REVIEWS
UnseenUrge: Can't have everything be action and suspense.
Ezoren: I usually use the line breaks you have been seeing for any major scene change. Other than those, I make sure to state, and if you read carefully, you can easily tell what is a flashback.
Xerzo LotCN: Still working on that!
ZenithSerac: You will see. You will all see.
Goodsend: Sometimes, to achieve victory, one must do what they do not want to do. But what they HAVE to do.
Now, before moving on to the links, I want to let you guys know that during those chapters that had been more focused on Ignium, there had actually been quite a few time skips subtly happening. I know it may be a bit of a blunder on my part, but it will become more evident in the coming chapter just how much time has passed.
Discord Link: /FVXgdXtMUv
And if you want to support me further, as well as enjoy the next chapter early, go to my Coffee page here: Coffee (You know how to edit this) Dot Com/Horns
"This is horrible…" Asia said as everyone was watching the television. It had been quite some time since Leon joined them, and as agreed, he had told Ajuka and Sirzechs everything he knew. Too bad what he knew was not that useful. They had no idea where his colleagues, George and Danbooru, were now. Still, a deal is a deal, and now, Leon enjoyed himself as part of Issei's peerage, as one of his pawns.
But what were they watching that drew such a reaction from Asia? Simple. The news on the situation in India. The estimated death toll of a new virus spreading throughout the entire subcontinent was in the millions. It has already been estimated that over 30% of the population, with the majority being the elderly and children under the age of 10, have perished due to this, and hundreds are dying every day.
Each day, funeral fires are lit, but even that is no longer enough. Crematoriums are full, and there is even a problem with vases for the deceased. There was true chaos in India, and they could do nothing. When Issei went to Sirzechs, asking him if there was something they could do for those people, he told him they could do nothing. This was the territory of the Hindu Pantheon, and even if they wanted to help, they never took kindly to outside interferences in their borders.
Pride blinded them to the need for aid.
Unless the Hindu came to them directly, requesting aid, then there was nothing they could do. But Issei just had a feeling in his chest, something somber. Spring had long since come, and now, as they were slowly inching toward Summer, he just couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong with the images he saw on the television. Man, how he'd give to have Solomon with him again. Unfortunately, that was not the case.
"Pestilence." Raynare spat out. "One of the four horsemen."
"The Four Horsemen?" Asia asked, facing her. "You mean this is their doing?!"
"No. At least, I don't know if it is." Raynare replied.
"The Four Horsemen, huh? If I recall correctly, they are War, Pestilence, Poverty, and Death." Ingvild said.
"They are arguably the strongest beings Heaven ever commanded," Raynare said. "I recall them from the time before I fell. The old man placed individual seals on each of them until those seals were broken. One more seal remains, now, which is preventing them from unleashing their full power."
"I think I recall the tale," Issei said. "Has the lamb really broken six seals?"
"No, just four. He had released the Horsemen, and they are waiting for the day of reckoning." Raynare said.
"The apocalypse," Asia said with dread. "Could this be an omen of it?"
"Nya! Then where are the others? The verse says they will each unleash their plagues on different quarters of the earth!" Kuroka said.
"This is not that," Raynare said.
"I agree with Raynare. This virus that suddenly swept through India…This is mother nature collecting her due." Issei said, but in truth, he didn't know what this was. Something just felt awfully out of place. "I will go train and meditate."
"Alright, but remember to come for dinner," Kuroka told him, and with that said, Issei went inside his dungeon, where he began a review of his stats and equipment. First, his stats.
Gamer
Issei Hyoudou
Title:
Red Dragon Emperor
Dungeon Master
Level:
53 (8734272/11958826 EXP)
Race: 10% Dragon/90% Human
HP: 49790/49790 (5 HP/30 Sec.)
STA: 27639/27639 (5 STA/30 Sec) (- 200 From the effect of [The Seal of Solomon])
Ki: 25364/25364 (1 Ki/Min)
(100 25% from both DUR and MGI)
Corruption: 0%
D.P: 15341/15341 (1 D.P/Min)
(100 10% from STR, DUR, MGI, and AGI)
Mana: 49130/49130 (1 Mana/Min) (- 200 From the effect of [The Seal of Solomon])
STR: 200
AGI: 200
MGI: 200
DUR: 200
ACC: 200
WIS: 200 (20 from Ultimate/Unique Skill: Solomon)
INT: 200
CHA: 200
LCK: 58
SP: 53
Status effects: N/A
He was topped off. He had no source of EXP, so all he did was train his stats to the current cap. He should perform the ritual, which would unlock the next cap, but he was unsure. Could he do it without Solomon? That is the one thing that worries him the most. Whenever he had doubts or was looking for answers, Solomon was there to provide assurance. To make him feel like he was on the right track.
Thanks to his guidance, he had come so far. Since losing the power of his gear, growing his power has become a priority. Everyone around him was improving, and slowly, he was surpassing them. But now, he felt like he was walking through a thick marsh. Things had never been more difficult.
His enemies were preparing, yet he was stuck. Ddraig was often not around, too weak to maintain a connection for long. Still, he wondered what tomorrow would bring. If Solomon returned to him one day, everything would return to how it was. But he had to consider that this was the way he would remain. Maybe he will recover the use of his Sacred Gear someday. Who knows?
Azazel must have something that can work in that regard.
But in case that fails as well, he had to be prepared. Those were his stats, and he was capped. Now, it was time to look at some other things. His skills. He had several that were not yet max level, so he decided to train those. [Back-Slash] was one such skill, which, upon reaching the maximum level, increased its bonus damage from 25 to 35%.
[Dragon Dash] was also maxed out, with it seeing quite the improvements. First, the distance it worked for increased from 300 to 400 meters. The AGI bonus went up by 50%. The cost also went down by 200 Stamina.
He hasn't been training his Youjutsu or Senjutsu much, which was unwise of him. In fact, he has been neglecting his skills quite a bit. Truth be told, he has been focusing more on living a more normal life, spending time with his friends, his family, and his loved ones—he was enjoying the peace. He trained hard up until now, and he believes he truly earned himself a break.
Despite his earlier beliefs, this was honestly something he believed he earned. Some peace. He didn't want to spend all day in the dungeon since there was no immediate threat anymore, and even then, he felt appropriately prepared for such an event.
Next up, however, came his equipment. He had the Enchanted Steel Armor he stole from that base, which, thanks to its ability to fix itself using his mana, never broke until now. It was very useful, and he was willing to say it saved him quite a few times, but perhaps he should look into improving it. Surely, there was someone in the underworld who could work on it, right?
There was also his sword and bow. Those two were now part of the gear, adding to it. The Moonlit Blade has served him well so far, and its power has never disappointed him. The bow had yet to prove itself, however, as he has not put in any archery training as of yet. Perhaps he should look into it. The bow looked like it had some useful skills.
He still had several potions, and he could always use the shop to buy more. Still, so far, he was not sure what he could do the next day.
"Sir." Marakus Aim went up to Ignium. "The armies are ready."
"Finally," Ignium said as they went outside to the balcony overlooking the troops. They were all arranged in battalions, standing lined up before him. It was time. With the population of India having dropped by more than a quarter and more dying by the day, not to mention their inability to find even a working treatment for their humans, the Hindus had lost power.
They grew weaker. Not only did countless faithful worshippers perish, but many also lost their faith in their gods. Now was the most fitting time to commence.
"Everyone!" Ignium raised his voice, addressing his army. "Today is the day! For years, we have been preparing! For years, we have been scheming! And today is the day we unleash our might upon the first target! The Hindu Pantheon, led by the Trimurti and Indra, have sat upon their mountain drunk on power for too long! Fuck the list of the ten strongest beings! They are not stronger than we are, for together, we are the Snake of Adam! We are superior!"
"Victory!" A soldier shouted.
"Victory! Victory! Victory!" The army chanted, singing together before Ignium. Such high morale was hard to break.
