Disclaimer: Neither High School DXD nor Elder Scrolls belongs to me, all rights to their respective owners.
Chapter 59
— No Mercer, I'm not here to recover the key that you stole from Nocturnal… I'm here because we have something to finish, something that you started in the Snow Veil Sanctum. —
Edzard to Mercer before their final fight.
The atmosphere that was felt at the entrance to the Hades castle laboratory was heavy and very tense, to the point that both Edzard and Zakir and the two beings behind them had their body muscles completely tense.
"I recommend that you do not do something crazy and just resign yourself to dying. If they do that, their death will be quick and painless." Said the voice that had spoken a few moments ago.
"Come on, Thanatos. That would be very boring." Said another voice, which was behind Zakir. "Don't listen to him, better resist and give us a good fight."
After hearing both voices, the two heroes understood that the two beings who spoke to them seemed to be different from each other, in terms of personality, since in terms of race, they were of the same type.
'They don't have the divine aura of a God, so they can only be two high-level Grim Reapers.' Edzard thought as he glanced sideways, managing to see how both Grim Reapers had very dark robes. The only difference between the two were the decorations displayed on their respective robes. The grim reaper behind him had a skull mask and was wearing an exquisitely decorated cloak. At the same time, the grim reaper behind Zakir was wearing his typical grim reaper robe, but it was decorated in such a way that it looked like he was a clown, but a dark clown with a somewhat creepy mask. Seeing them, Edzard knew that things would be difficult, because if they both fight in this place, their attacks could intersect with those of the other, so, discreetly signaling to Zakir with the fingers of one hand, he waited a while.
Silence reigned for a moment in the place, only to be broken when Zakir dropped his weapons to the ground. The two swords made a sharp echo as they hit the ground, causing the grim reaper behind him to let out a somewhat annoyed sigh.
"Looks like your companion is smart, why don't you do the same?" the grim reaper asked behind Edzard's back.
At that question, Edzard only smiled under his mask, because it seemed that their enemies was taking the bait. Slowly opening his hands, he began to put down his swords, thereby showing that he was preparing to surrender. However, when his weapons touched the ground, the sound of impact was followed by another sound.
Beside Edzard, Zakir waited until the blades of his friend's descendant touched the ground before making his move. When he heard that sound, he quickly turned his body around and in less than an instant, he used the «Lightning Form» spell. Zakir's body turned into blue lightning, which hit squarely in the chest of the grim reaper that was behind him. The force of the impact generated a shock wave that caused the grim reaper behind Edzard to stagger slightly, which Akatosh's son took advantage of to use «telekinesis». Edzard's hands glowed gold, the glow of which was also present in Zakir's swords. Wasting no time, the last Dovahkiin sent the swords flying towards where its owner had gone.
Seeing the swords fly out of the corner of his eye, Edzard wasted no time and in less than a split second he placed his feet under his weapons and with a swift movement, launched them into the air. After that, he quickly moved his hands and caught both weapons. When he felt the weight of those weapons in his arms, he was forced to turn and cover himself with them, for the grim reaper had recovered and tried to kill him with a scythe as black as starless night.
The scythe was parried by Edzard's crossed swords, bringing the two enemies to face each other as they struggled.
"They made a bad decision." Thanatos said, as he increased the force he exerted on his scythe, causing Edzard's weapons to sag a few inches.
Seeing that his weapons seemed to give way, Edzard knew that he had to draw more power, so without a second thought, he accessed all the power he had in his human form, hoping that would be enough, at least for now.
With much of his power now free from his self-imposed restraints, Edzard began to exert more force, slowly managing to push back his enemy's scythe. This action seemed to surprise the grim reaper, whose only sure sign of surprise was the slight change in the way he moved. However, even though Edzard had increased his strength, it was not enough to match that of the grim reaper, who, after overcoming his surprise, began to apply more force, slightly surprising Edzard, who began to see how slowly their weapons began to give ground again.
The scuffle between the two enemies ended when Thanatos swung his scythe down, forcing Edzard to turn his body slightly to the side, causing him to withdraw his weapons. After that, they both jumped back, well Edzard jumped back, while Thanatos just levitated away from Edzard.
Both enemies began to see each other carefully, while their fingers tightened on the hilts of their respective weapons. A few seconds after separating, they both disappeared in a burst of speed, finding themselves back in the middle of their battlefield. Sparks began to fly as the weapons clashed. The battle that was taking place was of such a caliber that each impact of the steel of the weapons caused a shock wave of such magnitude that it cracked the walls that surrounded them. Even the very ground where they were fighting was cracking and filling with cracks. However, unlike the other types of combat, this one was almost immobile, as its combatants barely moved from their places, moving only enough to attack, defend or dodge.
"You're strong, I'd say you're on the level of an ultimate-class devil... No, from the way you resist, your power must be on par with a maou-class devil." Thanatos said as he swung his scythe in a circular fashion, to attack Edzard consecutively.
Edzard watched the incoming attack and using both weapons, deflected them. His blades moved up and down, to prevent the scythe from touching him, because if that blade touched him, it was likely that it would drain some vital energy from him. Even though his enemy was speaking, he was not paying attention to him, as he was concentrating on stopping the enemy attacks that were coming his way. The grim reaper's strength exceeded his, so he couldn't allow that weapon to hit him. Although he was very resilient, he didn't want to end up getting hit too hard, as he didn't want his injuries to attract attention.
"It seems you don't wish to talk." Thanatos said as he parried his attack, before disappearing in a burst of speed, which left behind several duplicates of himself. The grim reaper began to move around Edzard, trying to confuse him with the afterimages he left behind because of his impressive speed. However, unknown to the grim reaper, Edzard could see him move, because even though he was fast, unfortunately his speed was not like that of the son of Molag Bal, so he could not completely evade the reflexes that the last son of Akatosh possessed.
Their battle continued in this way, until out of nowhere, Edzard threw the dagger he had in his left hand into the air, freeing said hand, to move it a second later and create several magical runes on the ground. That action greatly confused the grim reaper, who didn't know why Edzard did that. However, he found out when he mistakenly stepped over the edge of one of them. Before his eyes, many explosions of lightning were present, which did not hit his body squarely, but still ended up causing him a lot of pain.
