Chapter 35
Eye of the Storm
"Despite witnessing it for myself, I can only describe the scene before me as UNBELIEVABLE!" Heimdall hollered as humanity cheered for their fighter's survival, "Koschei has taken a full on lightning blast head-on, and is STILL looking for another round? Truly, this old man deserves the epithet of, 'Deathless'!"
Koschei swung his scythe back the furthest he had ever done in the entire match. Dark magic begins swirling in, converging on the scythe from all directions, the inky black magic begins to spiral around the scythe, forming a vortex that wraps tightly around the blade.
Koschei's eyes seemed to glow as he flung his arm back forward, releasing the scythe from his hand, and sending it hurtling towards his approaching targets in the shape of an arc, as though it were an oversized spinning shuriken. The vortex wrapped around it, now a fully-formed maelstrom, rotates faster and faster, until the scythe seemed to be the eye of a magical storm, ready to strike with devastating force.
"VECHNOST GRASP: ETERNITY'S VORTEX!"
With a roar of frustration, Set commanded his Shas to advance, and the elemental beasts raced forth, charging in their zig zag formation once more to counter Koschei's attack.
Ricocheting off the uneven ground, the swirling mass seemed to gain more power and momentum as it moved first towards the Lightning Sha. The beast leapt to the side, seeming to have dodged the attack. However, tendrils of electricity on its body began flying off, seemingly attracted to the vortex. The Sha let out a howl as it was sucked in, its body being torn apart everytime it attempted to reform.
Without any more obstacles in its way, Koschei's vortex barreled, undeterred, towards Set. His elemental powers currently placed in his two Sha, the fallen prince raised his sabers to block the strike. But the sheer power of it, coupled with the electricity it had absorbed proved far too much, and the fallen prince was enveloped by the dark vortex with an ominous, "BOOM!"
At that moment, the Desert Sha, still charging towards Koschei, leapt at the old man, but Koschei made no attempts to dodge, merely extending his hand and catching his returning scythe, which burst straight through the Desert Sha that lay in its path, causing an explosion of rocks and sand. The minerals that made up the tenacious beast's body quickly reformed, ready to continue its assault!
Crouching on the balls of his feet in response, Koschei leapt into the air with a powerful push, scythe raised high above his head in both hands. Soaring upwards, Koschei's scythe seemed to whistle as his form was silhouetted against the light, his figure lost in the sheer height of his leap. At the apex of his jump, the old man seemed to hover, momentarily suspended in midair, scythe poised for a devastating blow. Then, with a violent twist of his body, Koschei began his descent back down with incredible speed.
With a thunderous impact, the scythe crashed into the Desert Sha below, bursting the beast apart into a whirlwind of sand. Once more, the Sha attempted to gather its pieces and put itself back together. However, Koschei quickly commanded a legion of hands to burst forth from the ground, further dispersing the remnants of the Sha.
Valhalla Hospital
"What incredible skill! And such courage to boot!" Two godly healers commented in awe of Koschei's power, watching the ongoing match from a television inside their ward alongside the few patients who were placed under their care. "To think such one with a visage so frail and wrinkled could make the dreaded Set himself seethe with rage, all whilst with that jovial attitude! What is his secret?"
"His soul…"
All heads turned towards Hel, who sat upright on her bed, eyes transfixed on the television whilst she stroked the fluffy head of her hellhound Garmr which lay comfortably on her lap, letting out content grunts whenever his mistress scratched that one particular spot.
"H-his what now, Lady Hel?"
"Even from here I can sense it," Hel continued to no one in particular, "In all my time as a Goddess of Death, I rarely ever see a human possess that feeling, even moreso when their lives are at such risk… yet he's so full of it? Interesting…"
"And what feeling might that be?" An angel next to her asked curiously.
Hel smirked, still watching the battle unfold, her eyes glinted with a strange light as she answered simply with just a single word.
"Contentment."
…
Standing upright, Koschei watched the wind whisk the sand particles that were the Desert Sha towards the smoking crater produced by his vortex. The old man squinted his one good eye, tensing as he held his scythe in front of him… a loud, "BOOM!" reverberated across the arena. All of a sudden, Set was no longer standing in front of Koschei. The old man did a double take, his heightened senses didn't even capture a single frame of movement!
Whipping around, Koschei found Set standing behind him, the fallen prince's rags and skin were burnt and bruised. But his sabers were raised high above his head, crackling and swirling with lightning and sand elemental energy once more. And most important of all, the manacles and chains attached to Set's legs were gone, blasted off by the explosion and leaving him no longer restrained.
Barely parrying the blur that was Set's incoming strike, Koschei quickly used the impact to push himself back and create more breathing room between him and his foe. But in yet another explosion of dust, Set closed the distance between them faster than Koschei could process.