"We will attack their mountain! We will show them what it means to face the Snake of Adam! But my friends, remember our objective! We attack the Hindu for one reason: To restore order! They have dared to steal the power to, in their words, confiscate Sacred Gears from humans! Lies! They are hoarding the strongest of Gears for their use! I will take that power from them! And when I do, they will lose more than just men, face, and power…They will lose their pride!"
"Victory to the Snake!" A soldier shouted again.
"Victory will be ours!"
"Death to the Hindu!"
"Their mountains will burn!" Ignium declared, and not a moment sooner. The sky above them darkened as something flew above them. The soldiers all looked in awe as they saw the behemoth of steel flying through the air with its cannon primed and ready. "Behold! Human ingenuity, reborn through our hands! Revixit Bizmark!"
The ship was truly a marvel of their efforts. Not only did they fully restore the ship, but they also improved it. Ignium put a leg on the railing of the balcony, stretching his wings. He then flew high, going to the deck of the ship, where he entered. There, multiple crew members saluted him. He went to the intercom, and there, he shouted.
"Snake of Adam! To war!"
"WAR!" The army chanted as one. "WAR! WAR! WAR!"
"VANGUARD! TAKE UP ARMS!"
Before them, as the army marched forward, multiple portals opened, operated by magicians under the employment of the Snake. They all went into them, and headed for war.
"Lord Indra!" A sentinel came to the God's chamber, distressed. "We are under atta-AGH!"
A great explosion rocked the inside of the chamber, a clear attack launched by the enemy. Indra's eyes widened in shock, seeing such bold action, and he immediately rushed outside, seeing a sight that chilled his bones. "So…You finally make yourself known…" He saw the giant flying ship in the sky and the waves of soldiers covering the ground. Indra's soldiers were swift to take up defensive positions, but then they came.
Massive machines of war, golems that seemed alive, brought with them waves of death.
"Lord Indra…" One of the Buddhas in his service called to him. "This is…"
"Yeah…It is war."
As Ignium and his main force attacked Mount Meru, another detachment of his army attacked Mount Kailash, where Shiva resided. The armies poured from the portals surrounding the mountain, but as they began setting up their weaponry, a great blast of divine might rained from the sky. And there, in the middle of the created crater, stood the destroyer.
"You dare attack us…" Shiva said, gazing at the soldiers surrounding him. Despite his young appearance, Shiva stood strong, his dark-blue hair shining in the light, as he brandished his divine weapon, the Trishula, at the attackers. "Who are you? And who is your leader?"
"The name of our leader…" In the crater, one of Ignium's colonels dropped, greeting him. Alonzo Agaliarept. "Is General Ignium Ophirius! We are the Snake of Adam, and we are here to bring due retribution for the crime you have committed and the offense brought against our General. Lord Shiva! Today, I will be your opponent." Alonzo threw away his top uniform, and then, all around him, several magical circles appeared.
"You are a devil…" Shiva narrowed his eyes at Alonzo. "How can you stand up to a God?"
"Quite well." Suddenly, Alonzo vanished from Shiva's view.
"What the-Ugh!" And before he could process what he saw, Alonzo planted his fist deep into Shiva's stomach. However, the God remained steadfast. "You-...How?"
"You underestimate…" Alonzo twisted his fist, a magical circle appearing between it and Shiva. "The Snake's power!"
A powerful shockwave erupted between them, sending Shiva flying back toward his mountain. The army cheered at the apparent victory earned by their Colonel, but Alonzo was quick to set them straight. "Fools! This is far from over!"
A horn blared above them as a light descended upon them. They crashed into the ground with thundering force and stood before them with weapons drawn. The God standing before them was none other than the elephant-headed God, Ganesha, with his pinkish skin and a sword held in one of his four arms.
And then, from the middle, Shiva returned, but he changed. The human-like appearance had disappeared, replaced by a being with blueish skin and four arms standing before them.
"You chose death today," Shiva told them as he raised the Trishula.
"We chose war…Death is an accessory." Alonzo retorted as they all knew the battle had begun. The armies from the mountain had started their descent, and Alonzo knew more deities were around. He just hoped the others could keep them at bay.
"Gah!"
"We are dropping like flies!"
The soldiers that were attacking Shiva's mountain from another flank were running all over the place, avoiding the rain of divine arrows coming from above. And there, standing on a rock, was none other than Arjuna. A great hero of the Hindu. "You dare to attack us. Now face the consequences!" He said coldly as he drew the string of his divine bow yet again and released it, sending a new rain of arrows toward the army. However, before the arrows could land, they all combusted into flames. Arjuna's eyes widened at the phenomenon as the one responsible revealed themselves.
"Arjuna…" Marakus Aim said as he revealed himself. "I am your enemy today."
"You…What power is this? Every single one of my arrows…" Arjuna said slowly.
"This is the power of the Aim House," Marakus claimed, raising his fist as fire erupted around it. "Now, perish in flames!" Suddenly, Arjuna felt the air around him growing hotter. He quickly leaped away from his original position, seeing it burst into a fury of flames.
"The fire didn't even travel!" Arjuna remarked, putting distance between him and the devil, but Marakus gave swift chase. As the Snake's troops attacked the ground troops, they were going to engage in their battles, going against one another.
"Come on!" Marakus shouted as he stomped the ground, causing a great explosion to erupt and launch him into the air with impressive speed. Once in the air, he ignited flames under his feet, propelling him like rockets toward the hero. Arjuna, seeing him approach, narrowed his eyes and pulled his bow, unleashing a wave of arrow after arrow, but they all caught fire and burned out before reaching Marakus.
With his attack foiled, Arjuna attempted once again to move, but Marakus saw through him. An explosion erupted right to his right just as he tried to move in that exact direction, and it sent him flying to the left. "Gah!" Arjuna's back met the hard rock, digging into it from the force he was blasted away with. But he had no time to relax. He saw Marakus drawing near and knew he had to move. He fired an arrow to the side, seemingly to nothing. But once the arrow touched the ground, it began to glow, and as Marakus drew his fist back, Arjuna vanished, leaving the colonel to crash into the rock.
But he was not done. "So, you can do more than let loose a few hundred arrows at once…" Marakus remarked as he climbed out of the rock. "That bow of yours is full of surprises." However, Marakus knew that from the start. But there was an issue. That bow was a divine weapon! Had it been a normal bow, it would have been burned long ago by his power, but no. The divinity of that bow was protecting it from his ability.
"How can you wield such power?" Arjuna asked, readying another arrow.
"A good question. Put up your guard!" Marakus stomped the ground, making pillars of fire erupt around him. Then, before Arjuna's eyes, the fire took shape, becoming two fists that floated in the air. "We are far from done."
Arjuna aimed his bow at the devil.
"My, oh my, now this is a war…" Darium said he walked through the battlefield. He was not concerned with the soldiers around him, the clashing of the two sides.
"Your guard is down, devil!" A deva soldier shouted as they charged at Darium, but in their foolish charge, forsaken their life. Darium merely turned and swiped his cane, and the head of the soldier was liberated from its soldiers.
"Some of these are a bit young…" Darium said, rubbing his beard. However, his eyes opened wide when he felt a great surge of power, and he raised his cane just in time. "Aries, Mars!" Combining two of his abilities, Darium was able to tank the strike that came from the God that appeared. Before him, wielding a large, golden mace-like weapon with white fur all over his body and skin black as charcoal, was the God Hanuman.
"Heh. Quite the sturdy fellow, are you?" Hanuman pushed more and eventually managed to push Darium back, and the old man landed with ease despite his age. "I must say, you don't see an old fossil like you on the battlefield every day."
"Are you going to comment on my age, God Hanuman?" Darium rubbed his beard. "Bold of you, especially seeing how you are barely a day younger."