Thanatos moved quickly, leaving the area of effect of Edzard's attack. When the grim reaper came out of the area of the explosions, he saw that his clothes were slightly damaged, but there was no other damage.
"That is new. I never saw someone do that." The Grim Reaper commented, while he moved his scythe and stopped an attack from Edzard, who had taken his dagger again and had launched himself at him. The force of the impact knocked Thanatos back a bit, but when he stopped, he began to struggle against Edzard; however, as he continued to struggle, Edzard moved his left hand, which had the dagger in a horizontal position, causing it to drop and causing the hawk of their two weapons to collide, causing the dagger to come loose and leaving Edzard with one hand free.
Edzard moved his left hand and pointed at the grim reaper's face, then cast a quick spell. A great jet of flames erupted from his outstretched hand, engulfing Thanatos in flames. Thanatos began to grunt in pain as the fire engulfed him completely. After that, Edzard quickly turned on his right heel and kicked Thanatos to the left side, causing him to shoot towards one of the walls.
BOOOM!
Thanatos' flame-covered body slammed into the wall, causing the place to shake slightly and a small number of debris to fall onto the grim reaper. Seeing his enemy hit, and remembering that he was covered in flames, Edzard felt that the fight was over, but to his surprise, Thanatos summoned a great blast of dark energy, which sent debris flying and extinguished the flames that covered the grim reaper.
As the fire died down, Edzard could see that the grim reaper's robes were badly damaged, and perhaps he was injured, but Akatosh's son could not see the wounds.
"That... that was unpleasant." Thanatos pointed out as he took his scythe in both hands again. "I didn't want to fight you seriously, but it seems like you don't want to give up. Besides, your little trick damaged my favorite robe, so I'll settle for having your head as compensation."
After those words, Thanatos disappeared in a new burst of speed, appearing in front of Edzard. Swinging his scythe, he launched an upward attack, which created a crack as the scythe's blade passed too close to the ground. The speed of the weapon did not completely surprise Edzard, but the force behind the blow did, for it was of such magnitude that the Dovahkiin was thrown against the ceiling at the same moment that he covered himself by crossing his weapons as a defense.
'Shit, what a brutal force.' Edzard thought as he twisted in the air, trying to stabilize himself and avoid hitting the ceiling. Fortunately, he was able to do it and with it he managed to land on his feet on the roof. However, not a second passed after setting foot on the roof that he was forced to jump, as the grim reaper appeared in front of him again. When Thanatos's attack hit the ceiling, he created a small explosion, which kicked up some dust, which fell towards the ground, covering the place.
When Edzard touched the ground, he quickly dropped both weapons and without waiting for a second, cast an empowerment spell on himself.
'This is weird, how long has it been since I was forced to use a spell like this? Three years? four? Well, that does not matter. Now I just must concentrate on this fight.' Edzard thought as he closed his eyes for a second, because the cloud of dust prevented him from seeing clearly. Concentrating on the rest of his senses, the young dragon smelled his enemy, and knowing his location, did a backward somersault, avoiding an attack from the grim reaper, which had appeared behind him and swung his scythe horizontally. While in the air, Edzard used «Telekinesis» to attract his weapons and when he got his hands on them, he quickly tried to use them to slash Thanatos from behind.
Clank!
The sound of clashing metal came through as Thanatos parried Edzard's attack. That display of skill did little to surprise Edzard, for the young man already knew how skilled his enemy was. After seeing his attack stopped, Edzard jumped back, to return to distance himself from his enemy.
"It seems that you are more good than I expected." Thanatos said as he turned his head and looked at Edzard.
"I say the same." Edzard commented, speaking with a distorted voice, since he didn't want his enemy to know what his true tone of voice was.
"Oh. So, you finally deign to talk to me." Thanatos commented, lowering his weapon for a moment. "Tell me something. Why are you and your companion infiltrating Hades's castle?"
Hearing Thanatos mention the name of the god of the dead from the Greek pantheon, Edzard raised an eyebrow, for the Grim Reaper's words contained some poison against the god.
"You seem to dislike your lord, right?" Edzard asked as he lowered his weapons, but not his guard.
"Is it so noticeable?" Thanatos asked with a hint of mockery.
"The truth is that yes, it is quite noticeable."
"I see... It seems that you are more reasonable than I thought." Thanatos said, causing Edzard's right eyebrow to twitch in annoyance, but despite that, he did nothing. When the Grim Reaper saw that Edzard wasn't going to interrupt, he spoke again. "You know, I don't feel like fighting with you anymore. How about a deal?"
The grim reaper's question shocked Edzard in such a way that he didn't know what to answer at that moment. In fact, the question caused him to stare at Thanatos incredulously, something the grim reaper couldn't see, since Edzard's face was covered by his mask.
"It seems that my proposal has left you a bit in shock. So, I think I'll be a little clearer." Thanatos said as he withdrew his scythe, as he felt that he could end this without fighting. "I want to talk to you about some things, so I propose a cessation of hostilities between us to be able to exchange a little information, what do you think?"
When Edzard heard the grim reaper's proposal, he felt confused again, since he did not know that Thanatos would win by betraying his master. Although the grim reaper's words sounded like an old trick to make him lower his guard, he knew that opportunities to obtain information from a supposedly reliable source were rare, so he decided to take the risk. However, curious as to what the reaper's gain would be in this exchange of information, he asked him the question.
"What do you gain with this?" Edzard asked.
"The truth is that I don't give a shit about Hades and his orders, what really matters to me is that that bunch of bones is doing things behind the backs of many. And these things can put my race in a delicate state with the rest of the supernatural world in times as turbulent and complicated as the one we are living in now. While it is true that we are stronger than demons and other supernatural beings, I'm afraid we still don't know how strong we are compared to one of those otherworldly beings."
"I see... so you're afraid that your boss's actions will put your race in trouble." Edzard commented, as he looked at Thanatos with a certain new light, for it seemed that his motivations seemed to be somewhat noble, something that he did not expect to find here.
