fist back, before dropping the Goddess for a moment, again. He threw forward a massive punch to Jing Wei's stomach, a purple stream of energy flying out from her back.

The Goddess flew back, her body folded. Thanatos put his arms out and created two duplicate scythes.

He shot them forward, both spinning rapidly as they whizzed toward the Goddess, chasing after her as she pierced through the air.

Suddenly, Jing Wei's vision returned.

She was launched far away enough from Thanatos to be able to negate the effect of his Death Energy aura. And thus… her strength was permitted to rejuvenate.

Her hands curled into fists, her teeth gnashed together and gritted harshly, her knees came up in midair, curling up, her eyes squeezing shut tightly to gather her focus, her breath suspended, and her entire body was tensed up, preparing every muscle she had to expend whatever she had left.

Jing Wei reached deep down into her heart for the very last drop of energy and stamina she had left in her.

With a massive yell, Jing Wei exploded with a blazing aura that blinded the God of Death, the Goddess briefly pushing herself back to her full power. The blast of outward energy from her aura was strong enough to destroy the scythe duplicates that Thanatos had launched at her, disintegrating them before they could hit her.

Thanatos shook his head in disbelief, before becoming blindly enraged.

"Stubborn BRAT! I'll END you!"

Thanatos shot forward, his purple aura exploding around him, sending a wave of purple smoke out into the area. He shot his kneecap into Jing Wei's stomach, grinning. But his expression soon fell into a horrified look of terror as Jing Wei tanked the kneecap and instantly shot her fist into his face.

Thanatos flew back with a grunt, crashing and skidding into the ground. He flipped and caught himself, digging his feet into the ground. He raised his hand up shot forth four duplicate scythes that all flashed toward Jing Wei.

"Fuck! He's zoning me! I don't have enough time to fight this way! I have to get close and make it count!" she thought to herself, and boosted forward, her energy levels running on fumes.

The Goddess dodged the first, deflected the second, and then fell to the ground and squatted down before rocket-launching straight up in into the sky, two jet-streams of hot air tailing behind her as she spun through the air.

The two remaining scythe blasts followed at either side of Jing Wei, before attempting to slam into her.

The Goddess shot her arms out, the scythes exploding at the ends of her glowing palms on each side.

Thanatos watched in shock as Jing Wei disappeared from sight.

"How's she still this fast?!" he shouted in his consciousness.

He sensed an energy signature rapidly appear behind him.

So, he yelled out with effort as he shot his elbow behind him in a preemptive strike, pushing it with his other hand. He felt his elbow clash with Jing Wei's fist, blocking her punch right in time.

The two auras flared and roared out, energy flaring everywhere. Jing Wei's shirt was torn off from the wind, her bra fully exposed. Her jeans ripped and shredded into shorts, her hair bands unwound and snapped, causing her hair to fall loose and flail about in the wind.

Thanatos's remaining armor plates flew off and broke. He now stood shirtless and wearing only black pants and his boots.

His muscles flexed as he shoved his hands forward, Jing Wei doing the same. Their fingers intertwined as they pushed against one another, glaring into the other's eyes. The muscles and veins in their arms all protruded as their grips tightened, the arms of both Gods trembling with tension and pressure.

The feet of both Gods cracked into the ground, leaving solid marks in the ground. The floor cracked and fractured, loose stones and rocks floating into the air around them.

Their auras kept blazing, their eyes still glared, their hands still gripped together, the two Gods began to yell as they pushed against each other, Jing Wei's face growing red, Thanatos's eyes growing black.

"RAAHH!" Jing Wei cried out. Her biceps pulsed, her forearms shaking.

"GAAAH!" Thanatos thundered, his triceps flexed, the veins on his shoulders disgustingly obvious.

Finally, Thanatos stopped yelling. He glared at Jing Wei, his eyes black.

"You don't understand, do you?!" he yelled out, beginning to laugh.

Jing Wei's heart stopped as she felt her energy begin to decrease.

"N-NO!"

Thanatos's grin grew filled with malice.

"You're running on fumes! I have more stamina, I have more physical strength, I have a higher energy level, I am the more powerful God! I… am…"

Thanatos pushed at his full strength, his energy and power rising to his maximum, completely overpowering the young Goddess.

Jing Wei yelled out, trying to hold on. She felt her legs begin to give in, her feet cracking deeper and deeper into the ground. Her aura began to blink, her energy fluctuating. She held on, her grip beginning to loosen as her arms grew weaker.

Tears filled her eyes once again as she fell onto one knee, her back arching to look up at Thanatos.

"THE WINNER!" Thanatos yelled out as he launched his knee upwards and crashed it directly into Jing Wei's jaw.

A massive shockwave rung out, blowing all and any debris away. The Goddess's head shot back, her neck releasing a loud crack, with Thanatos keeping her in place with his grip.

As soon as the knee landed, Jing Wei's aura dispersed instantly, her grip went loose, and her body went limp.

Thanatos held onto Jing Wei's delicate, soft hands as she slumped forward, her arms up in the air as her head hung low, her hair draping over her face. The God pulled the Goddess up, before throwing her over his shoulder.

The Goddess fell onto the ground, dust clearing as she hit the stone floor. She laid on her stomach, motionless.

Thanatos panted as he dropped his aura, lowering his energy. He slowly walked back over to Jing Wei, standing over her. He looked down upon her, looking at her torn jeans that were now mere shorts, her bra straps that were loosely tied, and her torn, ripped shoes with snapped laces.

He knelt down and sat next to the girl's limp body. He leaned over and put two fingers underneath her jaw, pressing into her neck.

He felt a slow, faint pulse.

"Still breathing…" he'd say to himself, sighing in relief.

Thanatos breathed intensely through his mouth, sweat trickling down the sides of his head. He wiped his face with his forearms, before looking at himself. He was entirely topless, his body covered in red marks, bruises, and spills of blood. Burn marks littered his body. His blood stained areas where Jing Wei's energy blasts burned and blew off some of his flesh.

Some of the wounds were even still steaming with light smoke.

Thanatos' eyes fell upon the unconscious Oathkeeper.

"For being such a young deity… you have an extraordinarily high amount of power and energy. I could feel the weight behind your blows, the power behind your attacks… the passion behind your fighting. I actually struggled pushing against you. The potential you have as a powerful God has never been more obvious…" Thanatos muttered to Jing Wei.

Even if she couldn't hear him.

He looked away for a second, coughing. He cleared his throat and held his aching side.

"You have to unlock that potential to grow even stronger. When you do, I believe you'll be unstoppable. You may not believe it, but you do have the ability to rival Major Gods. Keep working hard, Oathkeeper."

With those words, Thanatos gently picked up the young Goddess's body. He carried her in his arms in the bridal style, gently using his wings to fly up and out of the ravaged National Park.

Mountains were destroyed, valleys were covered in craters, the canyon was torn apart and destroyed, forests were cleared out with shattered trees, and massive damage from energy blasts and shockwaves was all left behind.

Terra and Geb weren't going to enjoy repairing this battle's location.

---

After about thirty minutes of flying, the Goddess began to wake up. She moaned softly, her hand automatically drifting to her head and neck. She slowly opened her eyes and looked around, gasping once she realized where she was.

"H-Huh…? Oh!" she exhaled.

Then, she turned her head over and saw the God of Death, sitting right next to where she had woken up.

"Ah—Thanatos!" The young Goddess cried. She squirmed idly, clutching at her… clothes?

Wasn't her shirt torn up just a second ago?

Jing Wei exhaled, realizing that she was in back in Titan City. She smiled, looking up at Thanatos, who had set her down on a bench that was outside of her house. She sat up from her laying position and fixed her hair a little.

She looked down at herself, seeing that she was no longer injured at all, and that she was wearing a fresh white T-shirt with gray sweatpants. Her shoes and socks had been taken off and her little feet were tucked in a pair of soft moccasins.

"When… did we get here?" Jing Wei asked, looking up at Thanatos.

"About ten minutes ago," the God of Death answered in a cold tone.

He sat with his arms crossed, his lower half still covered in battered black combatant pants. His boots still dirtied and worn from the battle. His top half was covered by a black T-shirt that looked… too small for him.

"Did… did you change me…?" Jing Wei asked, her cheeks red.

Thanatos uncrossed his arms and looked over, his brows furrowed.

"N-No! Of course not!" he quickly replied, tightening his grip on his biceps. "All I did was bring you to your house. Amaterasu came out to change you and fed you the healing pot."

He lowered his head and chuckled.

"She poured it in a baby bottle and fed it to you that way," he told her.

"S-Shut up!" Jing Wei snapped, playfully slapping Thanatos on the arm.

The God laughed quietly, keeping his arms crossed the whole time.

The Oathkeeper shook her head, huffing. She blew air on her bangs, before grumpily leaning back on the bench. The sun was still out, with the birds still singing. The bright blue sky shined radiantly up above.

"Whose shirt is that?" Jing Wei asked.

"One of Susano's."

Jing Wei giggled. "It looks way small on you."

Thanatos shrugged, lifting a finger off his bicep. "Cause it is."

The two laughed together, before falling silent again. Jing Wei leaned forward, putting her hands on her lap. She swung her feet back and forth, making her toes wiggle inside the warm moccasins.

"So… how do you think I did?" Jing Wei finally asked.

Thanatos turned to her, his face stern.

"I think you did terribly. I told you that you would never stand a chance against me in a real fight. That show is nonsense, and I knew it," the God of Death proclaimed, his white teeth curved in a sinister expression.

The young Goddess rolled her eyes. "Oh, whatever! I think I did pretty good!" she smiled to herself, swinging her feet more.

The God of Death scoffed, looking away. "Whatever makes you feel better."

"H-Hey!" Jing Wei cried out.

Thanatos chuckled quietly to himself, Jing Wei squawking into his ear about nonsense.

He eventually zoned out, his eyes focused on the beautiful grass that made up Jing Wei's front lawn. He smiled to himself slightly, thinking about his little winged friend.

"The truth is… you did fantastic. Jing Wei… you've got amazing strength bubbling deep inside of you… you've just got to find it."

---

And that concludes a second entry into the Book of Battles! This one is slightly longer than the first and did get a bit more personal than the first, so I hope that made it a bit more enjoyable.

Although I do think that the fight choreography for this one was a little less detailed, but more... explosive, I guess. I wanted to be more dramatic with ranged abilities in this one, so... that's that.

Anyway, like I said, updates for this story are random! I'll probably come out with one soon though. Fantasy fight scenes are fun to write. Especially with so many interesting character match-ups to choose from.

Till the next battle, adieu!