"Oh, you got me there." Hanuman shrugged. "But I believe the difference in our bodies tells a bigger story. Listen here, old soldier. Surrender, and I promise good treatment. But fight me, and I can only promise you death. Please surrender. It'd leave a sour taste in my mouth to kill a grandpa."
"And here I heard the Hindu had more respect for their elders…" Darium sighed, but then his gaze steeled, and he unsheated his blade from the cane.
Hanuman, upon seeing the blade, flinched slightly. "Hey now, what is wrong with that sword of yours? It's foul!"
"This? This is a gift I got from General Ophirius." A black aura surrounded the blade. "It has quite the applications, so how about it, Hanuman? Come find out."
"What a gutsy old geezer…" Hanuman muttered as he prepared for battle.
"Tch. Tch. Tch." Jeanne clicked her tongue as she walked through the battlefield, displeased. "Why does our great leader need to take the main show? So unfair. I bet most of the Gods are there! Then again, they could be going to either mountain." She sighed, then looked to the side and saw massive pillars of fire rise in the sky. "Looks like Marakus is having fun with whoever chose him as an enemy. Fuck, this area is desolated!" She stomped her foot to the ground, frustration washing over her.
"Die!" Jeanne reacted swiftly to the shout, jumping into the air just in time to avoid a hungry tiger from having her head. However, she failed to sense the second attacker that came her way, resulting in her being knocked violently to the side. However, as she flew through the air, she summoned a mass of ice that caught her, and she looked to see who struck her.
Now riding on the tiger that attacked her before stood the goddess with eight arms, a sword in each. Jeanne grinned, seeing her. "Maa Durga." Maa Durga, the Hindu goddess of protection. "Now, I wonder why, of all places, someone like you was assigned to defend this exact place, hmm?"
Durga pointed her swords at Jeanne. "Leave." Her tiger roared at her.
"Now I know it is here…This is it, isn't it? The place where the Hindu Pantheon keeps all Sacred Gears taken from humans." Jeanne pointed at a cave that led inside the mountain, which sat behind Durga. "Through that cave is your stash!"
"Who are you? Why are you attacking us? We have done NOTHING to warrant an invasion of such scale!" Durga demanded answers, yet, Jeanne only gave her a cold, cocky smile.
"Why? Well, I want to say just because we can, but that'd be a lie. Why? Simple. Our General ordered this attack! He even had the brilliant idea to spread a fatal virus throughout your people to weaken your entire pantheon!" Durga's expression became one of utter shock.
"You are responsible for this?! The deaths…Do you even realize how many have died?! Children who did not fault life have lost their lives! Mothers all over the country have cried RIVERS of tears because of your General!" The Goddess tightened her grip on her blades. "How dare you…Who gave you the right?!"
"Look at you, how condescending," Jeanne replied.
"Condescending?" Durga echoed.
"You claim to care for the mortals when, in reality, they are nothing more than your source of power. You need them. Why do you claim to care about the lives lost if your people can multiply again and indoctrinate their spawns into the very religion giving you power?"
"Shut up!" Durga shouted, making Jeanne smile.
"Can't face the truth, Durga? Too bad…The truth is cold…" The clouds above them darkened as the temperature around them dropped. "You face a daughter of Fleurety! I will make sure you freeze in my eternal blizzard!"
"My, oh my, what a battle." Sanac, the last of the five colonels, said as he stood atop a cliff overlooking the mountain. One might say he was being a coward, but in truth, he was waiting. Waiting because he knew his opponent was drawing closer. Then, he felt the air shift, and turning around, he saw his opponent.
The god Vishnu stood tall before Sanac with four arms and bluish skin. "You dare?"
"Yes, we do dare," Sanac said as he fixed his sleeves a bit. "Lord Vishnu, of the Trimurti. Pray tell, where is Brahma?" Vishnu narrowed his gaze at Sanac. "Ah, right…Brahma is not the kind of God to interfere, is he? He won't fight."
"Dare not speak of Lord Brahma." Vishnu drew his sword and held it poised at Sanac. "You die here…"
"Lord Vishnu, make no mistake. I hold no ill will to you or your people. I am merely following orders." Sanac stated. "That being said, I am under orders to prevent you from reaching that mountain, no matter what."
"Even if I am stopped here, there are plenty of other deities in our heavenly realm able to eradicate your armies!" Sanac grinned. "What do you find amusing in the cruel truth?"
"Vishnu…You delude yourself if you think Gods are enough to defeat us. Now put your guard up and fight!"
"What is going on?!" Soldiers shouted in the heat of the battle, those being Hindu soldiers and low-ranking Devas. To describe them in easy terms, they are like Heaven's angels. They exist to serve the higher beings. "We are divine, yet their weapons, they…They can kill us!"
"Control yourself! We have to keep fighting! We cannot-" A heavy round struck the soldier's head before his sentence could end, splattering his blood all over the ground.
"No!" The other soldier fell back, and as he did, he saw the shadow looming above him.
"Target Acquired." A Bruticus Golem was above him and aimed an arm equipped with a rotating four-barrel mechanism at him. "Exterminate."
"NOOO!-" The soldier was killed by the hail of bullets swiftly.
"Proceeding to next tar-" The golem, however, found itself pierced by a spear through the chest, causing it to stumble back. Then, the spear within him exploded, destroying it.
"Do not give them an inch!" The soldiers shouted as they threw enchanted javelins at their enemy's mechanical behemoths. The Bruticus Golems, and even the flying units, were starting to find it difficult to advance.
"Exterminate!" Another Bruticus Golem shouted as he fired away, laying down a blanket of fire over the enemy. However, from above, a screech echoed. The Golem looked up, only to be grabbed and taken high. "Identity: Divine Beast: Garuda!"
Monstrous eagle-like beings with feathers like gold, the garuda, were starting to swarm the sky, and many were going for the ship. However, the ship's defenses easily dispatched them, shooting them out of the sky. The garuda that grabbed the Bruticus golem lowered its beak to it and grabbed its arm before it could shoot it, pulling it out. Then, it dropped the golem onto its own, killing several soldiers of the Snake in the process.
The forces of the Hindus were picking up momentum. They were starting to advance as the artillery of the Snake began to falter. "The Bruticus Golems are going down! We need reinforcements on this flank!" A soldier shouted to his superior, using what seemed to be an assault gun to fire at the approaching Hindu forces.
"Roger that! This is Sergeant Second Class Monro, requesting immediate backup! We are being pushed back! I repeat! We are getting pushed back!" The Sergeant called for reinforcements on their communication channel, and to his luck, someone replied.
"Special Assault Division, responding to your call, Sergeant!"
Suddenly, from behind the line of the Snake, several portals opened, and what stepped out was nothing short of a sight to see. The armor of the soldiers that came out was unlike theirs, as it seemed layered with some kind of special material, and their helmets were sealed airtight, breathing solely through special filters in the front. They raised their weapons and began to fire, charging in with reckless abandon.
However, to the utter disbelief of the other soldiers, the SAD Men were doing the work. They advanced with unmatched speed, taking the Hindu by surprise and offering no mercy. Once they reached close quarters, they grabbed a foldable shovel from behind them that they used to smack the enemy troops with or use the edges to slash them.
"Vorwärts! Lassen Sie ihnen keine Sekunde Zeit, sich zu organisieren und erobern Sie so viel Boden wie möglich!" (In English: Charge! Leave them no second to organize and take as much ground as you can!)
A man wearing a more decorated set of the same armor came through the portal, armed with only two pistols and shouting in German no less! He looked down at the Sergeant who called for aid, the man taking cover in a hole made by their earlier artillery. "Sergeant! Los geht's! There is no time to waste! Bewegung! Bewegung! Bewegung!"
The Sergeant went in, together with the other soldier, going into the fray. Then, the one who seemed to command the SAD Men drew his pistols and charged right in. He rushed through the battlefield and jumped high, firing into the enemy lines. Dropping down among the enemies, he fired two rounds, killing two coming from the right, then he ducked and fired another to kill the soldier who had just tried to spear his head.