"That's right. So, do you accept my deal?"
"I don't see why we can't share Information... Um... What was your name?"
"My name is Thanatos."
"I see…. Well, they call me, Qahnaarin." Edzard said, using one of his lesser-known nicknames, a nickname only a dragon used when talking to him.
"A strange name. But that does not matter." Thanatos said as he approached Edzard. "Tell me, how strong is your companion?"
Thanatos's question took Edzard out of context, who didn't understand why he was asking it. So, to clear up doubts, he asked Thanatos a question, which answered him that it was because Zakir was facing one of the strongest grim reapers that Hades had under his command.
Hearing that answer, Edzard felt a bit worried for Zakir, so he asked Thanatos if he could wait here for a while, while he went to see how his partner was doing in his fight. The response that Edzard received was a nod from Thanatos, who also said that he would open the doors of Hades's laboratory, since it seemed that some important things were happening down there that the God of the dead did not want to be known.
After that, Edzard left the place, leaving only Thanatos, who began to descend to make sure that everything is free and when he does, he would go for someone who would surely be delighted to know what was going on here.
Clank! Clank! Clank! Clank! Clank! Clank! Clank! Clank!
The sound of steel colliding resounded like a deadly melody, echoing throughout the room as the room was torn to pieces by the shock waves being formed. Throughout the room, both Zakir and his enemy could be seen moving rapidly around the room, leaving behind many afterimages, which would freeze for a second every time they clashed their weapons.
The grim reaper's scythe moved diagonally downward, forcing Zakir to move to the other side to dodge the attack. After that, he quickly moved both of his hands, launching a double slash in an upward diagonal fashion. However, said attack was in vain, as his enemy managed to stop the attack, and then disappeared in a burst of speed. Seeing this, Zakir wasted no time either and quickly started moving around the place, following his enemy.
The grim reaper, whose name was Pluto, was one of the grim reapers most loyal to Hades. He was one of the oldest of his race, along with Thanatos and another Grim Reaper, whose name was Orcus. While the grim reaper looked at his enemy, surprise was painted under his mask, because he couldn't believe what was happening, since he was an ultimate class grim reaper, a being that far surpassed ultimate class devils, but for some reason this individual seemed to fight on par with him.
'His power increased when he was covered by that blue fire.' Pluto thought, who moved his scythe to stop the two consecutive slashes that his enemy was launching at him. After parrying the attack, Pluto quickly counterattacked swinging his scythe from side to side, intending to hit his enemy; however, the attack was blocked by each of the swords his enemy used. Unlike before, though, this time he didn't retreat, for he was forced to stay in his place when one of the swords was placed in such a way that he temporarily immobilized his scythe.
"You are strong." Zakir said as he began to struggle with his enemy, as he tried to free himself from him to continue fighting. "But from all we've been fighting, I can see that you only know how to use your weapon. That's good for me, since he tells me that you don't have a lot of flexibility when fighting. Your scythe is dangerous, but if you manage to evade it, well, you'll see that now."
Saying those words, Zakir dropped his weapons, causing Pluto, who had been pulling his scythe, to stumble backwards slightly. After that slip, Zakir took advantage and moving his leg quickly, he kicked the grim reaper, which managed to cover itself by placing his scythe as a shield. However, the force that Zakir used in the blow was such that Pluto's body was shot like a rocket, through several walls, the debris of which crushed some grim reapers unlucky enough to be in those places.
'What is this. Since when is he so strong?' Pluto thought puzzled, because the increase in strength of his enemy was not on the scales of power of the supernatural world. However, whatever he was thinking about was interrupted when his enemy appeared in front of him. Seeing him there, Pluto quickly moved the scythe at him, trying to slash him diagonally. Unfortunately, that attack was stopped by the sword that his enemy had in his right hand.
When Zakir parried his enemy's attack with one of his swords, he quickly swung his other sword. As he did so, he saw the grim reaper back off a bit, out of range of the sword attack, but far from being a handicap, it was something Zakir himself had expected. So, gathering Magicka into his weapon, it quickly transformed into a spear of golden light, with which he swung rapidly. The spear of light took the grim reaper by surprise, and he was only able to dodge some of the thrusts, causing some wounds to appear on his body.
"So, you are an angel." Pluto said as he distanced himself from his enemy, who had also distanced himself somewhat.
"Heh, who knows... maybe or maybe not." Zakir pointed out mockingly as a smile appeared under his mask. "Though, the truth is, you won't be around long enough to find out."
'His strength is out of ordinary limits; it is possible that he is as strong as Thanatos.' Pluto thought as he examined his enemy. 'There's something weird about him. Before the battle escalated to this, I managed to lightly wound him more than fifteen times with my scythe and despite that, he still maintains the same amount of energy and vitality as before... It's almost like he's immune to my scythe, but that's impossible, as even super demons are unable to resist the curse of a grim reaper's scythe.'
Seeing that his enemy didn't move, Zakir began to quickly formulate a plan to eliminate him, because if this continued to drag on, it could attract the attention of Hades and just as Edzard had told him, no matter how strong they are, they still weren't close the height to be able to face a being of that level of power without fully revealing who they were. That caused him to let out a sigh of annoyance, because if there was something that bothered him it was having to fight limiting his abilities for something. However, knowing that he would have to fight in another way, he decided to end this, so without thinking twice, he began to examine the battlefield, to try to use it in his favor. When he finished doing it, he saw that there were a few places that he could use to land a combo of quick hits.
When he finished thinking about that, Zakir quickly crouched down, as his enemy appeared in front of him, and moving his scythe, he tried to decapitate him. However, thanks to the fact that he was able to foresee the attack, he managed to dodge it efficiently and not only that, but thanks to the fact that he was crouching, he decided to use a bit of unarmed combat, so, resting his hand on the ground, he raised his right leg and struck the grim reaper, who managed to use the end of the handle of his scythe to parry the blow, but ended up flying towards the ceiling of the room nonetheless.
'These rooms are not like the others; they seem to be more resistant.' Zakir thought as he watched the grim reaper's body collide with the ceiling. The force of the blow ended up kicking up a bit of dust, which covered the grim reaper, leaving him without a good vision of what Zakir might do.
