They landed on some kind of dessert as Theseus held Sadie like a princess carry. They got off the floating boat and landed on the desert, to which Theseus put her down as Meredith and Kuroka went to her and used their magic/senjutsu to heal her.
"Is she going to make it?" Carter questioned with worry as he looked down at his sister.
"I don't know Carter, these wounds seem very grave and fatal. It would take time to heal but Sorbet hit her head hard, giving her a concussion." Meredith answered while trying to heal her, eventually winding up placing her head on a pillow and covering her with a blanket.
"Our only hope is that she would get out of it as quickly as possible, or else Set will unleash a powerful storm." Meredith stated, frowning at the possible danger still present in this situation. Worse still, was that she had a point.
Carter gripped his hand in anger before looking at Sadie. "Sadie, you can do it….. Come back to us." he muttered to her, as he hopes she would awake from her coma state before it's too late.
Off to the side, Theseus arched a brow when something reached his senses. It didn't take him long to figure out that he had sensed divinity somewhere, so he proceeded to look around for the source. He looked everywhere before finally zeroing in on Sadie's unconscious form, where he finally found the divinity's source. "The hell?" He whispered in confusion as to not alarm the others. He wasn't sure of the facts just yet, hence why he hadn't said anything to the rest of the group, it would just cause needless worry which was the exact OPPOSITE to what they needed right now.
Fortunately, he didn't seem to need to say anything, considering that Sadie soon started fluttering her eyes as she tried to open them before she finally woke up. "Uhhhh." she groaned as she put a hand on her head to try to get rid of the headache.
"Sadie's waking up! It's a miraculous recovery!" Amos said in surprise.
"Would you look at that Kuroh, it seems luck is on our side." Vali commented smugly, which made the aforementioned katana-wielding man turn his head to Vali with twitching eyes.
"Luck huh? Then why would you not explain the time you made us work on a coal mine which almost destroyed the entire structure?" he questioned irritably.
His question did serve to irk the white dragon emperor though, as evident by how Vali scooted up so the two directly faced one another. "Oh, you're bringing that up, huh butler boy? At least I managed to find a clue to where that fucking vampire was!" he hissed back like a serpent… though considering how dragons were sometimes serpentine it wasn't too much of a stretch.
"It took us three weeks to even find a single clue, one which you destroyed and almost got us killed!"
At this point, the boys argument had attracted the rest of the group's attention with their escalating intensity, Vali and Kuroh now butting their foreheads together with bared teeth and exposed fangs. Not only that, but Carter had once grasped Theseus's sleeve to ask him if he could put a stop to this, only for the male to respond negatively. They were on a roll now, and thus they couldn't be stopped anymore. "At least I had the results!"
"Results?! Bah! More like you just only found him having sex with a man!" This made Theseus, Vali, Carter, and Amos turn green at the thought (especially Vali since he had a front-row seat to such an experience) while the girls imagined that which wound up having their faces turn red, their minds running wild with all sorts of erotic yaoi BL stuff which men wouldn't go near even with a 12-foot pole.
"Shut up will ya?! I just had that nightmare wiped out, and you just HAD to bring it back!" Vali roared, his revulsion temporary and now replaced with searing anger. Heck, inside his mind he could hear Albion roaring while trying to claw his eyes out to get rid of that horrific image. Let's just say that the two of them could have potentially become a pair of homophobes that day, and leave it at that.
Kuroh on the other hand, was on a roll and he would NOT be stopping now. "Good! At least I can remind you of something whenever sir Integra makes us clean the floors! ALL OF THEM! WITH A TOOTHBRUSH!"
"YOU WANNA GO HUMAN SPROUT?! I'LL TAKE YOU ON ANYTIME NOW!"
Theseus had his hand on his eyes in annoyance as they kept arguing, only growing louder and louder with each passing insult. He dragged the limb down his face before pulling out his bolter which caused a flower of curiosity to sprout within Carter as he saw a unique gun in his hand.
BOOM!
"Alright, that's enough." Theseus said as he fired the gun, Carter falling back onto his backside at the imaginary explosion the bolter did. "We have more important things to do than argue like a pair of hyenas." he said to them.
"Who are you calling a hyena-mmmhhhhhh!" Vali made about to argue with him had Theseus not covered his mouth with sand.
While seeing Vali eventually stop struggling and calm down (while Kuroh got similar treatment from the descendant after he tried to stoke Vali's flames again), Kuroka gave a disappointed whine at the fact that the eye catching scene had ended. "Awww, why did you do that nya? I wanted to see him dominate the wannabe butler boy nya?" she questioned with want.
To respond to that without utterly blasting the Sekoshou, Theseus wiggled his fingers as he cracked them with imitation in Kuroka's direction. "I'll lock you up in my shark tanks and have them taste cat meat since they love to try new stuff." his face shadowed as his eyes glowed in the dark towards Kuroka.
The intended threat did its job well, probably too well if the way Kuroka lost all her skin color was any indication. "NYA! No thanks!" In an instant, her form became a blur as she jumped behind the boat, doing her best in the task of hiding from Theseus, the black haired girl shivering at the thought of being tossed in the shark tank. ESPECIALLY Theseus's since he usually kept the more brutal of sharks in there. They would take their time devouring her flesh.
That done, Theseus turned towards Amos with a serious expression. "And how was the trip on phoenix Amos? Did you see the red god?" he questioned him as Amos nodded his head.
"Yes I did, but I was a fool in looking for him. Set has become more powerful than I could have imagined, with his spirit being tied to the red pyramid." The dark-skinned man replied. Theseus narrowed his eyes at his explanation as the group became worried that Set was growing stronger.
"That's not good, the more we waste time the more he grows stronger, have you found anything at the red pyramid Amos? And does that mean he won't have to use a human host?" Meredith asked him which he paused for a minute before answering her.
For a moment, Amos paused, seeming to be deep in thought with an aura around him which betrayed his concerns to the rest of the group, though they didn't say anything. "He doesn't need one, as long as he has the pyramid." Amos eventually answered which confirmed her worries.
However, there was something else he did not mention, Meredith suspected, and she also suspected it had to do with her next question. "How did you find this information out, Amos? Were you captured by them or did you have to hide away for a few days?" She asked him as she wanted to know how he got this information.
"You are right in the first question, I walked right into a trap. Set froze me like a statue, then displayed me outside of his pyramid as an object of ridicule for passing demons. The magic froze me weakened with time, I was able to wriggle around and sneak out at midday when the demons were sleeping. It was much too easy." he explained putting his hand on his mouth in thought. "I shouldn't be alive, Set allowed me to escape. I can only suspect it's a trick or some sort."
At that, Theseus grew suspicious at Amos' explanation, his eyes narrowing ever so slightly while he restrained the urge to pick at him for more information. At least for now. He could tell that there was something missing, something he is not explaining, that he's not telling the full truth. There must be a reason why he was keeping that hidden though, from what he had seen of the man despite it being so little, he seemed to act rather rationally which meant that whatever he was hiding, he was hiding it for a reason.
Whatever that was, must not be good.
Sadie then questioned her uncle about a topic that left a deep hole in her gut. "Did you see dad while you were trapped?" she asked in the hope that her father might be alive. Amos should have been seen, or rather, hopeful for anything to do with her father. She just wanted to hear something about his current condition, since even if it was a bad state he was still alive, so this journey would have been worth it.
Unfortunately, it was not to be when Amos shook his head. "No, but I overheard the demons talking, the coffin is inside the pyramid. Set intends to use Osiris's power to augment his storm. The increased power will obliterate your father, Osiris, and quite possibly all life in the United States. His power will soon grow to be among the top ten."
"Oh dear, this is not good." Kuroh muttered as he had a weary and fearful look on his face which Meredith and Kuroka shared. "We must make haste now before it's too late. We might have to even call Alucard." Kuroh added, to which the rest of those who knew his reputation either groaned (Meredith, Kuroh and Amos) or became pale with fright (Kuroka, Sadie, and Carter). Theseus and Vali merely grinned in excitement at seeing the red-hat-wearing Vampire rip and tear the enemy.
Carter was confused about what the top ten is as he questioned him and why it doesn't sound good. "Ummmmm what is the top ten? Is it some kind of rank?" He asked them.