Lastly, he fired several rounds at reinforcements that tried to swarm them until his pistols clicked empty. "Scheiße!" He dodged an incoming strike, punching the soldier in question, and then kicked them away. Then, he ran his hands to the sides of his body, revealing several cartridges of ammo. He released the empty ones and, with one swift movement, inserted the new ones into his guns.
Cocking his pistols against one another, he aimed them again at the enemy, shooting more of them down. However, he soon found more fire mixed with his own. "Oh!" He stopped, realizing that his soldiers had arrived. "I rushed."
"The enemy is retreating!" A soldier said with joy.
"Ja. Reminds me of the Blitzkrieg…" The mysterious Commander said, and then they popped their necks, getting ready to continue. "More reinforcements are coming! All Special Units had been ordered to unleash Hell upon our enemies! I am not the only one…"
"But…Who are you?" The soldier asked, looking at the Commander. "We never saw you before."
"Our training and preparations had been done in a separate base from the main HQ." The man said, folding his arms behind his back, pistols still in hand. "Ignium chose men and women of talent from the human race and reincarnated them as his peerage."
"The shards…But everyone only gets one." The soldier said.
"The General has the privilege of having as many as he wants!" The man said sternly. "And good thing he has an eye for talent."
"Hahah! This is what I am talking about, lads!" Charging through the battlefield with only an old-styled rifle, something that looked out of the World War Two museum, charged a one-eyed man. He wore no armor like the other soldiers, yet as the attacks of the enemy came at him, it was like they avoided him on purpose. He raised his arms, one normal and the other a clear, advanced prosthetic. He had a large smile on his face as he shot each incoming enemy, fighting shoulder-to-shoulder with the other soldiers of the Snake. "Come on, lads, put some life into it!"
The soldiers looked at him strangely at first but then noticed his rank etched on his uniform. "Yes, Commander!" The soldiers went in with renewed vigor, but the man himself thought this was a good chance to light a cigar. Unfortunately, he didn't see the enemy approaching him, but he didn't worry. In the next second, the enemy in question was slain by a sniper's bullet. "Bloody hell!" Surprised, the man dropped his cigar in the mud. "My cigar! Simo!" The man called over the communication channel.
"You were lacking, Adrian!" The sniper, who was no less than 10 KM away, replied. "I had to take the shot."
"You Finnish bloke! Warn me next time!" The man with one eye was a legend, as was his sniper friend. He was The Unkillable Soldier! He was Sir Adrian Carton de Wiart! And the one far away, sniping enemy soldiers with his trusty rifle, was a master of camouflage, currently hidden so well, one would think he was one with the terrain! Simo Häyhä! The White Death! The deadliest sniper to live!
"No promises…" Simo replied as he ended the talk, then he aimed and shot one of the enemy soldiers dead. "But I can promise lots of headshots today."
Suddenly, however, as Adrian was advancing on the field, a garuda came before him, blocking his path." Gah! At yours, you demon with wings!" He began to shoot the creature several times, but his weapon was doing little. Eventually, the garuda swiped its wing, smacking him away.
"Ugh." Adrian landed roughly on the ground but was swift to get back up. The garuda, however, wanted to capitalize on the opportunity and lunged for him. Too bad it was cut to shreds by heavy fire in the next seconds. Adrian smiled, knowing who just saved him.
There, in the sky, piloting what could only be described as a modified stealth bomber in looks, was a man who the Allies feared. His plane had the shape of a stealth bomber, but the intricate mechanisms within were totally different. As he flew, the garuda fell one by one. They could not equal him. For her, she was the one who ruled the skies. They were his domain, and he, their baron!
The aircraft flew, yet two garuda snuck behind him. Yet, suddenly, the aircraft's wings seemed to detach, and the main portion spun, turning the entire direction of the device back! It fired its weapons, shredding the garuda! Yes, this aircraft that was custom-painted red as blood belonged to Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen! The Red Baron in the flesh!
"So long, beasts," Manfred said as he fired his weapons again, taking dominance of the sky by himself. The garuda tried to give chase, but the way he maneuvered himself in the air, the way he fired precisely at the beasts when he knew they could not avoid him, they were all marks of his brilliance in the sky.
"The garuda!" A soldier of the Hindu said on the ground, seeing the divine birds falling to the ground. "No!"
"We need to move!" The being that shouted was another creature of the Hindu, a naga! "Advance! We need to secure this flank and wait for relief from Lord Indra! Everyone-"
"TAKE COVER!"
"What?!" The soldiers looked high in the sky, seeing the Red Baron flying away to make room for another squadron.
"Impossible…They are flying so high we can barely see them! No, that's not it! Their machines, they-..." The naga gulped. "They are camouflaging perfectly with the sky."
"Up to you, witches," Manfred said as he flew away from the incoming slaughter, revealing the flying terror he was making way for. Many in number, several aircraft like his flew higher than the clouds, with the magic integrated into their planes camouflaging them.
"Da, Commander Manfred." The one who replied was none other than a woman. All the pilots of those planes were women, Russian, too! These women were known as…"Drop the bombs!"
THE NIGHT WITCHES!
Stalin's proud night bombers!
The hatches on the bottom of the planes opened, dropping explosive charges onto the battlefield. As they crashed into the ground, each bomb caused the ground behind enemy lines to rise to the sky, together with the corpses of the freshly killed. And more and more of those bombs were dropped, taking the death toll in one raid into the hundreds. But the horror was yet to be fully revealed.
Where the bombs landed, a sickly white mist rose from the ground. When the enemy soldiers inhaled it, they began to cough violently, blood coming out their throats until they collapsed, death claiming them. Chemical weaponry. And this, precisely, was the work of one man.
"What a massacre."
"Indeed. No matter if we are human or otherwise, war is the same."
Two men were standing in the Bizmark, safe from the carnage below. And those two were men of science and war altogether. Both fathers of their respective weapons. On one side stood Fritz Haber, the man who invented the fertilizer that grew so many crops and fed many people, but who also invented chemical weaponry, bringing into the world a terrifying death.
And the other man, looking with melancholy below, was Oppenheimer himself, father of the atomic bomb. His contributions to war, among men in history, have yet to be matched to him, for he created the one weapon that could truly destroy the world.
"Gentlemen," Tadeus called out to them. "I hope I am not interrupting your viewing of the show."
"Not at all, Tadeus," Fritz replied. "Not at all."
"How is it, Oppenheimer? Is the weapon prepared?" Tadeus asked.
"Primed and ready. Our General's task…A weapon mightier than any nuke." Oppenheimer shook his head. "It needs to warm up."
"Then, best we prepare to fire it."
"Looks like the others started their charge. Good." The man who spoke stood at the ready, his soldiers with him. "Lieutenant, are your men ready?" The somewhat short man asked, facing the man standing behind him. A man of color.
"At your order. The Ghost Division and the Harlem Hellfighters are at your command, Sir! Commander Napoleon!" Indeed, the identity of the last people in Ignium's army was that of the great Napoleon himself, leading the tank division known as the Ghost Division, a panzer unit that dominated the battlefield during its time, now driving improved tanks made by the Snake's engineers.
Then, there were the black men of the Harlem Hellfighters. Fierce fighters, the USA denied them their due credit out of hollow racist ideals, but France recognized them. And Ignium did as well. Napoleon drew his sword and pointed it at the enemy in the distance. "Charge!" The tanks roared to life as they rolled over the ground. The top turret spun around, locking onto its target and firing a glowing projectile of explosive magic, but the color was off. It was blue. On contact, ice erupted, freezing the enemy solid. Then the turret spun again, and the color switched to red, this time unleashing fire and explosive force.
Multi-Elemental Tanks. MET, for short.