Seeing this, Zakir moved his hand to his bag and took something from there. Quickly, he spilled the contents of that object on his swords because he knew that his enemy was not defeated, and he was preparing to attack him again. When he finished thinking about that, under the mask he was wearing, Zakir's face showed a more than huge smile, because even though he liked peace and tranquility, he also enjoyed battles. He knew that this sounded very bad and that it showed that he was possibly crazy, but that was the essence of heroes, a group of crazy people who did not allow their limits to restrict them, always ready to give everything either for someone or for the greater good and always trying to enjoy what life gave them.
When Zakir's mind stopped thinking about that, the Lilmothiit let his consciousness dim for a moment. For the entire moment that he was in that state, he felt that his soul and his own existence were leaving a prison, but unfortunately, he did not manage to get out completely, although he could have liked to get out of said prison completely, that was his limit. As the Lilmothiit's mind reconnected with his body, the hero of the War of the Three Banners moved his arms and placed his crossed weapons above his head. A second later, the grim reaper he was fighting appeared and he attacked with his scythe, which fell abruptly vertically, being stopped by Zakir's weapons.
The force of the impact was such that the ground at the fox's feet cracked and ended up forming a small crater on the ground. Furthermore, it caused the hero's arms to go numb and tingle a bit.
When Zakir felt his arms stop tingling from the force of the impact, he quickly moved his blades in such a way that he forced the grim reaper away, but he didn't let the grim reaper get very far, for a second after forcing it away, he appeared in front of him and without wasting any time, he used the «Igneous Weapons» skill, which caused the blades of their swords to be covered in blue colored fire, which was similar to the fire that covered the Lilmothiit's body. When he was mere inches from the grim reaper, Zakir began to launch rapid attacks, which caused his weapons to blur. The speed of the attacks made them difficult to follow for the eye of a high-class demon, but not for Pluto, as he began to move his scythe and using both the curved blade on the edge and the bladeless end of the handle, he began to parry the attacks that Zakir was throwing at him.
The room began to fill with a high-pitched melody, but at the same time it was accompanied by occasional growling sounds.
Pluto moved his scythe in such a way that his enemy was forced to use both weapons to stop him, but not only that, but when stopping his weapon, his enemy was at the mercy of a feint, which was used by Pluto, who he moved the handle of his weapon, causing the scythe to spin, which allowed the grim reaper to subtly shift to the side, thus giving him a point to attack his enemy. So, taking advantage of the opening, the grim reaper moved his scythe precisely and as he did so, he filled the blade with a very heavy dark aura.
Pluto's attack this time was different, because unlike his previous attacks, this time he managed to hit the right side of Zakir's body squarely. The blade, which was empowered by the power of Pluto, pierced the Lilmothiit's fire armor, impacting his flesh and lightly touching a rib; However, to the grim reaper's surprise, the hero of the ancient scrolls did not appear to be disturbed by the injury, instead moving his right foot and using it as momentum, made his body move in tune with the direction the scythe blade was moving, thus minimizing the damage he took from the weapon.
Zakir skidded a couple of meters after "dodging" the attack, but having done what he did, the wound he received was not very deep, only penetrating a centimeter thick.
'That move was smart, but if he expects his blade's curse to take effect on me, he's sorely mistaken.' Zakir thought as he reached for the place where he was cut and using a bit of restoration magic, healed himself. 'I'm lucky I don't have the restriction that Roland's son has, otherwise I wouldn't be able to heal my injuries that fast with magic.'
After those thoughts, the Lilmothiit again took an attack stance, but this time, its stance had no defense at all, as it was full of openings through which it could be attacked.
Pluto looked suspiciously at the openings in his enemy's posture, since it was more than obvious that those were nothing more than feints to make him fall into a trap. 'I will not fall for your game. No matter how many sweets you put in me, I won't swallow them. I will create my own openings like a moment ago.'
That thought of Pluto's came from the experience that came with having lived so long, since that allowed him to recognize traps in the middle of combat.
Seeing that his enemy didn't fall for any of his obvious traps, Zakir just smiled again, for his enemy not attacking him was another of his tricks, so it could be said that the grim reaper fell into his trap. Letting out a small sigh, the Lilmothiit disappeared in a burst of speed, appearing in front of its enemy, who didn't seem surprised by this. If not, it seemed more like he was waiting for it, since as soon as he saw it appear, he moved his scythe and attacking from the ground, he tried an upward diagonal attack, which had the clear intention of cutting Zakir. However, that attack missed, as the Lilmothiit rolled on the ground and as it did, his right hand released his sword, which was thrown into the air.
Pluto was surprised to see that, because he didn't expect his enemy to drop his weapon like that. However, when he saw that he stopped after rolling on the ground, he saw a perfect opportunity to attack, so without thinking twice, he quickly turned one hundred and eighty degrees and raised his scythe again, to finish him off. Unfortunately, his attack never came to fruition, as his enemy turned into blue lightning, which moved towards his side, the side that was his blind spot now... Or at least it seemed that way, because when he saw him there, Pluto released his scythe and changing his grip, grasped his weapon from the base where the blade and the handle met, allowing him to use the non-bladed end of the handle to deliver a forceful blow at his enemy.
Zakir looked at the incoming attack and using his sword, deflected it, then reached out and grabbed his other sword, which coincidentally fell at that moment. The instant he held up his other weapon, he sent magic into the sword he had just caught, causing it to completely disappear, turning into a fiery whip. With a quick movement, he attacked Pluto, causing the whip to snake and impact the grim reaper's back, but not only that, since it is a slightly more flexible attack than the cut of a regular blade, the whip sliced down the grim reaper's left shoulder to his chest.
"AHHHH!" Pluto yelled as she felt how his body was hurt. After releasing that cry, the grim reaper jumped forward, thus managing to get out of the range of his enemy's attacks. When he was a good distance away, he put a hand to the cut and to his surprise, he felt no blood, which led him to look at his wound and to his complete surprise, the wound was cauterized. 'This is good, if the wound is cauterized, then you won't have any trouble fighting.'