Vali took this chance to explain. "The top ten are the most powerful beings in the world, their power is immeasurable that cannot be calculated." Taking a moment to pause, Vali raised both hands and put out ten fingers in front of the other boy. "The lowest one is Fenrir - Son of Loki, has enough power to kill almost any God with his fangs." One finger curled up, signaling that one of the ten had been elaborated on, a cycle which would soon be followed up 9 more times.
"Rizevim Lucifer, Sirzechs Lucifer and Ajuka Beelzebub - 3 Super Devils with the same level of power so they share the same spot." 3 more fingers fell, 1 for each named being. "Hades - The God of the Realm of the Dead, part of the Greek God Olympus Trinity." 1 finger fell this time. "Crom Cruach - An evil Dragon who trained hard enough and supposedly has Heavenly Dragon class power." again another finger fell. "Ddraig and Albion - Both have enough power to be #5 themselves, not only them but Alucard as well, Hellsing's trump card against all those who become an enemy to the London faction." 2 more fingers fell. "God of the Bible - The most famous God, the one who sealed Ddraig and Albion." another finger fell. "Indra - King of Heaven and Gods. He shares the third spot with the Hindu Trimurti."
Taking a moment to regain his breath, Vali paused briefly before finally resuming his explanation, crossing his arms under his chest. "Second place belongs to Ophis, the dragon god of infinity. And finally, the one who sits upon the first of the top ten, The great red, the dragon of apocalypse, the dragons of dragons, the dragon of dreams and the true red dragon emperor."
Carter and Sadie paled at Vali's explanation, they could feel the overwhelming power over his explanation. "Holy moly. Are…. Are they that powerful to…. End the world?" Carter fearfully asked Vali and to his horror, he nodded his head.
While he didn't say anything else to further cement his statement, Theseus turned to look at the three from his standing position and verbally confirmed it for them with a firm, grim nod. "Yes, some do, some don't." he stated, and although he hadn't done the explaining earlier his tone delivered it with the same level of impact.
Silence dominated the surroundings after these words were said, a silence that had enough thickness to rival liquified sludge. Regaining her ability to speak, Sadie took her turn to ask a question no matter how much she didn't want to. "Then… then how would you rate Set on the top ten?"
"I would say… number seven under hades." he answered them.
"Oh my god this is becoming more complicated than I thought!" Carter panicked with his right hand on his forehead. He almost fell onto his ass again, had his sister not caught him this time. "No wonder why dad never introduced us to the supernatural world. It's filled with dangers and powerful beings! Even the Hindu gods are real!"
"Oh, this is just the tip of the iceberg, you two. Thanks to their lineage, this will be the path people have walked on. No matter where they go, no matter where they hide. It will always follow them, no matter what." Vali made a hand before crushing it. "Forget about having a peaceful life, for people like us that's no longer an option.
Before their conversation could continue, Amos quickly intervened by bringing their attention back to him with the following words. "It's true what the young man said, but for now we must make haste." He took out what looked like a silver crocodile figure and handed it to the baboon. "Khufu, you must return to the manor quickly."
The baboon made some grunts as if disagreeing, but Amos put a hand on his shoulder as if reassuring him.
"I know my friend but the situation has gotten dicier than I expected it to be. It's for the best." Khufu had a complicated face before nodding as he put a leash on Muffin.
"What happened to Bast?" Sadie asked before they could leave, Carter explained to her.
"We lost Bast. She sacrificed herself to save us from Sobek, the crocodile god."
At this, Sadie blinked owlishly in confusion and disbelief. "Lost her? But she's immortal?" she questioned again, not understanding what Carter was talking about.
Fortunately Amos did, and he explained it just as grimly as his nephew did. "Yes, but it's likely that she is scattered deep in the Du'at. We won't know when she will come back, it could be days or even hundreds of years."
"Hundreds of years?! No I can't wait for hundre-"
Before she could go on a panic-filled rant about their companion no longer being with them without any hope of her seeing her again, Sadie stopped when Meredith put a hand on her shoulder. "Sadie, we must honor her sacrifice she gave us in order to stop the river god. She's not gone yes, but we cannot grieve now."
Sadie let out a few tears before wiping them as she nodded to Meredith.
Khufu took this chance to walk through the sands of the desert with Muffin before disappearing... or more like teleported somewhere, through the Du'at.
Once their innocent feline companion had been escorted safely out of danger's way, it was time for them to get on with the task at hand. To do this, the gang started to board Amos's boat, intent on taking it along the rest of the journey, with the first people boarding it being the Kane siblings and Meredith. They had been the ones to board first since out of the bunch, they were the weakest, so by suggestion by Kuroh they would be put on board first in case of an enemy ambush. and head straight to phoenix.
Just when the rest went to board the boat too...
"KANES! HELLSING!"
The desert lit up with noise when a loud, booming masculine voice roared into existence, easily grabbing the group's attention and making them pause their boarding process. Internally, the Hellsing group just collectively groaned in unison, sharing looks as if to say 'this again?' before they all turned their gazes towards the source of the shout. That source turned out to be a bunch of house of life members, situated on top of a dune with their leader up front on top of a camel. Aside from the same arrogant-sounding man from their first visit, Zia Rashid, the Group saw their female guide from earlier as well as a bunch of Magicians in hooded robes. Some even had spears in hands, identifying them as more warrior-like than magicians.
Nevertheless, the eldest member of the group clicked his tongue in annoyance as he stepped forwards to be in front of the group. The reason why these people here remained unasked, since both sides could figure out the answer themselves. "Hmm, it appears we've been tracked." Amos remarked with thinly veiled contempt, before his gaze landed on the leader up front. "Desjardins, Zia Rashid it's been several years. I see Iskander sent his best!"
"Iskander is dead!" Desjardins said as he announced it.
"That old man died huh? Should've expected tha-ooof!" Vali began to say, before being hit by Meredith with her elbow.
Not caring about those two at the moment, a suddenly VERY anxious-looking Sadie looked at the assembled house of life members with no small amount of worry, and whispered the following thoughts with dread while looking across their likely soon-to-be enemies. 'Oh no, if he's dead then that means-' before she could finish her thoughts Desjardins confirmed her fears.
"I am the new chief, Lector!" he declared with almost maniacal zeal, announcing his new title like he had been waiting for it for an extensive timeframe.
This wasn't good, Amos realized, if this man had become the new chief then possibly reasoning with him and potentially gaining nallies for the final strike against him would be quite difficult. Still, he had to try, at least for his niece and nephew. "Step off Michel. Fighting us will get you nowhere, we must stop Set if you're wise-" Amos began to say in an attempt to convince the new chief Lector for his aid.
Unfortunately, just as the man had feared, the chief did not listen. His face intensified from an ugly scowl into a REALLY ugly scowl, one on the verge of looking like madness. "I would what? Join you? Collaborate?" He questioned with sarcastic venom dripping from his words, like what he had just said physically repulsed him. Given the way he reacted to Amos's words, that may actually have been the case. "The gods bring nothing but destruction! We had a reason to seal them all! And you Hellsing! We've told you many times to not interfere with our faction!" he bellowed, pointing his staff at the Hellsing group.
He should NOT have done that.
Theseus slowly closed his eyes before his face shadows with his green glowing eyes at them. "Is that a threat. magicians? Because if so." he put his hand up before he made his trident appear, he had magic ready to be unleashed. Beside him, Kuroh stepped up while he took out his sword with one eye glowing, Meredith having her hands on her hips but ready to use any spells and had the left eye glowing, Vali unleashes his sacred gear as both of his silver eyes glowed. "You will know why we are called the bloodiest of the different factions." The hellsing were ready to give out any sign of a slaughter their infamous for.
"Master, Amos is right. We can't fight each other, that's not what Iskander wanted." Zia attempted to reason with Desjardin but apparently he looked at her with betrayal.
"You side with them?" he put up his staff before unleashing a spell. "Then be destroyed by them!" He used some telekinetic spell that forced Zia off her camel towards the Kanes and Hellsing.
Amos took out his staff, one that looked like a cane. "Sadie, help Zia into the boat, Kuroh man the tiller. If the battle is too long, you must flee!"
"What about you Amos?" Carter frantically asked as some of them got into the boat while Theseus, Meredith and Vali stayed behind.
"I'll take care of Desjardins. FLY!" he commanded the boat to fly as Amos blocked the attack with his cloud spell, Theseus was covering both him and Meredith with his wind.