And then the Harlem Hellfighters came, charging with ferocious brutality into the enemy. "Make way!" A larger unit, however, came from behind their lines. Large, bipedal, with a strange section in the center. The person within was a member of the Harlem Hellfighters, no doubt, but to this one, Ignium arrived a bit late. His body had been damaged in an accident, and reincarnation didn't rejuvenate him. However, the Snake constructed a new body for him. A body of steel and ingenuity!
"In the name of victory!" The mechanical giant shouted as he revealed several rotating barrels from his back, and one of his arms spun quickly. The guns on his back began to fire away at the enemy before them, and with each step he took, dozens fell. He shot out his arm, a long chain connecting it to the main body, grabbing an enemy. "Die!" Then he crushed him in his claw, blood, and entrails falling to the ground, with bone turned to splinters.
"Charge! Give the enemy no quarters! No prisoners!" Napoleon shouted as he jumped onto one of the tanks. His sword, glowing with an arcane hue, he swung, sending a wave of energy into the enemy ranks that cut down a few of the soldiers unfortunate enough to be in his path.
"Who…Who are you?" The soldier asked the masked man, and slowly, the man removed his helmet, revealing his face. Deep scars marked his skin, burns, but made with the evident marks of a whip. Yet, the mustache of the man was impossible to forget. The soldier's breathing stopped as he saw him. Despite being bald now, there was no mistaking the man before him. German, and that mustache…
"My name is Adolf Hitler." The man replied, then picked his pistol up again, firing away. "Commander of the Sad Men!"
"Damn it!" Darium swore as he found himself launched into the air by Hanuman's strike. His sword held strong against God's weapon, but Darium knew it was only because he was using several elements from his ability at once. The enhancements are what allow him to defend, but he is falling short in the chapter on defense.
"You hold on well, old man," Hanuman said, resting his weapon on his shoulders as Darium landed once again. "But there is nothing you can possibly-"
"Wrath of Jupiter! Flood of Neptune!" Darium combined two more heavenly bodies, summoning forth a flood from his feet that went for Hanuman, lightning dancing all over the water. Hanuman, however, saw this attack and swung his weapon down, splitting the incoming water in two. The deity was definitely confident in his ability, yet he failed to account for one thing.
"Huh?" Darium was gone. "Where'd the old man go?-" Suddenly, Hanuman's hair stood up, and he reacted swiftly, leaping away as Darium appeared and slashed at his side. He was only scratched, yet he felt intense pain from the touched area. He put distance between him and Darium and inspected the wound. "My body…It's melting? What witchcraft is this?! I am a God! Such a weapon should not affect me!"
"That is where you are wrong!" Darium proclaimed. "This blade of mine is no mere weapon. It is a precious gift given to me by my leader. It is made of nothing short of the most potent toxin there is: Despair."
"Despair?" Hanuman cackled. "Forgive me if I am not buying it, but you mean to tell me your leader turned something immaterial into something material?"
"Hmm. I am not sure how they did it, either. I just use it. I was not there when it was made. However, it has proven its effectiveness when it comes to killing. And I am not about to discard it. Time of Saturn! Speed of Mercury!" Striking the ground with his blade, Darium shouted the next combination. Time all around him stopped as he began charging with great speed at Hanuman, blade ready to touch the deity's neck. "Fade, Lord-"
"You first."
"What?!" Darium was barely able to dodge a strike from Hanuman as the deity unfroze itself. "Impossible! I stopped time!"
"Yeah, I was wondering what that trick you used before to vanish was. I didn't notice it back then because you moved fast and distracted my attention. But you can stop time? Now, that is a rarity." Hanuman said, grinning. "Too bad one of my abilities lets me bypass this. I am the God of Devotion, and as such, my ability is simple: I devote myself to something, and that something aids me in return. In this case, I have long since dedicated myself to adaptation. The first time you used your ability, my body memorized it, so now, the very second time, it already knows how to counter it, giving me free rein to move even if time is stopped in its tracks."
"What an absurd ability!" Darium muttered. By the deity's explanation, then every attack he might launch will only work once! Looking at him, the wound he left with his sword had already healed! That likely indicated that prolonged exposure to the same attack, even if it counts as one, will be adapted to and countered.
Yet, it had to have a weakness! Darium knew for a fact no ability in the world is perfect, and there is always an imperfection. He had to find it. "Now, how about we continue." Hanuman charged at him.
"Speed of-"
"Too slow!"
"GAHHH!" Darium was struck dead by the deity's mace, sending him flying into the ground and digging a trench. Hanuman adapted to his speed. "Grrr. Gravity of Pluto!" The old devil put his blade into the ground, creating a powerful gravitational force above Hanuman. The deity found himself heavied by its effects, but his grin widened as his body felt lighter and lighter with every step.
"Speed of Mercury!" Darium used the speed to put distance between him and Hanuman, but the deity was right behind him, hot on his tail. "Wrath of Jupiter!"
"Oily flame!" Hanuman countered, launching his own attack. From his mace, a large amount of pitch-black oil shot forth and ignited. Darium's lightning struck the oil, but all it did was cause an explosion that threw the old man away.
"GAH!" Darium screamed as his back met a hard rock, and he heavied over, blood coming from his mask. The old devil collapsed on his knees. His sword was used for support, so he did not fully fall over. He took in labored breaths, each hurting greatly.
"Done already?" Hanuman asked, grinning. "Well, I shouldn't have expected much. You are good, devil. Your ability is versatile, yet your advanced age has long since said its word over your capabilities. No worries. I am not one to torment the elderly."
"My…age…?" Darium said slowly as he got up. "My age…Means nothing!"
"Oh, come on." The deity rolled his eyes. "You clearly reached your limit."
"My limit can go fuck itself!" Darium stated boldly. "I am not dead yet, and until I croak, I will keep fighting!"
"Oh!" Hanuman's eyes widened, touched. "What amazing spirit you have, old man. I actually feel bad that I have to snuff it out."
"My spirit…Hehehehehe."
"Huh? Something funny?"
"Just a memory. My leader told me once something similar. Despite my body betraying me, my spirit remains young and defiant…" Darium reached for his helmet, throwing it off. There, he exposed his age. He was truly ancient. His skin was wrinkled, and his eyes were sunken into his skull from his age. His head had no hair except for his beard, which covered his entire lower face. Not even his mouth was visible.
"Showing me your face?"
"Yes." Darium straightened himself. "The face of your Grim Reaper."
"What a line, old-" Hanuman suddenly stopped speaking, freezing on the spot as he looked at Darium. Something was not right. Something was SCREAMING in his body to run. The instincts. Yes! That is what it was! An instinct of survival! Something in him telling him to run, like prey being hunted by a predator! But why? His brain couldn't understand what the body was trying to say.
Why was his body telling him to run away? It was just an ancient devil with a foot in the grave! He wasn't a threat! His power already adapted to several of his attacks, so he shouldn't have any trouble killing him. Yet, his legs refused to move. The grip on his weapon had become too tight.
Was this fear? Was he, Hanuman, afraid? No, impossible! He couldn't be frightened of this devil, could he? No, something was wrong! He didn't fear the devil before him but feared something else! There was something inside him!
"You…" Hanuman said as he began seeing a dark and crimson aura around Darium. "What is this?"
"This? Lord Hanuman…Is my leader's final gift."
"Hmmmm." Marakus hummed as a rain of arrows stretched above him, yet, with a wave of his hand, all of the arrows were burned to nothing. "Not enough."
Arjuna was breathing heavily, having tried for a long time already to pierce through Marakus' defense with little success. However, he pulled his bow again, trying to channel as much power as he could into his next shot. Once he released it, he saw Marakus using fire to dodge yet again, flying through the air with jets on his feet.
"Coward! All you do is destroy my arrows!" Arjuna shouted. "Battle me seriously!"
"Is that truly what you desire?" Marakus questioned him, raising his arm. "Very well. Burn."