After thinking that, Pluto looked at his enemy and decided to tease him a bit. "You know, your attack not only cut my skin, but also cauterized my wound, making the attempt to hurt me in vain. That shows that while you are strong, you are also idiotic enough to use an attack that cauterizes the wounds it inflicts."
Pluto's words seemed to sink into Zakir's mind for a few moments, until, to the grim reaper's surprise, Zakir raised a hand to his face and began to have small spasms… Or at least that's what it seemed initially, because a second later he burst out laughing.
"Ha, ha, ha! You really think I'm such an idiot to do that!" Zakir exclaimed as he stopped laughing before speaking. "There's a good reason I did that, and you'll realize it... now!"
The moment Zakir finished speaking, Pluto fell to his knees as he began to cough heavily.
"Cough! Cough!" Pluto coughed strongly and very repetitively, until a second later a large amount of blood began to drip from his mask. "W-w-w-what have you done to me?"
The question that Pluto asked required a great physical effort from him, since the grim reaper felt that his lungs were on fire, while his whole body felt a pain like that produced by thousands of lightning bolts completely covering his entire nervous system. The pain was such that he wanted to scream at the top of his lungs, but at the same time, his body was weakening so fast that he had no strength for it.
"There are many ways to kill an enemy, magic, weapons, or… poison." Zakir said as he approached Pluto, who was on his knees unable to move. When he was in front of the grim reaper, he asked him a question in a mocking voice. "Do you understand why I used an attack that cauterizes a wound?"
The only response he received from his enemy was a futile attack attempt, which came after Pluto levitated a bit. The grim reaper's attack was slow, too slow, and weak, to the point where Zakir was able to catch the scythe blade with two fingers.
"It's useless, the poison that runs through your system is one of the most powerful poisons I have in my possession. It is made with ingredients that are extremely rare and are, in theory, capable of harming a God. So, you can't get out of this."
At those words, Zakir pushed the grim reaper's scythe away, disarming him. After that, he grabbed his head and smashed him to the ground, creating a crater from the force used. After that, Zakir released him, but did not allow him to try to fly again and to achieve it, he put a foot on his back. When he already had him immobilized, he took his swords and without wasting time, made the blades descend quickly and precisely, hitting Pluto's entire neck, thus ending his life instantly.
The moment Zakir drew his swords, the hero heard someone's footsteps approaching quickly. So, taking a fighting stance again, he waited for the person who was approaching him to arrive. His guard dropped when he realized it was Edzard, who was running towards him. When he got within a few meters, Zakir got a good look at it and was surprised to see that his armor was literally unscathed, just with the occasional small blemish on it.
"Looks like your enemy was easier than mine." Zakir commented as he watched Edzard walk towards him.
"Not so much, just that the fight ended in a different way than yours." Edzard said stopping when he saw Pluto's dead body. As he approached the grim reaper's corpse, he saw that it had a cauterized wound on its back, but aside from it and the head wound, there appeared to be no other wound on the body. Seeing that, he realized that it seemed like the grim reaper had been defeated by just two hits, something that shouldn't be possible under normal circumstances. Being curious, he began to think about how Zakir was able to kill an ultimate-class grim reaper with just two hits and after thinking for a moment, he had a vague idea of how he did it.
"You killed him with poison, right?" Edzard asked, looking away from Pluto's body as he approached Zakir.
At Edzard's question, Zakir just shrugged, as he nodded, as it was unnecessary to lie to Edzard.
"I see… What poison did you use?"
"A special one, which was still in the experimental stage, but as you can see, it's very effective." Zakir replied as he tossed Edzard one of his swords.
Roland's son took the sword and when he touched it, the scent of poison reached his nostrils. Narrowing his eyes, Edzard began to analyze the composition of the poison, but not only that, he also began to examine the structure and design of the sword.
'This smells like… yes, it smells like Nirm plants, but there's something else here… the presence of the poison is almost suffocating to my being, almost as if… I see, so that was it…' Edzard thought as he understood what was happening with this poison. "Your poison is made from Nirm plants, which have been cultivated in Oblivion, right?"
"Heh, you're good, but that's what I should expect from her son." Zakir commented with some amusement as he extended his hand towards Edzard, who understood what the Lilmothiit wanted, so without wasting any time, he returned the sword to him.
"This sword has been exclusively designed to use poisons, right?" Edzard asked, remembering that he saw that Zakir's blades were different from the ones he had used before, at least the sword he had given him to examine. This was since the blade had a channel in the center, which was rare, since it extended to the edge of the base, where the blade joined the guard. Although, it was not only that, because when he looked at the blade, he realized that that channel had small holes, not very large, which penetrated the steel, and seemed to reach the edge of the blade. That design was something he had never seen in his life.
"That's right, because as you know, enchantments tend to weaken the poison that's put into weapons a bit. For that reason, I decided to use disenchanted weapons after seeing how the battle seemed to stalemate." Zakir answered, to remember how after receiving his swords after hitting the grim reaper with his «Lightning Form» the battle was a bit complicated, since that bastard was stronger than him, at least in his base state, so, after casting a crescent made of lightning bolts, he quickly feinted and discarded his enchanted weapons and conjured his weapons for poison use. From then on, he waited for the perfect moment to imbue his weapons with the poison and that moment came when the cloud of smoke covered his enemy, allowing him to poison his weapon with relative ease.
"It seems that the poison entered Pluto's system after the cut you made on his shoulder, also, thanks to the fact that the wound is cauterized, the poison could not escape due to the blood that could have oozed from the wound, which caused the poisoning out quicker." Edzard said as he narrowed his eyes, as he realized something. 'That sword was able to poison Pluto so easily thanks to its design, which seems to make the blade completely toxic, something very rare and dangerous.'
"Seems like you realized everything." Zakir said, only to realize that Edzard had mentioned a name. "Hey, brat. Why do you mention the name of Pluto? Don't tell me what…"
"Yes, that's the name of the grim reaper you killed. He was Hades' most loyal general, and thus one of the strongest Grim Reapers out there today."
"And how do you know that?"
"The grim reaper I was fighting is called Thanatos and he told me so."
"And do you believe him?" Zakir asked skeptically.
"Only partly, but I did notice that he doesn't seem to like Hades."
"And how did you find that out?"
"In the way he talks." Edzard answered and then began to tell Zakir what had happened in his fight against Thanatos.
"Are you confident that it is not a trap?" Zakir asked as he looked at Edzard intently.
"Of course not." Edzard replied as he shook his head. "Only an idiot would trust someone he's known for less than an hour. The reason I agreed to the deal was to help you eliminate Pluto, so then, if necessary, we can both fight against Thanatos."
"I see... it seems like a good plan, but what makes you think that he hasn't been watching this battle?"
"I know because the reason I was late in arriving was because I was constantly using the detect life spell and the detect death spell to find out if there was anyone else, but it seems that our battles have, for the moment, scared away a great number of grim reapers. Also, according to Thanatos, Hades has left the castle because he has been called to a meeting with the gods of his pantheon."
Edzard's words caused the Lilmothiit to feel a little uncomfortable, because everything seemed to be too perfect…. They had obtained some kind of temporary ally, the main god of this place was gone, which cleared the way…. He almost felt like it was all unreal, but the ghostly little pain he felt coming from where Pluto had cut him from not long ago made him realize that it wasn't a lie. So, deciding that they couldn't waste any more time, he told Edzard that they should continue.
The duo of heroes ran at high speed through the place, arriving at the place where Edzard had left Thanatos and to the surprise of both, they saw that there was no army of grim reapers waiting for them.
"Seems like you were right to trust that Grim Reaper." Zakir said as he and Edzard walked down the stairs.
"Yes, it seems that way, but we must not lower our guard, because he may betray us when we reach the end." Edzard began, remembering the time Mercer betrayed him at the end of their "mission" in the Snow Veil Sanctum years ago.
"Well then, let's not let our guard down."
After those words, they both continued down the stairs, seeing that several of the floors were completely empty, since there was nothing, just empty rooms.
"This is weird, why isn't anyone here?" Edzard asked as he stared at an empty room in bewilderment.
"I don't know, but we must keep walking and hopefully what we came to see is still here." Zakir replied as he stopped walking and started running.
Seeing the Lilmothiit run, Edzard decided to follow him. As he ran, he felt that the reason why Zakir wanted to get to the bottom of this laboratory must be some object of great importance.
"Hey Zakir." Edzard called to his companion, who stopped abruptly.
"What's wrong, brat?"
"You still haven't told me what we've come to look for here."
"I already told you; I prefer that you see it with your own eyes." Zakir said as he stopped looking at Edzard and started walking again.
"Yes, you mentioned it, but you haven't told me how you found out that there is something of my supposed interest down there."
Edzard's words caused the Lilmothiit to stop again and after a couple of seconds, he answered him, but without meeting his eyes.
"When we get there, I'll tell you everything."
After those words, Zakir ran again, but this time faster than before. Seeing him run, Edzard sighed and without wasting time began to follow him while thinking about what could be down there that was so important to him.
Kunou's steps were quick, allowing the little Kitsune to cover the distance that separated the place where she appeared when she teleported from her new home to Kuoh Academy. The little kitsune ran through the streets as if the devil was after her, reaching the academy's front door in less time than she expected, only to see that everything was closed.
"Looks like they're not here." Kunou said after having used her nose to try to locate the devils, but to her bad luck, it seemed that their trail was very cold. That discovery indicated that they were not in the place. Therefore, without wasting another second, she started running again, but this time she headed towards the Hyoudou house.
Yasaka's heiress crossed the streets that separated Kuoh's academy from Issei's house in record time, even for a supernatural being like her, which indicated the large amount of adrenaline that her system was producing due to the fear she felt for the safety of your friend. So, when she reached the front door, the little Kitsune wasted no time and without even pausing, she moved her hand and creating a ball of blue fire, she threw it towards the door, which ended up exploding.
When the explosion ended, the young kitsune entered the house, and without wasting time sniffed the place, to discover where the demons were. However, when she took a few steps after entering, a magic circle, which showed the Gremory crest, appeared at Kunou's feet. The circle glowed for a few moments, after which the little Kitsune was trapped by several chains, which wrapped around her.
Finding herself trapped, Kunou tried to free herself from the chains, but was unable to do so. That caused her to feel more anguish than she already felt previously, this made her about to shed tears due to the impotence that she was beginning to feel. However, before the first tear formed on Kunou's face, Rias Gremory's peerage arrived in the room, prepared to fight whatever had attacked the house.
"Get ready, whoever you are, as I will destroy you for daring to mess with my precious Oppai time!" Issei yelled, as he looked around the room, looking for who had dared to interrupt his "quality" time with his Buchou and Akeno. However, he didn't see any enemies, which made his eyes widen when he saw that the trapped person was Kunou. "Kunou-chan?"
"Issei-san!" Kunou yelled when she saw the Sekiryuutei.
"What's wrong Issei?" Rias asked when she arrived at the room, being accompanied by her servants. "Have you seen who the intruder is?"
The redhead and the rest of the girls were dressed in nightgowns, hers and Akeno being the most revealing, while the boys wore simple pajamas.
At his king's question, Issei only pointed to the trapped Kunou, who was staring at them.
"Kunou-chan!" Rias yelled seeing Kunou trapped. "Akeno!"
"Yes, Buchou." Akeno said as she deactivated the trap on the ground.
When the little kitsune fell to the ground, she quickly got up and without wasting time approached Issei, since he was the person, she knew best in this group and gave him a hug.
The little kitsune's action caused both Rias and the rest of the girls to look at what was happening with confusion.
"Kunou-chan, what's wrong?" asked Issei with confusion and a bit of concern as he felt how his shirt began to get wet from what could only be tears.
The response that Issei received was not verbal or quick, since the little girl did not respond immediately. That caused concern in the demons and in Irina, who began to try to comfort the little girl, but it wasn't until Akeno offered to bring her something to calm down that the little girl finally spoke.