"Theseus, we must make this quick. The longer we waste time, the more lives will be lost because we were distracted." Meredith said to him, though it sounded more like instructions like what sir integra does with Alucard.
Similar but different.
"I have just the trick." he put up his hand before making a snap finger. "I'll take one of the references of one of Moses' tricks."
SNAP!
BOOM!
"WHAT THE!?"
In an instant, a massive fire tornado roared to life before them, rising up to the heavens above and looking more like a pillar of nuclear fire than anything. As or why it had appeared, thank Theseus who had made it appear with his Sacred Gear.
"Deal with the strongest." He commanded the flame tornado as it obeyed before heading to Desjardin, he made the camel to run away from the fire tornado.
"Damn you hellsing!" Desjardin screamed as he ran away from the fire tornado. Amos turned to Theseus with gratitude.
"Excellent work young man! Go to the boat, I'll take care of the remaining magicians." he said to them, both of them nodded before Theseus used the wind to propel him high enough to land on the boat and Meredith used a spell that made her float to the boat before landing.
Once they landed on the boat, Kuroh promptly moved to the tiller at the boat's stern, ready to move them the heck out of here. However, before he could do so he looked towards the Kane siblings when he felt their pleading gazes on him, the three of them having a silent conversation before he nodded and, while relieved, Carter and Sadie shifted their worried gazes back to their fighting Uncle. Each of them thus anxiously waited for their uncle to come with them, and during this time Amos unleashed some kind of storm magic in the form of a large black cloud from his stance, one which he formed as an arch in front of him that defended against all of the remaining magicians.
"Storm magic?! Since when was Amos Kane a master of chaos?" Desjardin exclaimed in surprise at this feat.
Though upon hearing the words 'storm magic' being mentioned, Theseus's interest got piqued and his attention got brought to the cloud that he stared intensely at. "Storm magic, hmmmmmm? Maybe I should study more about their magic..." Theseus muttered, cupping his chin as he looked on in interest of the storm magic.
In a bid to help her uncle, and also her sole remaining family at the moment, Sadie threw a life ring to Amos. "Amos! Take the life ring!" she said to him which he caught, Kuroh then used this chance to move the boat away from the house of life.
Desjardin looked at the fleeing gang and pointed his staff at them. "You choose to place your faith in the gods? Then die by the hands of a god!"
Seeing what his foe had been about to do, a panicked look formed on his face while Amos tried to stop him. "No you wouldn't! Chief lector would never-"
But it was too late as a symbol of horus appeared on Desjardin staff. Not only that, but a surge of energy could be felt from the staff, energy that felt divine in nature. "I summon Sekhmet!"
Once he sensed the energy, utter fear placed itself onto Amos's face while he looked at the gang with worry. "Children! Hellsing! Get out of here! I'll try to distract her!" he cried in the futile hopes that they would escape safely, despite knowing it to be futile.
Up on the boat, Sadie looked confused at what he meant by Sekhmet. "Which one is Sekhmet again?" she questioned dumbly, before her answer appeared, she takes a form of a lioness with a sun floating above her head, her skin glowed like liquid gold, her chest plate and skirt looked as if they were made from molten lava, and her hair was like a lion mane and has red armor as she floats to them.
"DIE ENEMIES OF RA! PERISH IN AGONY!" The goddess screamed as she cut off the rope connecting to the life ring.
"Right! Never mind!" Sadie screamed as Kuroh tried to command the boat to go faster but it is a bit tricky, it's not easy to command a magic boat.
While they flew through the air, some defense would be needed for them to survive this encounter. Defense that came in the form of Theseus who used his Sacred Gear to hit the goddess with lighting bolts that he called from his hands like a certain Conduit, and Meredith who used her magic circles to pepper the Goddess with magic-based energy attacks, but apparently she dodged them faster than a race car.
"How can magicians summon a god?!" Vali questioned as he used demonic power to try and hit the blood frenzy goddess, though much to his frustration Sekhmet kept dodging them by swerving from side to side while still keeping up.
"The chief lector has the power to summon her once during his lifetime, it was a gift from the days when Ra blessed mortals with magic." Zia explained.
"And I thought magicians hated the gods!" Vali screamed as the boat tried to go faster, but it proved to be in vain thanks to Sekhmet progressively getting closer.
Worse still, despite the combined efforts of Theseus, Vali and Meredith, she got close enough to attack them. Attack them she did when she pulled her claws back before swiping her right one at the boat, hitting it in the stern.
BOOM!
"FUCK!" A loud curse escaped the samurai butler's lips when he saw their stern being lit up in flames thanks to the attack that had been landed. "We're hit!" Kuroh yelled as he attempted to gain control of the boat, and along the way they kept progressively falling down to the ground with Sekmet following at the back of their heels.
"We need to get out of the boat quickly before it crashes!" Kuroka yelled.
"Are you crazy Kuroka?! Even if we try to get out of the boat, that crazy cat goddess will chase us down and skin us alive!" Carter yelled to her, looking back at the approaching violent deity with a look of sheer terror on his face.
Just as their descent steepened, Kuroh quickly got an idea when he had wound up seeing a mexico factory beneath them. "Hold on guys! I have a plan!" he said to them while he steered the boat down towards the factory.
Of course, since Kuroh hadn't explained anything to them, the group remained confused about his intentions, before each of them looked down below to see that they were going to hit the silos.
Naturally, seeing them sent off many alarm bells within their minds with the white dragon emperor being the most vocal of the bunch about them. "Hey asshole! We're going to hit one of those silos!" Vali screamed at him.
"Is this your plan? Crashing at that?! This is the worst idea ever! I knew I shouldn't have messed with your suitcase and blamed it on Vali!" Kuroka screamed out while crouching into the fetal position and placing her hands over her exposed cat ears.
Not only that, but her words made the said white dragon emperor look at Kuroka with wide eyes. "Wait what did you say?!"
Knowing that a fight might break out if she didn't do something, mostly through personal experience, Meredith made the following proclamation. "Now is not the time! If this is your plan, then I hope it can also get rid of that goddess!" She yelled back, pointing at Sekhmet... who looked rather bloodthirsty.
"Don't worry Meredith! It will work, just trust me!" he said to her as they got close to the silos, the group prepared to be impacted by the silos, Kuroh yanked the tiller up high like a plane tricking the enemy plane into a trap.
"BLOOD! LOVELY BLOO-"
BOOM!
Sekhmet crashed through the silos, the force of the impact releasing a shockwave through the air that rattled the boat. This seemed to be close to the amount of punishment it could take though, thanks to how the boat looked to be rather unstable as Kuroh let go of the tiller. "Prepare to jump!" he screamed at them, stepping onto the portside edge before jumping down and slowing his fall with his gravity magic.
With little else to do, the others quickly followed suit: Vali used his Sacred Gear to fly down the ground with Meredith in his arms from behind. Kuroka jumped down to the ground before landing like a cat, Theseus grabbed both Carter and Sadie as he used the wind to slow down the velocity to the ground and Zia used her power to land safely on the ground.
Though despite them still being among the living, some of them still looked like they escaped from a horror park (Carter, Sadie, and Kuroka who also sensed the amount of bloodlust inside of her which was insane)) they looked at the silos which Sekhmet had hit previously, expecting the goddess to come out still chasing them... before the punctured silo spilled out an unusual liquid, a constant stream of it.
Curious and confused, Theseus walked over to some of it, kneeled beside it and reached out. He put the tip of his index finger on the liquid before raising it to his lips, putting his finger inside to taste the liquid. His confusion only heightened as he glanced behind him at the rest of the group who approached. "This is Salsa..." he said to them, to which Vali, Kuroka and Meredith raised their eyebrows at him before looking at what it's supposed to be salsa instead of blood.
Sensing the confusion over Kuroh's actions, Zia answered their non existing questions. "In the old days, when Sekhmet's search for blood needed to be stopped, the ancients got huge vats of beer and colored them bright red with pomegranate juice."
Upon hearing this explanation, Carter snapped his fingers as he remembered something from one of his many lessons from his father. "Of course, I remember now. In one of the legends they told Sekhmet that it was blood. Not knowing the truth, she drank and drank until she passed out, which would then transform her into something gentler, a cow goddess or something." he explained, each of the group humming thoughtfully before taking a look at where Sekhmet had landed.