And then, Arjuna's entire body caught ablaze."GAHHH!" Arjuna yelled out in agony as the fire ate away at his body, and Marakus simply watched him burn.
"What a letdown." The devil moved to join another front, but his instincts flared, warning him to dodge. Listening to them, he ducked just in time to avoid an arrow that was flying for him. "What is this?!" He gazed at where Arjuna's body was and saw him walking out from the fire, changed. Now, the young man was wearing armor, and his bow seemed to glow with a brilliant hue.
"Thank you, Marakus Aim, for your gift." Arjuna bowed out of respect.
"What?! How do you know my name? Moreover, how are you still standing? Your body should be ash!" Marakus questioned him, but then, Arjuna simply lifted his bow.
"My divine powers were sealed in my weapon by my father, Indra. I am only allowed to use them when against an enemy worthy of using them. And you, Marakus, are worthy. To answer your question, I have inherited some of my father's gifts. I read your mind." Arjuna explained.
"My mind?!" Marakus gasped in surprise. "No matter! Burn!"
"To the right…" Arjuna stepped to the left, avoiding a mass of fire that appeared in his previous location. "Left, above me, to the right, to the right again." Every single time, the fire seemed right where Arjuna predicted it to appear. "Right on me." He swiftly pulled his bow and fired an arrow at Marakus. The devil, however, despite trying to burn it, found that he couldn't. He quickly tried to dodge, but the arrow managed to hit his shoulder.
"Gah!" Marakus pulled the arrow out. "You…"
"I can read your every move. I know your power, devil. You are able to create fires in any location in the same dimension you are. You need only things like coordinates. You often compare your power with your leader's, which is…" Arjuna's eyes, however, widened, and fear stretched over his face. "No, that is not possible! His fire is what? He can do what? No…What is your goal?"
"To hell with it! I won't let you in anymore! I am done playing games, Arjuna…" A black and crimson aura surrounded Marakus.
"What are you doing? Wait, I…I cannot read your mind anymore…" Arjuna stated with worry. He swiftly pulled his bow back, aiming it right at Marakus' heart. "Die!" And let it fly.
"Damn you…" Jeanne swore as she stood before Durga, looking a bit worse for wear. Her tiger managed to get a good strike on her arm, leaving a nasty claw mark. Her arm was almost useless now, but at the very least, she had the home-field advantage. Their entire area was covered in snow, and the blizzard she summoned was hiding her location. Durga was looking around, her tiger sniffing around for Jeanne.
She had to separate master and pet first.
Jeanne made her move, charging toward Durga. Upon seeing her, however, Durga swung her blades, sending several slashes of divine energy at Jeanne. However, Jeanne crossed her arms, sending forth a wave of energy that threw Durga's slashes off-course. Taken aback by this development, Durga was preparing to launch a blast of divine energy, but Jeanne moved quicker and formed a javelin of ice she threw in her direction.
Reacting to it, Durga summoned a shield, but then the javelin flew low, and her tiger roared. "No!" Her tiger found its front paw pinned by the javelin to the ground.
"Take this!" Taking advantage of the fact Durga was distracted, Jeanne landed a solid drop-kick on the goddess, managing to kick her off her tiger. "Die buried in this blizzard! Hail of a thousand blades!" From above, the hail shaped itself like a sword and flew toward Durga. However…
"Lotus blade formation! Supreme shield!" A divine golden aura surrounded Durga, blocking every strike.
"What?!" Jeanne gasped, seeing Durga rise with no trouble, brandishing her blades once again. Before, she was struggling to pass through the heavy weather, but now she was moving with ease! She was charging at Jeanne, and the girl knew she had to move. She tried to move, but Durga reached her before she had the chance to escape. She grabbed the devil and smacked her into the snow.
"You dared attack us!" Durga raised four blades. "Us! We are the Hindu Pantheon! We are the strongest pantheon in the world!"
"That arrogance…" Jeanne grinned, and a crimson and dark aura surrounded her as well. "Will be your downfall."
"Stand still already!" Shiva shouted, angry and frustrated, as Alonzo kept dodging him, leaping from magical circle to magical circle using magic he was not familiar with. "Vanish!" Waving his weapon, Shiva launched a wave of energy, and to Alonzo's horror, soldiers that were caught by it were not just killed but erased. He saw a white glow before things seemed to return to normal.
"Absolute erasure!" Alonzo stated, impressed by the power. This was Shiva's power. He was the greatest destroyer, and he could erase anything with his power, no matter what it was. Even Sacred Gears were at risk while the Hindus had access to them.
"Can you hurry it up?!" The one who shouted, however, was an accessory to the battle. Tadeus came using another one of his remote golems, and he was holding Ganesha back. However, despite his success in managing to take Ganesha out several times, he rejuvenated each time. This was Ganesha's power: Rejuvenation. No matter how much they wore him out or hurt him, he just recovered entirely in the blink of an eye. Fitting for the God of New Beginnings. He began anew each time. All in all, Ganesha was not really the strongest deity of the Hindu, but he was still very powerful. "Fuck!"
"One arm down! One more to go!" Ganesha stated as he finally got one of Tadeus' arms. However, as he tried to slash again, Tadeus opened his palm and blasted the deity away.
"You will pay for your transgression against us!" Shiva said, trying to pierce Alonzo with the Trishula. However, the devil summoned another magical circle. It was a blink spell, making him appear right behind Shiva. However, the deity saw through him and swiftly twisted around, his Trishula lined up to pierce Alonzo's skull.
It pierced, but he found that the Alonzo he struck was a mere illusion. Shiva's eyes widened, but it was too late as a powerful blast of magic was delivered right to his chest, pushing him back. However, he was swift to erase it. He then looked up, seeing Alonzo there, reaching for his mask.
"Oh, shit!" Tadeus said, knowing what was coming. "Filters, on!" Ganesha slashed at him, but Tadeus quickly put a shield up, blocking the strike. "Come on!" Sparks were flying from his body, indicating that it could not take much more.
"Time for you to know fear, Shiva." Alonzo dropped his mask, revealing his full face to Shiva. And upon seeing it, the deity's eyes widened, and he screamed, scurrying back.
"Stand back!" He shouted, then blasted at Alonzo but missed. Alonzo simply kept walking to him, an aura of dark and crimson around him. "Stay back!"
"This is the power of Agaliarept," Alonzo said. There was nothing wrong with his face. If anything, he looked quite good. But that didn't matter. "Whoever stares at our entire faces shall know primordial terror. No exceptions."
"Who…Who are you?!"
Alonzo stared at Shiva. "The Snake of Adam."
"What are those tricks?" Vishnu asked as Sanac, so far, had remained pristine without many injuries to him. Vishnu didn't have any wounds on him either. Well, except for multiple slashes across his body. "I do not recall getting cut."
"Of course you don't," Sanac stated. "But…I guess you do not recall losing that finger either."
"A finger?!" Vishnu looked at his hands and saw a finger missing from one of them. "When did you cut it? I do not even remember you moving!"
"Lord Vishnu, I am appalled. You would not expect me to reveal my hand so easily, do you?" Sanac asked, and Vishnu was starting to get suspicious. There was no way Sanac was doing a physical attack or that this was some kind of physical ability. It could only be mental. So, Vishnu decided to use his power, which is divine protection. He was the God of Protection, and as such, anything he chose to protect became immune to outside threats.
And good thing he did. He felt something, like an arrow breaking against the shield he put on his mind. On his memories!
With his mind safe, he saw Sanac attacking him, and he reacted in kind. He struck back and surprised the devil, sending him flying back as he struck true. Sanac landed roughly, not having expected the sudden counterattack. However, he caught himself regardless. "You temper with memories," Vishnu said, having figured him out. "You made me forget every single time you attacked me. More than just that! You made me forget the very attacks themselves!"
"Congratulations on figuring out my ability, Lord Vishnu," Sanac said, offering the deity praise and respect. "But, I am afraid you are a bit late to discover that. It has begun…" A dark and crimson aura surrounded Sanac.