"Ma-chan has been kidnapped by rogue exorcists and her whereabouts are unknown." Kunou said as she wiped away her tears, since she had already stopped crying.
The words that the little Kitsune said deeply penetrated the minds of those present, who felt that the world was collapsing.
"Shit..." was the only thing Issei managed to say, but unlike other occasions, this time he was not reprimanded for using that language in front of a minor.
"A-are you sure, Kunou-chan?" Rias asked as she looked at the kitsune with concern.
"Yeah. I heard it from a conversation my hahaue had with Asia-san and the rest of the girls."
"This is bad. If Kunou-chan says that he heard it from a conversation between them, that means it's true." Said Akeno, which she did not have the typical smile that she used to wear, since this time she was completely worried.
"I don't even want to imagine how Asia is feeling, let alone Edzard-san." Irina commented while she imagined her friend crying her heart out.
The atmosphere, which before Kunou's arrival had been strange, but calm, was now an accumulation of negative feelings, in which the predominant feeling was anguish and worry.
"I can't believe they were capable of that, I mean, they're messing with Ed's family, and we all know that he…. Shit! This is bad, very bad!" Issei yelled when he realized what his friend could do in response to the kidnapping of his daughter. "Kunou-chan, tell me... How has Edzard taken it?"
Issei's question caused those present, except Kunou, to realize the level of danger of what was happening, which caused everyone to feel terrified of what this could cause. So, everyone from Rias to Irina began to beg for them not to have an angry dragon unleashed on the world wreaking havoc unceremoniously.
"Edzard doesn't know about this. He was not there when it happened, and they have not been able to find him either. They even mentioned that they couldn't call him with magic." Kunou replied, causing confusion in Issei, who didn't understand how his friend could be missing at a time like this. Although not only that, but he also felt some relief because his friend didn't know about this, because this way he wouldn't be angry and destroying something.
"How is this possible?" Rias asked as she tried to think of what to do, but mostly why she hadn't been notified about this.
Hearing Rias's question and wanting them to know everything she knew, Kunou began to tell everything she had heard. By the time she finished telling it, Rias heard Kunou's request for help in trying to contact Edzard, to which Rias nodded. Therefore, the devils and Irina went to change, taking off the clothes they had been in before and putting on their academy uniforms. Already with their usual fighting clothes ready, they were preparing to leave when they were interrupted by the appearance of Rias's familiar, who arrived and screaming desperately approached Rias and began to whisper something in her ear. And with each word that she heard; she grew paler.
"N-n-n-no…" was the only thing Rias said when she finished listening to what her familiar told her.
"Buchou?" asked Issei with concern as he watched Rias's normally fair skin turn very pale.
"I-I have bad news." Rias replied, drawing the attention of everyone present, Kunou included. "Issei's parents have been kidnapped by a group of exorcists not a minute ago."
The wind howled strongly, rocking the cloaks that Edzard's group wore to protect themselves from the cold of the place, for they were on a snowy slope of one of the mountains of the Italian Alps. Although, apart from protecting them from the cold, these cloaks were enchanted to serve in a certain way as an invisibility cloak, because despite not making their users invisible, it did allow them to increase their subterfuge capacity.
"Ugk, how cold it is in here." Mittelt said as she hugged herself to keep a little warmer.
"Yes, now I understand why that base is here." Aika commented as she approached Ingvild, who was wearing the clothes that she used to wear when she went to fight, but with the addition that she had the stockings that she wore at the academy. "How's the thing going?"
"Stay the same, there has been no change to the cave entrance." Ingvild replied as she looked through binoculars at the entrance to the cave that was the base where Marie could be kidnapped.
"Okay, keep watching for a while longer." Aika said, before walking towards where Asia was, who was with Rossweisse and Valerie, looking around the area where they "camped".
"How's the activity going at the entrance?" Asia asked when she saw Aika arrive.
"Everything is the same as an hour ago, there have been no changes."
"Okay, that's good. Now it only remains to wait for the operation "Seven Dragon Kings" to start to begin the attack." Valerie said, mentioning the name that they had assigned to the joint mission that aimed to rescue Edzard and Asia's daughter.
After Valerie's words, a circle appeared on the right ear of Rossweisse, who had been designated as the connection between them and the command center of the operation, which was made up of Sirzechs, Michael, Azazel, Yasaka, and Odin. They were in the underworld, in a room of Lucifer's palace.
"I understand now. I will notify them immediately." Rossweisse said, so that then the magic circle that was near her ear disappeared. After that, the Valkyrie got up from where she was sitting, and she approached Asia to tell her what she had just been told. "Asia, the rest of the teams are ready to start the attack."
"When we start?" Asia asked, looking at Rossweisse.
"In fifteen minutes."
"Okay, that gives us time to work out the last details of the strategy." Asia said, before looking at Aika. "Aika, please bring the rest of the group. It is time to plan what is missing from the plan."
"Ok." Aika said, before starting to walk to where the rest of the girls were.
As Lavinia's apprentice walked away, Rossweisse looked at Valerie and they both nodded.
"Asia." Rossweisse called, causing Edzard's wife to look at her.
"Yes, whats up?" Asia asked, putting on a smile, which her two friends noticed was fake.
"There is something we don't understand, Asia." Valerie said, causing her friend to look at her. "How come they managed to capture Marie? I mean, you're the strongest in our group, second only to Edzard and Tiamat. How is it-"
"Trust me." Asia growled, interrupting her friend as she clenched her fists in anger.
"What?" Rossweisse asked in surprise.
The young Valkyrie wasn't the only one surprised by Asia's response, but so was Valerie, who was shocked.
"What you hear… I… let my guard down…" Asia replied as tears began to form on her face. The moment she said those words, her heart felt heavy, as her mind began to recall a sentence that Valerica had told her long ago.
«Remember something, girl. When a person becomes relevant in the eyes of the world, their loved ones become targets for their enemies, who will never rest or hesitate in their actions to see them suffer. You may not see it, but by being with the Dovahkiin, you have become a target for all those seeking to harm them. But not only that, your daughter will also be a target. So, to prevent them from causing you pain, I advise you to never let your guard down, never, even if you are in a place where you think you are safe, as they will only need one opportunity to make you suffer.»
"I was… I was stupid… I let my guard down… and I didn't think my daughter would be in danger in a church…" Asia said as her face broke into a smile, which was accompanied by tears. "If I hadn't, she…she-"
Asia's words were interrupted as she was hugged by Rossweisse and Valerie, who couldn't bear to see their friend show such weakness. So, while holding her, they tried to calm her down.
"Calm down, Asia. We'll find her and when we do, we'll all go eat wherever Marie-chan wants." Valerie said in a whisper.
"Yes, Val is right." Rossweisse said with a smile. "This will be over soon, and everything will return to the normality that can be had while we stop Daedric invasions."
The comforting words from her friends made Asia calm down a bit, enough for her to stop crying.
"You are right, this will end soon. And then we will go to eat and celebrate all together." Asia said as she put her hands to her eyes and wiped away her tears, thinking that her daughter's birthday was coming up. After that, she took a breath and began to calm down, and it's a good thing she did, since a short time later Aika returned with the rest of the girls.
When they were together, Asia started talking, telling them what they would have to do. The first of the orders was simple, eliminate all the enemies they ran into while they were checking the place. The second was not to hold back, because they had to be fast and precise, so they didn't have to give the enemies a chance to counterattack. And so, Asia continued giving other orders, which were orders not to stray too far from the group, to advance in a coordinated manner.
"Yeah, I hope they're ready?" Asia asked as she approached the edge of where their camp was, which was a small ridge.
The response she received was a nod from her friends, who all looked up after answering. Seeing that her friends were already ready, Asia raised her hand and looking at her wrist, she saw a chronometer, which was in reverse and showed that she was already in the last ten seconds to zero. Said chronometer had been synchronized with the remaining time ten minutes ago, when after explaining the final parts of the plan, Rossweisse received one last call before everything started. The reason why this would be the last call was because it was suspected that the place had a barrier that would prevent communications, except for those who belonged to this group of rebel exorcists.
"8... 7... 6... 5... 4... 3... 2... 1..." Asia thought as she looked at the timer. When the count reached zero, Edzard's wife looked at her friends and screamed. "Charge!"
Asia's words were followed by the jumps of all the girls present, who jumped into the void and began to fly towards the enemy base.
As she flew towards that place, Asia only had a thought in her mind. "Calm down, Maria. Mom is on her way.'
The room Edzard was in was identical to the many underground rooms he had seen in the past since he came to this world. The room had gray stone walls, but which were noticeably poorly maintained. The place had been full of anti-magic seals, which were destroyed by Edzard and Zakir, who didn't want to get into a fighting situation and find out they couldn't use their magic, so they rushed to destroy the seals. Although the place had the appearance of an old dungeon, there were some modern things, such as a pair of huge tubes, which led to the deepest part of the room.
"So, is this why you brought me here?" Edzard asked after reaching the end of the room and seeing that there were two huge capsules inside, which were cylindrical, but whose content was impossible to see, because the glass was tinted black or, so Edzard thought.
Zakir looked at the capsules before answering Edzard. Turning his head, he began to look around the place, searching for something. When he found it, he walked towards it and when he was next to the object he was looking for, he took the lever, as it was a light switch.
"Yes, but the truth is what's inside that I want you to see." Zakir said before pulling the lever.
Edzard's eyes almost popped out of place as the inside of the capsules lit up, allowing him to see inside and what he saw there chilled him.
Inside the capsule on the right was a person who could easily pass for being almost a male version of his mother, since he had the same shade of golden hair as her, although it could also be seen that he had a very thick and large beard, indicating that he hadn't shaved in a long time. This man's body was very thin, which showed that he had lost a lot of muscle mass due to physical inactivity. Several scars covered his body, implying that he was a veteran of several fights. In the other capsule, there was no other man, but there was a woman, who had a great resemblance to his wife, except for the color of her hair, which was black. The woman's body was curvaceous, but not excessively.
"What is this? Who are they?" Edzard asked as he walked over to the capsules.
"The man's name is Marcoryan Cumberland, the woman's name I don't know and they are-"
"Asia's Parents." Interrupted Edzard with surprise etched on his face.
Author's note:
To those who have made it this far, Thanks for reading. Because being honest, I don't know how to write much in English and I'm relying on Google translators and the dictionaries that come with office 2019.
Ok, here's chapter 59… this chapter has been hard to write as I haven't had much time lately, in fact I may not even have much time for the next three weeks, if you want to know why I'll just say that the university has decided to cut two weeks of classes, which means, they have advanced all the classes and a lot of homework has accumulated, but hey, I will not let that stop me and if everything goes well, I will have the next chapter soon… or at least I hope so. XD
Well, leaving that aside, we see some revelations, like… Asia's parents are alive and have been in Hades' lab! … and there's a good reason for that. You see, this is a bit of a spoiler, but Asia's parents are needed to kick off an arc in the future. XD
Now about how Asia's parents ended up in the hands of Hades, well, let's just say that will be told later, along with some more revelations, which will come in the next chapter XD.
Also, Kunou arrives at Issei's house, where she requests help from the ORC to help her find Edzard for him to help find Marie, only to end up with the news that Issei's parents have been captured, why? That will be revealed later, XD.
Drashaan: Well, if it is true that writing that Marie was kidnapped so easily has been something very cheap, the truth is that, as I wrote in this chapter, Asia let her guard down when she was in the church, something similar to what happens to many of us when we go to visit the place where we grew up, the place may be dangerous, but having good memories of that place, you usually feel so comfortable that you don't think about the dangers. Also, there is more to Marcus than meets the eye and I plan to reveal his secrets in a few future chapters.
TheRedRidingMaster: I checked it and realized that it's true... TT_TT, although I would like to fix it, I'm afraid I'm very short on time, and I'm using my little free time to plan and write some drafts of future chapters. Maybe in the future, but at the moment I can't.
Well, I apologize for any misspelling. Do not forget to leave a review if you liked the chapter or if there is something that needs to be improved or if you have any questions about the story. Also, any constructive advice is welcome. With nothing more to say, until the next chapter.