And there, lying on the salsa was definitely a cow, a sleeping giant cow with the symbol of Ra but the eye seemed to be closed.
"Hathor is Sekhmet's other form, the flip side of her personality." Zia explained what the other form of Sekhmet was as they looked at the sleeping cow.
"And Salsa's red too, so… we tricked her? I don't know if it makes any sense, but I'll take it." Sadie questioned, scratching her head in confusion.
"Technically it was Kuroh's idea in the first place. Did you event think it would stop the goddess?" Theseus replied casually, not really giving a fuck about all this divine shit, before looking at Kuroh.
Said samurai shook his head. "No it wouldn't, my plan was to distract the goddess before we would escape from her. Never knew that Salsa would be something that could stop her." Kuroh answered before looking at Hathor.
Carter went to him and put a hand on his shoulder with gratitude. "Well you're plan worked after all Kuroh, if you hadn't come up with that plan I would have been turned into minced meat." Carter shuddered at the thought.
"Your welcome, Carter."
"Now le-hey where's Vali?" Just when he was about to tell the gang to move, Carter stopped himself upon seeing a lacking presence of a certain white dragon emperor.
"Hehehehe, man free Salsa is always great! Especially from mexico!" It didn't take them long to locate the male however, and when they did they found a most 'unusual' sight laid before them. The Hellsing gangs' faces went blank at the sight of Vali gathering together a bunch of Salsa jars with a massive grin on his face.
Let's get one thing clear about dragons, they can breath fire through their mouth which was a common trait about them... but not only that, they also had a taste in spicy sauces, sauces with levels of spice which would make anyone scream for water within seconds of ingesting them. Dragons however liked these spices because of their unique taste, the more spicy the sauce or food was, the more delicious it could be for them. Vali of course, was no exception to this trait as evidenced by how sparkly eyed he looked, which resembled a child getting their favourite toy for christmas.
Kuroh slapped his head before dragging it down which stretched like rubber before it bounced a bit. "For once, just once can your antics not get in the way of our mission?" he questioned the Dragon, knowing it to be a futile one.
It was also a question that garnered an indignant response from Vali who felt like one of his favourite hobbies was insulted… people have died for less when it came to him. "Hey shut up for a minute fetish maid, I'm trying to gather free Salsa as much as I can." Vali said while not facing Kuroh as he was too focused on gathering Salsa.
Several tick marks formed over the samurai's forehead when he saw this, the male doing his best not to pop a blood vessel. "This is one of the reasons why Sir Integra forbade you from gathering Salsa. You've charged millions of dollars just to get a life-sized Salsa! Do you know how much spice you put in our food?! Even Alucard was affected by your spicy sauce!" the samurai male yelled, finally storming over to the silver haired hybrid and yanking him back from the Salsa pile. A pile which had grown enough to reach their knees in height.
This didn't last long before the said male pulled away from Kuroh's grasp. "Oi it's not my fault you wimps can't take the heat!" Vali yelled back, finally taking a pause from his little Salsa gathering trip and getting up in Kuroh's face, the two of them now butting heads. "And besides, you don't know the beauty of Salsa!"
"BEAUTY?! SIR INTEGRA HAD NEVER GOTTEN SO MAD BEFORE! SHE ORDERED ALUCARD TO TRIPLE OUR TRAINING! DO YOU KNOW HOW PAINFUL AND SCARY IT WAS?!" Kuroh yelled with so much anger while he remembered how brutal that training had been. Back then, under orders of his master a rather sadistic and gleeful Alucard had not held back his power (Level 1) and thus, the boys had experienced the most traumatic moments they had ever experienced (save for Theseus though, much to their confusion).
"WHY DON'T YOU TRY THIS!?"
SPLASH!
A shrill cry escaped Kuroh's mouth, his hands quickly covering his face after Vali, in a moment of savage vengeance, had quickly plucked one of the spicy salsa jaws and grabbed Kuroh by his neck. Before the samurai could respond, he quickly poured the entire JAR's contents over his face, much to the shock of the onlookers. "AHHH! MY EYES! YOU PUT SALSA ON MY EYES?!"
Taking a couple steps back, Vali nodded while Kuroh struggled to wipe the salsa from his sockets, a smug ass smirk forming on his face at his fellow male's plight. "YEAH, THAT'LL TEACH YOU FOR MESSING WITH SALSA, BASTARD!"
Sadie looked at the troubled duo before her eyes were slowly turning blank. "I think… I think I'm slowly getting used to this."
A dry look got aimed at her by Meredith, who just had that look of 'i'm so done with this' on her face. "Try being with them for many years." Meredith replied to Sadie before looking at Theseus who had already got the message and walked on over to the two lads.
Said lads not realizing his approach until Theseus had tapped Vali on the shoulder a couple times with his index finger. "FEEL THE BURN BABY! FEEL THE-Theseus? What the hell are yo-oi oi oi what are you doing no-ahh!"
BOINK!
CRASH!
THONG!
MEOW!
"Kuroka?"
Off to the side, the onlookers watched on as Theseus beat the living shit out of Vali, before throwing a startled Kuroka away in her cat form as she ran quite far before hiding. Why she had done that would be anyone's guess at this point, but it wasn't on their list of priorities.
Meredith put her hand on her forehead before shaking it a few times. "Anyway, it's best for us to leave now instead of wasting time like those boys." She pointed to Theseus, who had Vali's head in a headlock while he slammed his hand on the floor repeatedly as if trying to get out of his grip. Off to the side, a red faced (thanks to the Salsa) Kuroh was looking smug at Vali.
"If we have any chance of stopping Set, we must get to phoenix soon." Zia said to them, but Sadie did not look convinced of her however.
"We? I didn't recall inviting you." She stated firmly, holding an accusing gaze towards the egyptian woman.
Said woman didn't budge against the distrustful stare being directed at her. "Surely you don't think I helped track you down, do you? Besides, you need all the help you can get in stopping Set." she stated just as firmly.
"I don't know, there's very few other ways they could have-"
"Lay off Sadie." before his sister could fly off the handle, Carter stopped her as he put a hand on his shoulder. "And she's right. Set is getting more powerful than we can expect and we can't do it alone. We need all the help we could get."
Sadie looked back at Carter with a gaze of frustration, before sighing in resignation. Despite her hostility towards Zia, she knew for a fact that she wasn't wrong in her response, nor was there any concrete proof that she had done anything bad in the first place. Plus, after briefly remembering her first encounter with the red lord back at the museum, she knew just how dangerous he could be and after hearing how much strength he could gain overtime... she just didn't know if they could even beat Set.
"Well, the boat's burned, so how do we get to phoenix? Walk?" Sadie questioned Carter who looked around for anything they could use.
That is, before Theseus came to them, currently dragging an unconscious Vali by the back of his collar across the ground, his face looking like he had just come out from a defeat in a wrestling match. "We can take the trucks over there." Theseus declared, raising his free hand before he pointed to a couple of delivery trucks nearby. "Kuroh will go with the Kane siblings and Zia, while the rest of us get into the second truck and follow me." the group nodded at his idea before going to the truck and entering it.
The truck had a cab which was bigger than a regular one which had a full size bed which Sadie claimed before she was joined with Carter. Kuroh got into the driver side and used an electricity spell to hijack the truck.
"Do you know how to drive a lorry?" Sadie asked Kuroh.
"I believe I do, once Sir Integra had us educated on various types of cars and trucks to blend better with modern society." he explained, inserting a key he had found into a section beneath the wheel. That seemed to have been the trick, for seconds later the truck turned on and was ready to move. Seeing this, Kuroh turned to Sadie and Carter who sat in the back. "Get some rest you two, tomorrow we will be in phoenix and you will need all the energy you can use." he declared seriously.
Sadie and Carter nodded before pulling the blinds shut. That done, Kuroh looked ahead to see that on Theseus' side he had already pulled ahead, and thus promptly followed him.
Later
Going along an off-country road, Kuroh remained at the wheel as he followed the truck Theseus was driving. In the distance, he could see the vast, dark clouds that were covering the skies above, which obviously meant that Set's power was already growing quite vast, to the point that it would affect the weather. This worried Kuroh immensely, since if this wasn;t what Set;s full power was like he feared the worst if the God's ful power was realized, thus he pulled out his phone and contacted Integra.