"What is this? What are you doing?" Vishnu questioned him, feeling a sense of dread wash over him.
"We, the Five Leaf Clover, Colonels of the Snake of Adam, could have never defeated you, let alone stand on equal grounds with you, deities of the Hindu. Even with our drastic plan to reduce your population, thus weakening you, there was still a great chasm of power to cross. So, our leader and the best minds of our faction found a solution. Demonic Cells." Veins became visible around Sanac's eyes as his sclera turned black.
"Demonic Cells? Your leader, he is a demon, is he not? Then that means you took his cells!" Vishnu said.
"Indeed. You see, Lord Vishnu, the powers that we, the devil race, inherited from our demon ancestors are mere shadows of their former selves. Power is lost to time, and potential is unreachable. But our leader found a solution…" Sanac's body began to change, mutating. His skin was growing paler and paler, like marble. "His demonic cells awaken in us the power of our ancestors!"
"You-" Vishnu realized the danger he was facing and charged at Sanac. "You won't survive here!"
"No, Lord Vishnu. It is you who will never remember this encounter." Sanac said, and in one moment, Vishnu froze. His protection was breached by the sheer power of the Sarganatas line, and his mind became the plaything of Sanac. Outside, Vishnu's blade was a mere centimeter from Sanac, yet now, Vishnu was frozen. Sanac walked past him and began speaking. "I took away your memories of everything. Until my state passes and your memories return, you are naught but a shell with no purpose. You have one, but you cannot remember it. I am not allowing you to remember."
Sanac looked over at the battlefield. "Hurry, Ignium…This gift you granted us is temporary."
With Jeanne and Durga, the goddess watched in horror as Jeanne's body changed. "You- What have you-"
"Get off me!" Jeanne told Durga, and then, to the horror of the deity, she unleashed a blast of power all too familiar to the goddess.
"The power of destruction?! How?!" Durga asked, nursing her hand, which was caught by the blast. It was not destroyed, thanks to her protective ability, but as Jeanne got up, she saw the changes made to her body. Her skin was blue like ice, and she had several icicles growing out of her back. Her sclera was dark, and her eyes almost shining with an icy-blue hue. "What is this?"
"The gift of my General…Now…Forget!" Suddenly, Durga's mind was thrown into a haze. Where was she? Who was she? What was she doing? "Now…Time of Saturn." Time stopped around them, allowing Jeanne to get close to Durga and unleash a powerful blast into her stomach with one placed hand. Just raw power, nothing like the Power of Destruction. When time resumed, the goddess collapsed to her knees, clutching her stomach and puking.
"W-what…Have you…What…Are you…" Durga could not hold on anymore and collapsed. Her tiger, when it looked at Jeanne, dared not attack. It was afraid.
"Hehehe. Alonzo's power is coming in useful. So this is the potential of my ancestor. No need to be near my fellow devils to copy their powers. I just need to be in the same realm as them…How thrilling this power is." The weather cleared as Jeanne dispelled her blizzard and then looked into the cave. "Ah, right! We need to let those beauties out."
"GAHHHHH! AHHHHHHHHHHH!" Marakus shouted as his body was covered in scales and feathers. Then, he ignited, taking the shape of a bird and man hybrid with horns growing from his head. Arjuna fired his arrows at him in volleys of hundreds of thousands, but as Marakus charged at him, he had one thought on his mind that Arjuna could read: Victory.
Marakus planted his fury fist into Arjuna's chest and pummeled him into the ground. A large pillar of fire erupted at the point of impact, and when it all died down, Arjuna was burned all over. Still alive but badly hurt.
"What power…" Marakus said, looking at himself. His whole body felt on fire on the inside, and it was literally on fire on the outside! He was truly ignited! This was the potential of his ancestor, awakening by the demonic cells of his leader. "Time to join the main battle." He left Arjuna in the field and took himself to the main battlefield to help them progress to the mountain.
"What in the world?!" Hanuman questioned as Darium seemingly de-aged in front of him. His flesh grew paler, and two flamers lit beside him.
"Hanuman…Round two." Darium charged at Hanuman yet again, and their battle entered its second round. Darium accessed the might of Mars and the speed of Mercury at once and struck Hanuman multiple times in the span of a few moments, all strikes blocked by the deity.
"Just because you grew younger doesn't mean you win!" Hanuman said as he struck the ground with his mace, causing spikes to erupt, but Darium was ready for such a tactic. He swung his blade, cutting the spikes as they came, and then, using the allure of Venus, he made several illusions of himself. They all attacked Hanuman at once, confusing him, and alas, slashed at the deity, creating a wound across his chest. And to Darium's surprise, he was actually hurt.
"That's it!" Darium figured it out! It was time! The adaptation doesn't last forever and fades after a certain amount of time! However, he saw that Hanuman's body was quickly adapting to his sword again, healing the wound. Their battle had just begun.
Alonzo stood over Shiva as the deity shivered in terror, with his body changed. An additional pair of arms erupted from his back, with mouths in the center of the palms. He stood over Shiva, and now, his terror had the deity fully paralyzed.
"Shiva!" Ganesha, however, had managed to destroy Tadeus' puppet and charged at Alonzo from behind. Alonzo turned around, and Ganesha became frozen, but Shiva unfroze.
"Deal with him, Ganesha! I need to aid Indra!" Shiva said, which alarmed Alonzo. THe devil turned around to him, but it was too late. Shiva had left, and due to letting him out of his sight, Ganesha almost cut him. But Alonzo turned at him, and Ganesha froze in terror once again.
"How did he know Indra was in trouble?" Alonzo asked the deity. "Tell me!"
"W-we feel his energy!" Ganesha said, but then Alonzo put more power into his ability, making the deity collapse from terror.
"This is not good," Alonzo said, covering his face again with his mask.
"Sir, what do we do?" A soldier walked up to Alonzo, now that it was safe to do so.
"Continue the assault! Also, restrain Ganesha! We need to hope General Ophirius has dealt with Indra already."
Atop Mount Meru, as the war kept going, Ignium was now standing face to face with Indra, who was holding his Vajra. He was trying to read Ignium's mind, but it was an iron fortress he could not get past. "You are the attacker…" Indra said. "You are the one who attacked us!"
"Indeed, I am. I am also the one from your visions. Or have you forgotten my fiery touch?" Ignium said, purposely trying to rile the deity.
"You dared to unleash genocide on my people. You dared to attack my mountain…You dared to incapacitate all the Buddhas under me!" True enough, all of the Buddhas that served Indra were below, fighting in the war, but the ones that remained found themselves swiftly defeated by Ignium.
"What can you expect from ascended humans? Even though they reached apotheosis, they are not much." Ignium replied. "But you? Oh, you are another story."
Suddenly, lightning came down from the heavens aimed at Ignium, but the demon was not worried. Instead, black fire ate the lightning with a speed just as great as the phenomena. "Die!" Indra charged at Ignium, Vajra in hand, aiming to attack Ignium.
But the demon saw through his charge. Ignium slid to the side, letting Indra go past him, and summoned his weapon. He aimed at Indra's head, trying to cut if off, but Indra twisted his body and put his Vajra forth. Ignium's blade touched the divine object, and a powerful bolt of lightning erupted between them, sending Ignium and Indra both back.
The demon smiled and got the other half of his weapon out as well. He charged at Indra, who was summoning bolt of lightning after bolt of lightning to strike Ignium. Still, despite trying to use his clairvoyance to predict Ignium's next move to aim perfectly, he found his visions blocked completely.
Ignium was not letting him see even one millisecond into the future!
He could not read Ignium's mind nor see the future, leaving him without two of his greatest abilities. But he was not done yet! As Ignium charged at him, Indra summoned a sword to his hands and used it to block Ignium's slash. The two beings of power locked blades, but as Indra was giving ground to the demon, it was clear who held superior physical might.
But Indra was the God of War! The strategy was on his side! Using his Vajra and charging it with his divine aura, he unleashed lightning onto the armies below. Ignium saw this and was distracted, giving Indra a chance to push him back, then he jumped and kicked Ignium in the chin, making the demon stumble back.
Indra then put his Vajra away and went in to fight in close combat. Ignium's fire, despite its ferocious appetite for destruction, could not devour Indra that easily. The deity had covered himself with a divine aura to protect himself against Ignium's fire. Seeing it for the first time, he understood that Ignium's fire consumed all things. Even deities might not be safe from it.
Yet, he found a way to counter it. Namely, the aura around him was not protecting him as much as it was just taking away the energy from Ignium's fire. Without it, the flames died down around Indra. He scored a solid right hook on the demon's head, followed by an uppercut that dazed him, but Ignium was not that easily defeated. Letting go of his sickle and grabbing the chain, he threw it around Indra's throat.
The deity, trying to yank the chain off, touched it, but he found that to be a mistake as his hand was burned. "Gah!" Ignium yanked the chain violently, throwing Indra out of his temple atop the mountain and following suit. Ignium jumped off Mount Meru as well, unfolding his wings. He saw Indra below, flying and catching himself mid-air, but the demon charged right into him, driving Indra into the ground below.
There, Ignium delivered strike after strike to Indra. "What is wrong, Indra? Feeling weak?"
"You-" Indra summoned another lightning with his Vajra, and Ignium, sensing it, dodged it, letting it hit Indra. Or so it seemed. In truth, the lightning didn't hit Indra, but rather, it empowered him. Indra rose from the ground, an electric aura around him and a murderous gaze set on Ignium. His top clothing was fried, and his glasses were ruined as well. He threw them away and began charging at Ignium, the demon putting his weapons away and deciding to honor Indra with an old-fashioned fist fight.
Indra swung first, but Ignium parried, then retaliated with his punch to the deity's chin. However, Indra moved his head with Ignium's punch, making him lose his balance instead. Using this chance, he grabbed Ignium's hand and pulled him forth, delivering a strong knee to the demon's stomach. The strike caused a shockwave to rock all the way through Ignium, making the demon lose the air in his body.
But he was not about to throw in the towel. Ignium unfolded his wings, and summoning his weapon, he wrapped the chain around Indra again and took flight. He flew, his feet further enhancing his speed as his fire acted like jets until he was back atop the mountain, where he proceeded to drive Indra through every single pillar he could see. At one point, Indra dropped his Vajra, the divine tool being lost in the rubble. Ignium then spun around and threw Indra into his throne, turning it to scrap.
"Did you have enough yet, Indra?!" Ignium shouted, igniting his fists as he still sensed the deity.
But then another signature entered his range. "Indra!" Shiva showed up and attacked Ignium. With the Trishula coming for him, Ignium had no choice but to dodge quickly, avoiding being speared by that weapon above all else. Shiva leaped to Indra, who was getting up from the ruble.
"Shiva? What are you doing here?" Indra asked.
"I sensed your energy waver. What is wrong with you? Usually, an enemy like this is no big deal to you!"
"He is not normal, Shiva!" Indra claimed. "This guy…He is blocking my ability to read his mind and to see the future."
"What?! Such a thing is possible?!" Shiva gasped.
"Normally, no," Ignium replied. "But, seeing how we weakened you, everything is possible now. And it looks like Alonzo failed in his objective of keeping you at bay, Shiva. No matter." A communication circle appeared around his eat. "Tadeus…Fire."
"What did you just order?!" Indra demanded, then the two deities looked to the side, seeing the Bizmark's hull open. Then, before their eyes, a giant weapon expanded itself, a cannon unlike any other. "What is that…?" The cannon began charging up.
"The amount of energy emanating from that thing is ludicrous!" Shiva declared. "I will erase it!"
"You will do no such thing!" Ignium proclaimed, getting in Shiva's path and delivering a knee to the deity's face. Shiva was caught off-guard by Ignium's speed and failed to avoid the strike, causing him to be sent back into the rubble.
"Shiva! Wait…" From what little he saw, Indra recalled this scene. His vision, while never fully accurate, was still solid! Seeing Shiva there, in the ruble, despite being conscious still, sent signals of alarm through Indra. "This is what I saw!"
"What you saw, Indra…Was your defeat!" Ignium declared, throwing his chain at Indra's arm, ensnaring it, and pulling the deity to him, holding him with his face facing the cannon.
"Are you insane?! You won't survive this!" Indra claimed.
"Oh, don't be a drama queen…here it comes."
The cannon from the Bizmark fired, engulfing the entire peak of the mountain. Indra screamed from the top of his lungs as the blast caught him, and Shiva found himself thrown away by the blast itself. And Ignium stood there, Indra in front of him, tanking the blast together. When the force of the attack died down, the light it produced, which lit up the entire battlefield, died down and left behind only a desolated mountain top. And there, atop the mountain, Indra remained on his feet.
"Fuck…" Before he fell to one knee, his vision was blurry.
Ignium, however, was not looking any better. "Ugh…" Ignium said as his entire body was smoking. "That hurt more than I imagined it to hurt."
"You…" Indra's rage was visible on his face. "You ruined my mountain!" And finally, he unleashed his full power, surprising Ignium with the fact he had so much left. "I do not care anymore! I will waste the last drop of energy I have left to erase you, your memory, your army, and everything from existence! I don't care what the other pantheons have to say! If I destroy half this stupid planet with me, then so be it!"
"You had so much power left?!" Ignium asked, shocked. "I underestimated you, Lord Indra…But…" Suddenly, Ignium's body began to radiate more heat than normal. "I guess I need to use my final ace."
"DIE!" Indra shouted as he charged at Ignium.
A bright light erupted atop Mount Meru, and in the distance, the deity Brahma, together with Sun Wukong and other major deities from the Chinese Pantheon, was returning. They were there on a diplomatic mission, yet they had not heard of the attack on their lands until now! The entire place had been shrouded in a spell that masked the event. The whole subcontinent was under a veil of secrecy.
Yet, now, they were rushing there with reinforcements.
"What was that?!" Brahma asked. "That light. I felt Indra's rage peak!"
"That is not good. That guy could destroy the world if he stopped caring about anything." Sun Wukong said. "We need to hurry! Come on!"
"Y-you…" Indra stood surrounded by rubble and utterly defeated. His eyes were wide open, amazed at a sight only they were graced to. However, Ignium, who fought him, was not doing well. The demon was on his knees, clutching his arm…His utterly burned arm. "W-what…Are you?" Indra asked, barely able to move anymore.
"Me?" Ignium said, getting up. "To think I had to use THAT to kill you? I almost died just from the transformation."
"You- Gah!" Ignium stomped on Indra's chest.
"But I am not here for your life, Indra. If I was, I would have waited a tad bit more and killed ALL your followers." Ignium's healthy arm reached Indra's face and grabbed it. "No, I am here for something else." Suddenly, runes of light lit up on Indra. "I knew it. YOU had it! The stolen part of God's system, which allows you to take Gears away."
"H-he gave it to us!" Indra argued. "He trusted me with it!"
"Don't lie to me!" Ignium shouted, anger visible in his voice. "My father would have never trusted scum deities like you with such a thing! Sacred Gears belong to humankind!"
"They are not worthy!" Indra argued. "We were doing them a favor! You know how humans are. They would have used those Gears for war sooner or later!"
"And you wouldn't have? Do not lie to me. I saw some of those Buddhas equipped with Gears taken from innocent humans." Ignium argued, having caught Indra in his lies. "You disgust me. Now…My name is Ignium Ophirius. Accessing Minor Administrative Functions, Code: 9990534. Task: Removing the permission to remove Gears from their owners of the Hindu Deity of War, Indra. Access Code: 9995584. Effectiveness: Pantheon-wide. