Everything was foreign to Gael here. From the trees and plant life to the insects and animals. However, amongst all these things there was one thing that was not foreign to him, a thing he had now grown used to. Not a hollow dying sun, nor a full moon, but the drunken man walking next to him.
For the past day, Petre was still drunk. And for the past day Gael has had to put up with an onslaught of random questions that were mostly idiotic like, 'Do you ever relieve yourself? I have yet to see you do it.' Or, 'How much stuff could you fit in that gaping hole of a chest you got?' and, "Hey is your cape actually your hair stained with blood or something?"
Granted some of them felt like an actual question, especially the first one. Undead did not eat that often unless of course they were cannibals and wanted humanity like him once. But as for actual food, an undead never eats, and so they never have a need to do that. To be blunt, sometimes he forgot that humans did that, like so many other things he forgot.
Gael knew it sounded dumb but it was the truth. Of course, that fact would always hit him when he died in a sewer full of toxic dung. Another blessing from the curse that his sense of smell was dulled greatly even then.
Anyway, he never answered Petre's questions. No point in talking to a drunk, though he had hoped Petre would pass out soon from the alcohol. Just how strong was that wine? Far as Gael knew no wine, not even in Lordran, was strong enough to last a full day.
There was a question Gael had in his mind but he'll wait for when Petre had sobered up to ask.
Gael looked up at the sky above, only to see countless leaves blocking his vision. He could see the sun pierce through them, but he could not figure out how much light they had left for the day. He could just tear down the trees but Gael was in a foreign land. And foreign land meant foreign enemies. And considering that Poseidon woman was able to kill him, then it would not be far off to assume others had the strength to kill him as well, or at least be an actual threat to him.
Then an idea came to Gael's head, "Petre, what time of day is it?" Spoke Gael out of the blue as Petre was in mid-sentence asking him another question.
"You look like my grandfather, are you hi- hm? What time of day is it? Uhh," Petre looked up as well and seemed to come to a similar conclusion as Gael did. "I have an idea. Wait right there!" Petre then placed down both of the boxes that he had still been carrying. Then rubbing his hands, Petre rushed to one of the trees and started climbing.
It didn't take long before Petre disappeared into the leaves up above. A short moment later Petre spoke up, "LOOKS LIKE THE SUN IS ABOUT TO SEt... sun is abo..." Petre's voice started to go quiet before Petre suddenly fell face-first on the ground with a loud thud.
Gael slowly looked down on the unconscious drunk in front of him. Bending down, Gael gently checked if his heart was still thumping. Then he checked to see if Petre merely passed out or was attacked. Eventually, Gael came to the conclusion that it was not an attack and he merely passed out. Seems Gael would now have his chance to talk to Petre, that is after he woke up.
Though the idea to just leave the man and go on his own way was tempting, Gael decided otherwise. The man knew more on this land than he did, and he could speak their tongue. It was probably best if he stuck with this man for now. Now, however, Gael had to prepare for camp.
The storm still raged on, its destruction not ceasing from either the sky above or waters below. Piles of bodies of both mamono and chaos demons accumulated on the ocean floor. Even after so much death without rest, the defenders of Atlantis did not yield. Though the city's defenses were crumbling, they still stood defiantly.
The defenders would not yield, even as their numbers dwindled and fell. They could not let the chaos gods gain an inch of ground. For even though they were affected by the current demon lord, their desire to bring ruin to the world was still strong. And if they gained control of the oceans, then it would only be a matter of time before the rest of the world would follow suit.
Indeed, whatever side had the oceans would have the advantage in the mortal realm.
Up above the waters, the gods knew this as well. And so because of that not one of them was yielding either. This battle would be the deciding factor of the war. Even if a god survived after their defeat, there would be no more hope of victory if they lost this battle in the end.
Talos and the multi-headed chaos god still struggled, his hands not releasing their iron grip nor did the chaos god release its bite. Both metal and flesh were tired and were in a stalemate and something was needed to break it.
"TALOS, ACTIVATE THE CORE WEAPON!" Yelled Hephaestus. Suddenly Talos' chest began to slide open, revealing a giant orb covered in dark metal. This core was made of all forms of energy Hephaestus knew of. It flowed with electricity, divine mana, normal mana, demonic energy, and was made from a piece of his own divine hammer. No other core made by mortals or himself was strong enough to power Talos.
The chaos god released all their mouths and desperately tried to escape, but Talos would not let them. Then from the core, a great white beam of energy shot out and pierced the chest of the chaos god. Like a beacon of light, the beam of energy burst from the other side of the chaos god and disintegrated a group of chaos demons behind it.
When the energy faded, there was nothing left of the chaos god's chest but a gaping hole. Then like a house of cards that had been disturbed, their body collapsed in on itself as it fell into the waters below. But not before each individual head of the chaos god split off and began to act on its own accord.
Steam started to burst from the core and joints of Talos, their energy currently spent. Though yes the core weapon was powerful, it left Talos far weaker for a long while. This was because the core over time built up demonic, divine mana, and normal mana. And when not used for the weapon, all that built-up energy was used to strengthen Talos in every way.
Hephaestus scowled as chaos demons and the severed heads swam towards him with their necks still attached, giving them a snake-like appearance. "Talos and I may be worse for wear, but we ain't done yet!"
Meanwhile, Ares was fighting on the defensive, barely keeping the multi-armed abomination from killing her. They would not allow her a moment to rest nor give her a chance to land a blow on them. Attack, parried, riposte, dodge, block, attack was the cycle of their fight. It was only due to her countless millennia of combat experience and reaction speed that Ares was still alive.
Ares growled as she blocked another blow of one of the flesh-like blades. Has the chaos god gotten stronger since their last fight? No, they had grown in skill and had long since adapted to every form of fighting style Ares knew. Long ago in their previous fight, the chaos god was still a great challenge but not this much!
Back then their fight lasted only a few hours as she slowly disarmed the chaos god, but now it had been days and she had yet to land a blow. This needed to change quickly, she needed to- "GAH!" Yelled Ares as her shield arm was severed off, her blood now pouring out as her shield fell to the waters below. How the tables have turned since their last fight.
Twirling its blade, the chaos god stopped in its attack as if mocking her. Ares stared at the abomination, her determination to win still unwavering, "You've gotten far better than me, I admit … I can still win," Ares took a sharp breath,"I hate doing this, but I have no choice," Ares then raised her divine sword upright in front of her, "Divine blade, given unto me by the chief god, I beseech thee now! LEND ME YOUR DIVINE WRATH!"
At those words, the divine blade began to twist and wriggle with life as its form twisted into a longer and sharper sword. Its once golden-colored steel changed into pure dark color. Then a dark red aura grew around both the blade and Ares as her breathing became erratic and her eyes filled with rage. Nearby mamono also suddenly had the same aura and rage within them.
Once again the two warrior gods fought, Ares now able to keep up with the multitude of hands swinging at her. Then in a single precise strike, Ares finally managed to land a blow, severing off one of the chaos god's hands. Now the chaos god was forced to fight on the defensive, the tables turning once again.
At another part of the battlefield, Bacchus struggled against the multi-mouthed chaos god. Their countless arms were still choking her and restraining every part of her body. But even as her life flashed before her eyes, and vision became blurry, Bacchus did not yield.
But fate was not on her side as the arms then dug their fingers into her flesh and ripped her in half. As the two pieces of Bacchus' body fell to the waters below, the chaos god laughed as it held the divine chalice in its hand. This was her fated death.
This was her fate at the moment. But it was not yet written in stone, for it had yet to happen. Through Hel's will, Bacchus' near future was rewritten. As if on a lucky streak, the countless arms unintentionally loosened their grip, allowing Bacchus to tear free from them and rip the divine chalice from their hands.
Suddenly the waters below the chaos god rumbled from it, a massive skeletal arm rose. The multi-mouthed orb however was able to react fast enough, ascending higher in the sky and avoiding the hand as it clenched tight. Seeing this Hel formed a portal behind Bacchus as she fell backwards in a drunken stupor.
Above the hovering chaos god, a portal opened and Bacchus fell through. "NOW!" Yelled out Hel.
Turning mid-air to face the chaos god, a smile formed on Bacchus' face, "ALRIGHT DIVINE CHALICE, LETSH GIVE EM A NOTHA DOSE OF YA WORST WINE!" Yelled Bacchus, aiming her chalice down on the chaos god. Realizing what was about to happen, the multitude of arms rushed out of its mouths and formed a magic barrier as a tidal wave of burning wine rained down in an instant.
From below on the ocean floor, the corpses of fish, mamono, and chaos demons were all dragged towards the skeletal hand before being fused to it. Then as the corpses became part of the hand, the skeletal hand began to rise further out of the water. Every one of the mouths of the chaos demon turned to a frown before splitting the other half of its arms to form a magic barrier below.
At first, the barriers held, but slowly their strength began to wane as their own barriers started to crush them. Both the force of Bacchus' seemingly infinite wine and Hel's every growing skeletal hand were too much. And so like a balloon, the chaos god burst into a red paste, only some of its mouths and arms remained.
Grief began to spread throughout Hel's mind as Bacchus descended next to her, "Thanskh for the help Hel. You are way better than the lasht god before ya," Slurred Bacchus in an attempt to comfort her.
Hel looked up at Bacchus, "Thank you I- '' Suddenly there was a rumbling from the water, causing both Hel and Bacchus to turn. From the waters, severed eyes and mouths burst from the water and hovered in the air. Each one of the eyes gave them a look of death, and each of the mouths gnashed their teeth.
"Ah Hel, donsht you know whensh to quiet and stay dead!?" Blurted out Bacchus.
"I... we have no choice do we?" Asked Hel, looking at Bacchus who merely gave a grin and shook her head, "Fine, let's do this!"
As this happened Bastet, Eros, and the Seraphim were still busy fighting against the main army of the chaos gods. Eros magic and range support, air support from both the Seraphim and Bastet, and the main army of Poseidon barely kept the horde of chaos demons at bay. Then from the waters came a new foe for them.
Countless severed arms began to swim towards the two gods and the angel, tearing through anyone who was in their way. Any mamono, angel, or even chaos demon that got in their way was soon torn and ripped to shreds. Nothing was going to stop them.
Finally, there was the eye of the battle's storm, the eye of said storm being anything but calm.
The leading chaos god raised their flesh like a trident and thrust it forward at Poseidon. In an instant Poseidon dashed out of the way, avoiding the skyscraper of a weapon. Because of the chaos god's size, being larger than any other of the chaos gods, one would think it would be slow and easy to avoid. This was the opposite as it was just as fast as Poseidon was.
In truth, if it wasn't for Poseidon's ability to predict her opponent's movements, she would have been turned to mush by that attack. And that was a problem. If she had fought her sister here alone, then Poseidon would still have a decent amount of influence and control over the waters to easily win. But with all these other chaos gods nearby, with their numbers not seeming to dwindle any time soon, this fight was heavily against her favor.
But even still Poseidon had a plan. Diving underwater, Poseidon managed to avoid another blow of the chaos god's trident. Then she began to swim towards the eldritch being. Though they were far bigger, stronger, and just as fast as her, Poseidon still had an advantage. She was much smaller, meaning she would have an easier time avoiding detection.
So she would try and finish this battle before the chaos god realized what was happening. As she got closer to the chaos god, she could see their long legs stretch into the abyss of the ocean, its bottom too far down to be seen. Then Suddenly a long tail swung from behind the chaos god at her.
Thankfully she was the best swimmer since the dawn of creation, so she was able to avoid the tail from hitting her. But suddenly the tail split into a multitude of tentacles that turned and rushed towards her. Poseidon kept dodging and keeping the tentacles at bay before looking up, only to see the chaos god was looking down directly at her with its countless eyes.
Realizing her plan had failed completely Poseidon began to retreat, barely avoiding the trident as it plunged down into the water towards her. However, the tentacles began to close in on her with their overwhelming numbers. Having nowhere else to go, Poseidon leaped out of the water.
But even still, there was no end to the tentacles as from the green hole-covered skin of the chaos god, more tentacles grew out and rushed for her. From the outside, it looked like an orb of tentacles getting smaller as they closed in one Poseidon.
She would not die here, she would not lose now! Unrelenting was her series of strikes on the tentacles as they closed in. But no matter how many attacks she did the tentacles did not stop, they did not cease. Poseidon stopped and took a deep breath to concentrate, her eyes becoming a little more red. Then with one single swing of her trident, she tore all the tentacles in two.
The chaos god screamed in pain as Poseidon burst out of the orb of tentacles. Slowly her vision cleared up from the blood on her face, only to see a massive trident rushing towards her. There was no time to react as she was impaled by the trident. The chaos god had recovered far faster than she had thought.
Blood started to rush out of her mouth, her tongue tasting its flavor. Her skin became deathly pale as she weakly looked up at the chaos god. Then in a fit of rage, it threw her off towards the waters. But before she crashed into the waters, countless more tentacles formed and began to cover Poseidon. Not a bit of her could be seen.
The chaos god wanted to kill Poseidon painfully and slowly, it wanted to enjoy and savor this moment.
As the tentacles slowly crushed Poseidon, she closed her eyes in defeat. She had lost and there was nothing left. she could hear the muffled cheering of the chaos gods. Millions, no, countless lives would now die because of her failure. She had lost.
And so Poseidon's mind started to fade away as her life flashed before her eyes.
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Blood, that was the flavour she tasted in her slit open mouth.
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Pain, that was what she felt as the bones of her body began to snap and break. The gaping wound in her chest stinging uncontrollably as well.
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Screaming, that was all that she could hear now.
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Death... Death was all around her now.
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Was it just her, or was she getting a sense of deja vu from all of this?
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It all felt so familiar, like a dream, or an old memory. Why though?
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She could remember all the times the old chief god told her to kill. She hated killing even then, didn't she?
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Even now she was killing again, something Poseidon swore she'd never do. Was she a murderer?
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NO! No... that was for the greater good.
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Greater good..?
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Poseidon stopped at that. For the greater good, that was the excuse the chief god of old always gave her. Every time she asked why, it was always that reason, and she never questioned it further. Why though? Why only at the end did she truly question them? Then she realized something within her fading consciousness.
She was using that same reason, even now. Poseidon was just using it as an excuse to kill, a reason to allow a deep part of her to live again. Yes... yes, that was why. She was not doing this for good or for evil. No, she was doing this for herself, for power, for blood, for death! Deep down she enjoyed killing and she knew this
And at that moment something in Poseidon snapped, something forgotten was remembered, something primal was awoken. Slowly Poseidon tightened her grip around the divine trident.
As the tentacles crushed Poseidon, they suddenly froze into solid ice. Then in an instant, they burst into countless pieces as a blood-red mist filled the area. When the mist cleared a figure could be seen.
Their skin was deep blue and covered with scales, their hair white as snow, their nails as long and sharp as claws, and their hands and feet were webbed. And from their slit mouth, one could see only fangs of teeth.
"Impossible, you cannot still have that much control over the waters!" Roared the chaos god as it sent more tentacles. Before the tentacles could even touch the water goddess, their hair suddenly reached out and severed off each and every tentacle. It was like it had a mind of its own.
A twisted smile formed on the ocean goddess' face, a dark red aura surrounding her and the divine trident, "Poseidon is gone..." Suddenly her eyes shot open, revealing not only her pupils red, but her eyes were entirely bloodshot red, "AND NEPTUNE IS BACK!"
Nearby, the fallen god fell the chaos god against her again before turning towards Poseidon. A look of horror on her face as she panted, "What... No... What have I done?"
(A/N)
Before anyone asks Yami, Sasha, and Druella will return with their own chapter(s) After this segment/arc of the story. The rest of this arc is focusing on Poseidon/Neptune, Gael & Petre, and that secret character I have had briefly at the end of a few chapters.