"(RING)(RING)(RI-) CLINK! Yes?" Integra answered the call.
"Sir Integra, I'm afraid the situation has gotten worse than I thought it would be."
"... explain."
"The egyption god Set has gotten more powerful than he was before. He is making a pyramid that can be a conduit for his anchor to the human world permanently, not only that he is using another god, Osiris for the increase of his power. This is something we cannot ignore sir Integra, soon enough his power will grow… into one of the top ten beings." Kuroh reported in a grim, grave tone of voice while he eyed the various lightning streaks dancing across the skies warily.
For a few seconds, the phone became silent as Integra contemplated the news. She did not like what she had been hearing. But eventually she gave him a grim response of her own. "Tch, I always knew there was nothing good about the situation and now it's come true. Are you handling the situation in Yatogami?" she questioned at the end.
Kuroh nodded his head, now deciding to get to the point of this call… the real one. One which he had no doubts would be quite dangerous in many ways, but it may have to become a necessary action in the near future. "Yes we are, but I fear it won't be enough sir Integra. I don't know if we can deal with an egyption god which is why I'm calling you, to send reinforcements... to send in Alucard."
"...Alucard might not be available because he is still in Brazil, but his mission is done. We've discovered the mysterious group has the name 'Millennium'." Integra replied after another short silence, one filled with the sounds of Kuroh's truck engine as well as the occasional thunder.
As much as he should have been disappointed at not getting any reinforcements, what the Hellsing organization leader had told him was too much of a priority in the samurai's mind. "Millennium?" Kuroh's eye went wide as he almost had turned the steering wheel had he not retained his concentration on the road. "But how is that possible? The Millennium group has been disbanded ever since the nazi's got defeated!"
Kuroh had heard stories from Alucard about the millennium, how they were a secret organization of some sorts, but the details were a bit sketchy for him right now. It had been a long time since he had heard the name so his memories about them were a little fuzzy. Therefore, what the hell were they doing now of all times?
"That's what we thought, Yatogami, but apparently we were wrong. Unfortunately, we don't have any more intel on how they survived, but for now focus on your current problem. Leave Millenium for when you and the others return."
"Fuck." Kuroh cursed before calming down his emotions. "I understand, Sir integra." he eventually responded, resigning himself to the fact that this time they would be on their own. Sure they couldn't rely on Alucard for everything, but in cases like this his help would have been nice to have.
"I normally wouldn't say this, but may god help you on your journey."
"...we might actually need that." With that ominous phrase said, Kuroh ended the call and continued to drive the truck all the while he kept getting a horrible feeling within his gut. He hoped that the group would make it through this alive… he didn't know what he would react like if any one of them bit the dust here.
Though he did know it wouldn't be pretty.
Meanwhile, behind the blinds Carter and Zia had woken up, and had begun talking to one another to pass the time thus they hadn't heard anything about his call to his superior. Carter had spent some time talking to the egyptian woman, trying to reach some sort of common ground between them since she had basically inserted herself into the group. It hadn't been long before Carter had gotten the woman to open up about her past, to which she had apparently lived in an Egyptian village known as Al-Hamrah Makan, with her father and mother. Zia's father had been an Arab farmer who would search for artifacts in exchange for payment from archaeologists. When she had been eight years old, her father had brought home a small red statue, unaware that a monster had been sealed inside. He unwittingly unleashed it and it destroyed the entire village. The House of Life had then found her hidden in a fire pit and under some reeds, where her mother had placed her... she was the only survivor. Afterwards, Chief Lector Iskandar had taken her in.
After hearing her story and her confession of her worries, Carter told her she could stay with him now that the house of life considered her a traitor, but she remarked on how even if she did then they would be hunted down like rabid dogs. Nevertheless, this didn't completely unnerve him but regardless, he simply told her about how he was used to traveling at this point, having grown up visiting many places with his father. He told her after all of this is over, he will take her to the mall, having heard from his sister that girls liked that sort of thing. At that she got rendered silent before giggling to that, showcasing how much she looked forward to such an idea.
But all of a sudden, the truck in front of them stopped which skid the road as Kuroh looked alarmed and turned the truck sideways.
SCREEEEEE!
"WOAH!" Carter yelled as he, Sadie and Zia held on to the railing to make sure they didn't fall, luckily the truck did not roll over or crashed at the front of Theseus' truck. Kuroh got off the road and walked to the front truck.
"Would you mind telling me why you did tha-Amos?" Just as Kuroh demanded an answer from Theseus on why he had stopped the truck so abruptly, before he got his answer visually when his gaze laid itself upon Amos Kane, standing on the road while its raining.
Theseus was out of the truck and walked to Amos. "How the hell did you get here fast?" he questioned warily, hands inside his pants pockets.
"You underestimate my powers. I used storm magic to fly over here as quickly as possible." Amos answered Theseus' question. Running his gaze across the two Trucks, a small smile graced his features. "I'm glad to see you survived Sekhmet's encounter, are Carter and Sadie with you?"
The samurai nodded his head in response. "They are with me in the second truck, we were about to head to phoenix without you." Kuroh answered Amos while pointing to the truck he had been driving before.
Hearing this, Amos heaved a huge sigh of relief, his shoulders slouching while he stood up, holding his hat downwardly so it covered the top portion of his face. "Once again, thank you for protecting my family." He said with gratitude, the stuff leaking out through his tone.
"You can repay us by heading to phoenix." Theseus replied, pointing to the direction ahead where they could see the storm in the distance, gradually getting worse as time went on.
Seeing this and knowing the gravity of the situation, Amos grimly nodded to Theseus."Indeed young man. There's no time to waste." He declared, promptly heading into one of the trucks with Kuroh following him.
All the while, Theseus went back to his truck before starting the engine again, his face hardened with determination. "This time, no more distraction." he muttered under his breath, a silent promise etched into his mind to see this threat extinguished. Soon the engine started up again, and the truck headlight turned on before they commenced driving straight to phoenix where the red lord resides.
Later
"Finally, we're here." Theseus muttered exasperatedly, as he looked upwards at the mountain that constantly glowed red like an active volcano, one which could potentially erupt anytime. He could just FEEL the twisted energy within it, pouring out of it like a twisted kind of fog that would cloud the senses and fill one with unspeakable terror. He bet that if they had been ordinary people without any attachment to the supernatural, they wouldn't have lasted even an hour here.
"Eye of the storm. Nothing's moving on the 'll likely be seen if we try to drive up there." Zia informed them while looking at the mountain. Her eyes cast their weary gaze towards the various slopes and the lack of proper cover they could use for their entry, to her she bet that they would stand out like sore thumbs if they tried to drive trucks up there, which would make sniping them practically childsplay for hidden enemy watchers.
However, not all of the group shared her caution, this being proven when Theseus glanced out the corner of his eye towards her for a couple seconds, before a dark smirk covered his lips. "You underestimate our power." he declared in a rather cliche manner, but before anyone could comment on that Theseus brought his hand up with Meredith doing the same, making a bunch of wind currents gather and cover them (Theseus and Meredith) before disappearing.
Vali unleashed his sacred gear before flying straight to the mountain and Kuroh (Kuroka having turned into her cat form before mounting his shoulder) used his gravity ability to fly up the mountain.
Carter looked in awe at the way they flew up the mountain. "Ah man, wish I had awesome powers like them."
"Hahahaha, maybe." Amos laughed at Carter's expression. "But for us I just happen to know a spell. No one will notice a few extra bunch of clouds."
"A storm? That's chaos magic. We should not-"
Before Zia could go any further, Amos used his staff to turn the trio into literal storm clouds.
Of course being forcefully turned into a Cloud against their will would rub anyone the wrong way, hence why Sadie became angry to the point where she let out a flash of electricity around her.
Amos looked at her while he too was turning to a storm cloud. "Don't be that way. It's only for a few minutes, so follow me."
Soon, they each floated up the mountain like when a fog gathered around a large area before they reached the ridge side of the mountain with the rest of the group waiting for them as they looked weary.
They turned back to normal while Theseus looked at them. "So you can turn into storm clouds huh? I really should learn more about egypt magic." Theseus said with a high amount of interest before looking at the cave.
Amos was with him also. "Only the pyramid left."
"The what? Let me see." Carter said before entering the cave with the rest of them before seeing there were literal egypt monsters everywhere as they were cheering about something before seeing a red pyramid with the top left.