Feeling Chernabog's painful constriction of his left shoulder muscles, Koschei knew to quickly lean towards the right. Resulting in Set's blades just grazing his sleeve, before the god disappeared from view just as quickly as he had appeared by the old man's side.
"The last of Set's chains are off!" Heimdall announced, "What unparalleled speed! Just like before, the fallen prince has proven that all this while, we've only seen a mere glimpse of his power!"
"WHAT?!" Göll yelped, "How is Koschei supposed to dodge those attacks?! They're so fast, he can't even see Set move!"
"B-but yet, Koschei's still able to dodge them more or less!" Pandora replied confused, "H-how?"
"Chernabog…" Prometheus spoke, "With the speed he is at now, the fallen prince's attacks are far too quick for even Koschei's heightened battle senses to process. Fortunately… he still has the Death Deity to warn him about the dangers of each of Set's incoming attacks!"
Koschei gritted his teeth, there could be no more risky anticipation on his part. From now on, every single response he made had to be quick and spontaneous. Cold air tickled Koschei's right ear as Chernabog exhaled, "CLANG!" went the old man's scythe as Set slammed his saber onto its unprotected blade. A numbing jolt of electricity surged through Koschei's forearm, forcing him to draw upon his remaining endurance to push through the pain.
His attack repelled, Set leapt backwards into the cover of his sandstorm… wait, sandstorm? Koschei did a double take, realizing that for the past few minutes. A swirling tornado of dust and rock had been taking form around the perimeter of the battlefield, undoubtedly the handiwork of the fallen prince's right saber. "Hehehe~" Koschei smirked while squinting his eyes, "I already cannot see your movements! What's the point of a sandstorm then?"
"Curse all this sand," Horus grumbled, shielding his eyes, "I can barely even make out what's going on down there!" At that moment, holographic screens lit up, allowing the spectators to view what was going on inside the sandstorm. "Nevermind, I can see them now."
"Hehe, now where will you strike next, fallen prince, I wonder?" Koschei mused, his eyes sweeping from left to right, hoping to catch even the slightest glimpse of his foe. A sudden chill ran down his spine, "Ah, of course, from… BEHIND."
Holding up his scythe, Koschei was quick to turn and defend himself, but the brunt of Set's blow easily broke through his guard. Causing him to stumble as the fallen prince swiftly appeared from behind, slamming his foot into the old man's back and forcing him to the ground. In response, Koschei immediately erected another protective sphere to shelter himself in. However this time, Set's attack was not so easily deterred.
"You think that same trick will be enough to save you once more?" Set roared, his voice seemed louder and echoed throughout the arena as though it were one with the swirling sand, "Well THINK AGAIN!"
Emerging from within the sand, Set sped forward, slashing at the sphere as he ran circles around it. The electrifying currents and brittle sand biting into the soul magic made short work of Koschei's barrier, causing it to burst open, leaving Koschei vulnerable once more.
Stunned, Koschei barely had time to register what happened before Set struck once more. Moving like a blur, the fallen prince's attacks came from every angle—vicious, precise blows that seemed almost endless as Koschei had barely enough time to react. Set's blows were like a rapid-fire assault that forced his opponent to adopt a more and more defensive stance with each turn. Koschei dodged, parried and blocked with all his might, but the relentless speed of the attack was overwhelming, each strike landing closer and closer, threatening to break through his defenses…
"No, no, no." Pandora cried as the trio watched Koschei getting bombarded from every side, "Koschei's nearly at his limit, he can't take much more of this!"
Koschei felt his muscles ache and his vision turn blurry, the damage he sustained beforehand was taking its toll. 'Curse these old bones of mine," he growled, "come on… can't… stop… now! Still have to keep fighting!" With a roar of effort, Koschei channeled as much magic as he could into his scythe's blade in the short time frame he had, swinging it violently at Set's face as the god closed in for another strike. But his scythe bit only the empty air, for in a split second, Set had already effortlessly dodged the strike and now loomed over the old man's back, sabers raised high in the air.
"And now it ends for you," the fallen prince snarled as he brought his sabers down.
The sound of electricity crackled throughout the air. Watching the crimson blade fall upon him, all Koschei could do now was listen to the loud whistle of the blade cutting through the air, closing his eyes and awaiting the fatal blow.
"CLANG!"
Koschei's eyes flew open in confusion, something had gotten in the saber's way? Looking upwards, he saw the shadowy arm of Chernabog, no longer wrapped around him. But instead, held up high, shielding the old man with his inky black talons. Spectators gasped in shock, as the Death Deity briefly became visible to them all, forcing Set back with a swing of his arm.