Theseus and Kuroh quickly covered the demon's mouth before killing them.
As this happened, Amos began to explain what the top part was and its threat to their cause with a grave tone. "The capstone. If those boats are able to place it at the top of the pyramid, all is lost."
"Then it's time to let loose." Meredith said to them which made Theseus and Vali smile in bloodlust as their respective auras surrounded them. Off to the side, Kuroh was waiting for the right moment to strike while Kuroka was ready to give Vali support. Carter had his sword out, Sadie with her staff and Zia with her amulet.
"Ready?... Go!"
BOOM!
CRACKLE!
"What the?! Who dares!" a demon yelled out in outrage as thunder crackled around the cave, blasting a bunch of Demons to bits. Add in the dark chuckling from a certain someone and one might question on who was really the Demon in this situation.
While Theseus went on his offensive, Vali donned his Balance Breaker and went around letting out his inner battle maniac (which he had been suppressing for WAY too long!) as Kuroka dealt with the demons who were trying to get past her.
On his side of things, Kuroh sliced away at his demonic opponents while close to the rear, Meredith unleashed a barrage of spells around the demons.
As much as they were causing immense havoc amongst the demonic hordes, this only provided the distraction they needed for the next phase of their plan. That next phase soon began taking place when the Kanes and Zia turned into flying creatures and killed the demons who were about to arrive at the top part of the pyramid. Eventually, thanks to Carter cutting the ropes holding it in place they managed to drop the capstone as it slid down the pyramid.
"Excellent work children!" Amos said to them before he was suddenly being pushed back by demons who flew to him. Knowing that he would be tied up for a bit, he summoned a giant hawk that carried Zia to the missing part of the pyramid.
"Fly children! And Theseus protect theeeemmmm!" Amos screamed to Theseus as he heard him. To which he quickly ditched the battlefield (he had caused enough damage and the rest could have fun this time) before he darted down inside of the pyramid with the Kane siblings and Zia before they landed inside some kind of room, one very dimly lit at that.
Before them was a golden sarcophagus, one which Sadie and those who had fought at the Museum quickly recognized judging by the recognition that flashed through their eyes. "Look Carter! That's dad's sarcophagus!" Sadie shouted to them, excitement rushing through her at being so close to seeing her father again.
Just as they were about to approach the sarcophagus however, a loud crash occurred when something slammed into the ground in front of them, causing the group to step back in surprise while Theseus quickly got on guard by drawing his Trident, just in case it turned out to be an enemy. However, much to their surprise it turned out to be Amos lying on the ground, and he looked to be in pain.
"Amos?"
"(COUGH)(COUGH) Children run." he tried to say something in warning to them, but Theseus could feel something happening to him. "You must leave this place before-" he tried to elaborate further, sadly for him it proved to be too late as a bright red aura started shining through his eyes and mouth. A loud cry escaped his mouth while this happened while the others looked on in horror, especially when they got the feeling that this was like an exorcism…. A willing exorcism where something was leaving a host body.
That light soon left Amos's body completely, soon turning into a figure that stood before them, a figure which they recognized as it stood behind the sarcophagus while putting a foot on the sarcophagus's head. The figure looked mostly humanoid in shape, while towering over them like a giant. Its form resembled that of a muscular bodybuilder, with clawed hands and feet while possessing a head akin to a certain dark god's animal they had repelled earlier.
It seemed Theseus' suspicions were confirmed after all.
"Oh dear. I suppose Zia gets to say "I told you so?"" The being amusedly said to them as the group got into combat stances.
Carter glared heavily at the being while holding his sword at the ready, sweating bullets but still furious despite the anxiety coursing through him. "Set! You possessed Amos." he bellowed, pretty much voicing everyone's opinions at the moment.
"He tried his best to warn you. Using chaos magic to turn you into a storm was an attempt. I forced him to use his own magic reserve to pull off those spells! He almost burned out his soul trying to send those warning flares." Set explained to them, darkly grinning.
Theseus hardened his expression while gripping his Trident in anger. "You've got us good I'll give you that, even though I did not recognize it the first few times." Theseus began to say, calmly striding forwards toward Set as his aura flared out. His eyes burned with wrathful intent, to which everyone who saw this quickly took steps back to give the guy some space. Combined with the storm clouds forming over the hole in the ceiling above, and one could tell that this match had been one long overdue. "But there is one thing I hate the most."
BOOM!
In an instant, the male closed the distance between them, causing everyone's eyes (even Set's briefly) to go wide at the burst of speed display he did. Though this didn't happen for long, thanks to Theseus smacking Set upside the head with his Trident's tip, sending him crashing into the wall behind the Sarcophagus. "And that is using other people as puppets for their own needs."
Set darkly chuckled once more from his perch in the wall, making to say something when Theseus quickly appeared before him, having closed the distance once more with a swing aimed towards his head. However, unlike before, Set didn't allow this one to land on him since he instead vanished from that spot like he was an illusion, causing Theseus to hit nothing but air.
'What?! Tch!'
Quickly turning his head, Theseus saw the god having gotten to the rest of his group and had managed to grab Zia by the neck, holding her at his head level. Carter in a foolish attempt at bravery had tried to attack him, only to be frozen in place by a red aura that had overtaken him. Thus, Theseus pointed his Trident at the beast's back while a bunch of wind currents formed around him, forming a mini cyclone that enveloped him.
The god, seeing this, covered his snout to shield his eyes from the wind which also made him drop Zia to the ground below. She quickly seized her opportunity to get a fair distance away since she doubted she would be able to affect Set in her current state of powerlessness. By this point, Theseus dispersed the wind just before forming and launching a large body of water onto his opponent.
Set, turning back to face him, soon got doused by the water and cursed under his breath. Especially when a Thunder strike came down on him from above that Set dodged just in the nick of time much to Theseus's annoyance, prompting him to form several lightning bolts over his head that he launched like they were javelins at his foe.
Said enemy growled at these annoyances, before he quickly appeared before Theseus with a large red staff having manifested within his right hand. He swung several tiles in various swift, wide-reaching and abrupt combos, ones which Theseus blocked and parried with his Trident before twirling it above his head and enveloping the whole thing in Lightning. With a literal WHEEL of lightning, Theseus launched a diagonal slash at Set's chest from the right pecK to the left hip.
"Argh! Damn brat!"
Cursing Theseus's name, the god of the desert jumped back and pointed his Staff at Theseus, unleashing a bunch of hand-sized fireballs at him to which Theseus parried them by spinning his electricity-covered Trident in front of him like a helicopter blade. However, this was something Set had been intending on judging by the smug grin that showed off his current form's fangs, proven when he instantly vanished and appeared at Theseus's right flank, pointing his Staff and unloading a bolt of crimson-colored lightning. Lightning which slammed STRAIGHT into Theseus's back.
"ARGH!" The boy cried out, stumbling forwards a few steps while Set jumped forth towards him with the intent of finishing him off with a smash to the top of his head that, if it landed, would have reduced Theseus's head to mush.
A fact which Carter and the others knew for certain, hence why Carter finally dashed forwards with a look of utter fury in his eyes. His sister called out to him to try and stop him, however Carter didn't listen and quickly manifested his golden Avatar before leaping at Set to strike at his back.
Sensing the strike, Set quickly blocked it after turning to face him, a dark chuckle escaping his fanged maw. "Ufufufu, looks like Horus's host has found some training wheels." He proclaimed, pushing Carter back before he cursed when a Shark made from water suddenly latched onto his right forearm, multiple spikes of earth stabbing into his legs from below.
"Your fight's with me, you fucker." Theseus snarled, pointing his Trident at Set before gathering water at the Trident's middle tip. It formed into what looked like a spiralling whirlpool, before he launched it in the form of a massive stream similar to a hydro hose, one that slammed into Set's stomach dead on.
The God of the Desert roared in outrage at this while being sent crashing into another section of the wall behind him, though Theseus didn't stop there as he raised his Trident to the air and swung diagonally downwards. From the tip of his Trident, he launched a single long blade of wind that sailed through the air faster than a bullet towards the enemy, who quickly formed what looked like a storm cloud in front of him using the tip of his staff.
This storm cloud the size of his entire body, formed a wall in front of him that blocked the wind blade that dispersed instantly upon contact, before Set thrusted his Staff forwards and fired a bolt of lightning from it, one that hit Ca charging Carter straight into the chest and sent him flying.