"Well I'll be…" the old man muttered in awe. But his wonder was soon cut short, as Set prepared to execute his next attack. Koschei readied his scythe, prepared to answer his opponent's powerful offense. But rather than charge forward, Set simply dipped his left saber into the sandstorm behind him, allowing the crackling electricity to meet the swirling sand. Sparks flew and a loud sizzling noise was heard, as the intense heat from the electricity melted the sand, causing it to glow white-hot as the grains fuse into molten glass. The once-fluid sand solidifies into a glass-like form, still humming with residual energy as streaks of red electricity arc through the smooth, glowing glass. Hooking onto his creation with his saber, Set inspected it with mild satisfaction, before turning around and sending it hurtling towards Koschei with a powerful swing.
"RED JAVELIN!"
Koschei's eyes widened as he instinctively swung his scythe to parry the projectile, upon contact, the shard immediately shattered like… well, like glass. But as he did, the electricity contained within the glass broke free, resulting in a miniature blinding explosion that flung Ksochei backwards. Chips of glass and debris lodging into his clothing and skin, as he landed dead center in the arena.
Quickly following though, Set slammed his right saber into the ground again. The fallen prince's entire body seemed to glow in an earthly aura, as staggering amounts of sand burst out from the ground in four different spots. Violently swirling higher and higher skywards, till four massive pillars of shifting sand stood, surrounding the center of the sandstorm. Leaping high into the air, Set raised his left saber, summoning bolts of lightning which he sent flying down into the pillars. Heating the sand particles within, turning what was once merely shifting sand, into dangerous tornadoes of sharp red shards.
"What magic is this?!" Horus gaped, so this was what his uncle was truly capable of? Perhaps it was a good thing Set had surrendered without putting up a fight.
"When exposed to intense heat, sand melts into a liquid state to eventually form glass." Nephthys explained as she watched her husband wistfully, "Using the intense heat of his lightning, your uncle is able to turn his normally defensive sand into brittle, yet deadly weapons… such is the ingenuity and skill of the Duat's fallen prince "
"Tsk, I could do better. Anyways, what's the deal with the pillars?"
At that moment, the four pillars began spinning slower and slower, till all of them ceased to move entirely, leaving hundreds of glass shards hovering in midair. Eyes closed, Set held his sabers against his chest, crimson red aura gathering towards him as he hovered amongst the floating shards. With a piercing screech, the fallen prince's eyes snapped open and he swung his blades outwards with a tumultuous uproar, sending the pieces of jagged glass crashing down below like heavy rain.
Koschei gaped as he watched the avalanche of shards streak closer downwards, it didn't matter where he looked, there simply was no escape! But the old man was not giving up so easily. Holding his scythe above his head, he began spinning it as fast as he could, in hopes of deflecting as many shards as possible. A fruitless endeavor, but it was all he could do, managing to repel a good amount of shards. But many more found their mark, burrowing into his flesh, stunning him with biting jolts of electricity, allowing more and more shards to land as well.
At that moment, Set himself descended from the sky above, holding his two sabers together and allowing the electricity and sand surrounding their blades to combine. Producing a single gleaming, crystalline glass blade with a descent so powerful, it sent gusts of wind swirling around him. As Set moved, light rays pierced through the translucent red glass, refracted and scattered in vivid crimson hues, painting the sky behind him itself into a deep, blood-red canvas.
"RED SKY BURIAL!"
Koschei tensed, bracing for impact, when all of a sudden. Chernabog's massive wings unfurled, covering Koschei's entire body and creating a protective barrier around him. A terrible, "BOOM!" exploded throughout the arena, as both man and Death Deity were flung backwards by the sheer force, the impact of the strike reducing Chernabog's wings into inky smoke.
Koschei landed heavily on his back, body bloodied and battered, but mostly unharmed. The old man groaned as he looked up at the darkness that was Chernabog's face, letting out a delirious chuckle, "Now what's the meaning of this, old nuisance? I thought your dearest wish was WANTING me dead!"
Chernabog's body was riddled with gaping holes after taking the brunt of Set's strike, wings reduced to pathetic nubs, but more of the inky darkness that made up his body reformed to replace what was lost. The Death Deity tilted his head, narrowing his haunting red eyes as he looked at the old man beneath him, seeming to scrutinize the depths of Koschei's soul, before letting out a rattling sigh.
"I…" He spoke in a begrudging tone, eyes losing their baleful light. "Was tasked with haunting a man who thought himself immortal… a man who understood not the struggles and meaning of life… to consume his cursed soul when the time was ripe… Yet… The man I haunted has long since died... try as I might… I can no longer deny that the man I sought… is no longer you."