'Tch, the kid's going to be knocked out from that one….' Theseus thought, seeing Carter get knocked unconscious thanks to that blow with his avatar fading away. He then began generating wind beneath his feet. He then started making some sliding motions… resulting in him sliding along the ground as if he were on roller blades, resulting in him closing the distance between him and Set before he thrusted his Trident towards the being's face.
Tilting his head, Set managed to avoid it but upon noticing the smirk forming on Theseus's lips, he quickly realized that something else was at play here. Something which became reality Then he saw a pillar of earth smack into the side of his head right after he had moved it, causing him to gasp and stumble backwards, holding his face where he had been hit the first time.
Not willing to let this advantage fade, Theseus quickly thrusted his Trident forwards again, this time conjuring MULTIPLE water sharks on either side of him. They formed from water that had seemingly formed from nothing but air, before they lunged forth towards Set and bit into his shoulders, causing him to howl with pain while they shot on upwards, right through the thunderclouds blocking the hole.
Sparing his companions not a single glance, Theseus quickly took to the skies by surrounding himself in wind currents, shooting upwards after his prey.
BOOM!
The first to make a hole through the red pyramid was Set, who managed to unleash a burst of magical energy to obliterate the sharks and free him from their grasp. Although they had left their marks in the form of deep bite marks on his shoulders.
Following suit, Theseus burst out to make another hole in the Pyramid, hovering in place before Set with a snarl escaping his lips. "End of the line, ya damn God." he sneered, smashing his Trident into Set's staff without wasting ANY time whatsoever. He struck from above first but it got blocked by a horizontally positioned staff, so he struck several times from the opposite sides, aiming for the hips only for the Staff to get in his way each time. Finally he thrust forward with electric currents dancing across the Trident's tip, of which Set leaned back to dodge… good thing he did cause that lightning released itself in the form of a long concentrated streak, one which sailed out into the distance. It soon dispersed into nothingness after a few seconds though.
"YOU WILL NOT STOP ME, CORRUPTED ONE!" Now considerably furious, Set pointed his Staff and fired off his own lightning bolts, of which Theseus blocked with a bunch of water spheres he quickly formed in front of him to catch and contain the bolts within till they fizzled out.
Theseus then combined these spheres and formed a sharkk-like maw, which he then proceeded to launch at Set to try and chomp on his ass.
Corrupted one, huh? Can't really argue there…'
After dodging the maw when it had lunged at him, Set quickly struck towards one of Theseus's shoulders, but the male deflected it using his Trident's rear end before swinging his Trident at the side of his opponent's face. His strike got met with the tip of Set's staff, which then got angled so its tip faced him in which case Theseus eyed the crackling energy rapidly forming.
"Oh, shi-!"
FWOOSH!
Quickly bending backwards, Theseus just BARELY managed to avoid a lightning streak that had been launched at point blank range, the streak slicing into the ground below and carving a gash through it similar to the slash left from a massive sword being swung. Lifting himself back into an upright position, Theseus quickly swung to the side and forcefully disarmed his opponent, tossing the staff away from Set before twirling into a jab using the Trident's rear end into the God's abdomen.
"Guh!"
Set grunted at the blow and stumbled backwards, though a quick splashing from Theseus had quickly brought his attention back to the enemy before him… the said enemy had already launched a constant streak of Lightning at him that slammed into his chest.
BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!
"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
By the time that the strike had ended, Theseus cut the power to see a drastically damaged Set, although he still looked raring to go if the bloodthirsty look in his eyes was any indication.
"You can keep going, can't you?" Theseus questioned, a dark grin spreading across his face. Seeing the way that the Egyptian God had crouched down the way he did brought a sense of sadistic enjoyment to his person, especially when he remembered how cocky he had been beforehand. The feeling of bringing down low someone who they had thought themselves superior felt like a damn drug to him: addictive as all hell. "Look at you, a so-called 'powerful' god getting beaten down by someone he thought inferior. Doesn't it sting you? Doesn't it BURN to have come so close only to fall so low? Then again, this is what happens..." Theseus mocked, his grin widening so much that it could have split his face in two.
Before his foe could respond, Theseus unleashed his [From the Depths] skill, momentarily catching the God off guard with the amount of bloodlust for a couple seconds. Those seconds were all that Theseus needed to close the distance between them and jab his Trident right into Set's stomach area, causing him to cry out which only escalated when he began sending Lightning through his Trident and into his foe's innards, electrifying him from within. His screams only sounded like music to the twisted Demigod's ears, fuelling the dark desires building within him.
"When you fight against a TRUE monster."
Gritting his teeth through the pain, Set growled in utter hatred at the boy before him, utter fury laced within his following words. Nobody, NOBODY had the sheer audacity to talk to him like this, not if they had wanted to live their natural lifespans, so this experience pissed him off greatly to the point where if looks could kill then Theseus would have been incinerated many times over by the glare on Set's face right now. "Bah! Spare me your pathetic attempts at bravado, boy!" He spat, grabbing onto the Trident by its shaft and, while enduring the Lightning constantly surging through him, shoved the male back which also succeeded in pushing the Trident out of his chest. "Your milennia too young to be giving ME lectures!"
"Ahhhh, there we go. The primary excuse for the older generation when getting dissed by the younger generation." Theseus mocked, twirling his Trident in one hand before gripping it by its handle. "Lemme say something I've been meaning to for a while now: the future is NOW, old man!" Pointing his Trident at Set, Theseus snickered while he unleashed a burst of lightning from the weapon's tip, similar to a certain dark aligned warrior order who go on about 'unlimited powah!' and all that crap.
Unlike before however, Set learned his lesson well about the deadliness of that lightning, especially considering the chaotic nature behind the boy's divinity making it hurt all the worse. To stop it from hitting him, Set vanished in a burst of speed, quickly appearing before Theseus and striking towards his head with a swipe of his right claw, a beheading being his intent.
However, Theseus didn't let that happen either since he didn't want to die just yet, hence why he ducked under the swing and performed a reverse horizontal slash across the God of Evil's abdomen, causing Set to curse as he fell back, re-summoning his Staff and firing a bunch of lightning bolts at Theseus' chest area. Bolts that got blocked by the male when he coated his Trident in Lightning and spun it like helicopter blades, negating the crimson lightning.
"Hmph! Trying to mock me that way… aside from being smited, you must be compensating as well, boy… perhaps for a certain 'Apocalypse' that happened maybe?"
"?!"
Suddenly, Theseus stiffened, his eyes widening as his previous bravado immediately disintegrated at the words that Set had mentioned. Words which implied something that he hadn't told to ANYONE just yet, not even his companions in Hellsing, nobody. "What… did you just say…?" he whispered in shock and disbelief over what he had just heard, to the point where he wondered if his ears had been playing tricks on him.
He would soon wish that were the case.
"Oh, so you do have a weakness, after all." Set mused, his lips twisting into an ugly, vicious sneer at the sight presented before him. The chance had come for him to get some payback for the boy, one of his greater obstacles in manifesting his vengeance, and considering the smack he had been talking earlier this would be MUCH more satisfying than normal.
Meanwhile, Theseus quickly shook himself out of his previous stupor and looked at Set. If looks could kill, then the intensity behind this LIVID glare he launched would have incinerated the guy down to his nigh-immortal soul. "Guess your ears are malfunctioning. I asked you about how the FUCK DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THAT DAY?!" Theseus roared, having lost the ability to keep his cool halfway through the sentence.
None of this had any effect on the God of Evil though, said god simply enjoyed the fruits of labor that he hadn't even intended to sow in the first place. Thus, why would he NOT go and reap the rewards to their fullest potential? A sick cackle left his lips at this revelation, as well as the futility behind the boy's glare. "Hehehehe it's a very simple matter, boy, just because we were sealed doesn't mean we get to sense energies outside of the world. We had apparently sensed the wicked world coming out of their realm." he explained. Set then pointed to Theseus who had begun visibly shaking. "I've done my research with the help of my minions to find out and what we DID find was a record, one detailing that only one survived: Kaito Sullivan."
That name… the moment that name dropped it felt like everything had SHATTERED within Theseus's mind. Sounds became moot, his strength left him, and pretty much everything reverted to a state akin to… that one moment when everything got turned on its head. When he saw his last bastion of hope be utterly demolished by the cruelty of reality. Theseus dropped his trident and put his hand on his head as if remembering that day.
At that point, unbeknownst to the duo Meredith had arrived on the scene, doing so by flying through the holes on the Pyramid walls before landing on them. She had also arrived at the moment when Set had mentioned the word 'Apocalypse' which had made her pause from attacking, before she saw him breaking down at the name Set announced. Her eyes went wide when she saw him like this. 'Kaito Sullivan? Is that… his real name?' Meredith wondered in shock, being rendered silent by the scene of her usually composed companion literally being rendered speechless. Never in her like had she seen him like this before, did something happen in his past before or was it his friend's name?
Then all of a sudden Set pointed his finger at Theseus.
"Finally, I got you where I want you to be! I curse you to become the monster which you've grown to hate and fear! Become the monster which you really want to be! The worst kind of them all!"
"GRRRAAAAHHHH!" Theseus screamed in pain as Set's curse inflicted in him.
Behind Meredith Carter (who had just woken up and formed his Horus Avatar again), Sadie and Zia all gathered on the Pyramid wall alongside Meredith… right on time for this sight to be presented before them. Naturally, each of them could only look on in horror at what was becoming of their companion.
Especially the lone female member, who's companions Val, Kuroka and Kuroh remained within contesting the various demonic legions belonging to the God of Evil. "THESEUS!" Meredith screamed out, horror and terror laced within her tone.
Meanwhile, Theseus could not hear the girl call out to him since his whole WORLD simply revolved around an EXCRUCIATING pain right now. Everything within him hurt like hell, and it only felt worse and worse the more time passed, like even the beating of his heart intensified the pain tenfold, with screaming only adding to it. He could hardly do ANYTHING to make the pain decrease any, falling onto the wall and gripping it with both hands, various wind currents spiralling around him and seemingly helping to keep him attached to the surface somehow.
All the while, the male felt the energy from his foe force itself inside of him,right down to the very cells that made up his body, forcing him to transform into those monsters from his past. Images assaulted his mind of the monstrous bugs that violated children before his eyes, the various creatures he had seen during his descent towards madness… and worst of all, of the horseman that violated his mother. His eyes started to gain a strange, eerie glow to them as various ominous sounds emitted from his rippling body… no seriously, his very skin started to ripple like it were a liquid surface, with his bones cracking from the slightest movements while his various body parts abruptly jerked about in an uncontrollable manner. It soon got so weird, bizarre and gory to look at where it reached a point where these things made his shirt and jacket get torn off from his body, exposing his upper body completely to the world.
"Hahahaha! It was a mistake facing a god, boy! Now, suffer for you…...what?" Set was about to insult Theseus when he saw something else inside of his body which made him squat his eyes before sensing something… off. He soon realized what it was though, for within Theseus's body he could sense the tainted divinity actually fighting back against the curse, repelling the hold that his Godly power should have instantly grasped. It made the egyptian god's eyes widened. "What! How can this be? No divinity could ever fight back a god's curse!"
Back with the said male, Theseus gritted his teeth together, a small semblance of sanity returning to him although he could feel it starting to fade fast. The pain within him felt too great to be completely denied forever, and soon enough it would take him within its thrall once more. However, there was something much more important to focus on right now, and that something felt like it came from somewhere close to his center. Thus, he raised his right hand and rested it on his chest, soon he could feel every fiber of him fighting back the curse trying to take toll of him, this made a mark appear on his back, an eight pointed symbol.
The moment that he saw that symbol, innumerable chills crawled down the evil God's spine, memories of an old story he had long since neglected in favor of other things returning to the forefront of his mind. "No, this cannot be….. Is he about to ascend?!" Set exclaimed in surprise, the group being stunned by that revelation. "I cannot let this happen!" He put his hand forward, aiming his staff forward before conjuring the strongest lighting. His free hand also formed a Magic Circle, one which seemed to create another one right behind the male the size of a truck.
"Begone cursed god!"
BOOM!
"?!"
"THESEUS!"
Each of the group cried out in unison this time, sheer horror slamming into their guts and robbing them of the ability to do anything else. Regardless, their words fell on deaf ears while the male got hit in by Set's lighting which made him fly into the circle, his body disintegrating upon contact. Not only that, but down to the ground below where it had been discarded previously by its wielder, his Trident suddenly seemed to have come to life or something, because when Theseus's body made contact with the circle, it suddenly lifted itself up from the ground like a hoverboard before shooting up to the circle too.
Though this didn't register as anything important in the minds of his group who tried to catch him before it was too late… too bad they hadn't been able to catch him in time. As a result, Theseus entered the portal with his Trident following suit.
"NOOOOOO!" the group screamed in despair.
"Hahahahaha! Now you'll-"
"SILENCE, EVIL DAYS!"
"Wha-guuhhh!" Before Set could figure out what the hell had happened, his form lurched before he was forced onto his knees, thanks to Meredith who yelled his secret name. She wasn't the only one who had reacted to this new situation either, for Carter had gotten behind him with his sword put to the middle of his neck, while Sadie flew overhead with her own godly Avatar, ready to strike him down. "How did you know my secret name?" Set snarled at Meredith.
Said woman of Hellsing did not answer him, instead reaching into her dress pocket and pulling out a familiar feather, one which made Sadie's eyes widen.
"The feather of truth! I thought I gave it to Theseus?"
Meredith nodded her head at the airborne womans' words, a hum of acknowledgement leaving her lips while her eyes burned with unbridled hatred into the evil God's sockets. "You did, but he gave me this feather and Set's secret name" Meredith begins to remember just before their journey through RV.
Flashback
"Meredith, I want you to know something," Theseus began to speak with Meredith as she was with him at the passenger's door just before they were about to approach the river.
"In case if anything fails while fighting the Egyptian god, I want you to know his secret name."
"Wait, how can you know Set's secret name? Unless….. You have Nephthytis in you!"
"I can't deny that, but we are going to face an evil god who likely has a few dozen tricks up his sleeve or some shit, so we gotta be prepped for that. So, I want you to know his secret name. It's 'Evil Days'."
"That's his secret name?"
"Yes and also I want you to take this." Before Meredith could question the meaning behind Set's secret name, Theseus reached into his pocket and pulled out the feather that Sadie had recently given to him. "You and I both know I won't use any items that would help me in a fight, so I want you to have this in case everything goes wrong. I trust you that you use it when the time is right."
Flashback end
"I should've known that he already had a god inside of him, my own former wife no less." Set snarled, yet again the corrupted godling had managed to foil him.
Meredith walked to him as she got close to him. "I won't ask again, where did you send him Evil days?"
"Grrrrhhhh." He struggled for a moment before smiling. "I sent him to a dimension, a place where no mortals could ever return or come back alive. Not even gods will ever try to survive that horrific realm, no one can."
Hearing this, Meredith had her face shadowed by her hair. At this point, Set had thought that this woman would break down at the loss of her companion, like a pathetic damsel unable to be rescued by her charming prince. He would have goaded her further, mocking her about Theseus's chances for survival being extinguished, but then... Meredith had her mouth smile with her eyes almost glowing. "Then it's a good thing that Theseus is not just a mortal or a god. He is… a monster, a true predator."
AN:
Hunter here, and welcome to the next chapter. We're nearly done with this arc (sorry for the lack of proper descriptions, this is our first time writing anything using the riordan stuff so our options were a bit limited. Still feels a bit rushed in many areas if you ask me though). This arc is almost done, just a bit more to go and we can get to some more fun stuff. The hardest part to get down was the fight itself, for some reason the fight just didn't come naturally to me, like others did. Plus I had to rearrange things that Darklord wrote that just didn't make sense like abruptly including Vali and Kuroh (though in his defence he probably didn't see me write that they were locked in battle inside the Pyramid). Anyways, hope you like the chap, and see you next time.
PEACE OUT!
Oh man! Looks like we're finally nearing the end of the arc!... My name is Darklord, bringing you another chapter of the series. Now what Hunter said was true, I am still trying to get better at my writing but it feels like I'm getting dylesxic or brain fog, which is why I'm not that best of a writer most of the work credit belongs to my partner. Alright thank you for reading our story, it was a hard arc for us to write. Be sure to leave a review if you want and I'll see you next time!
GOOD LUCK!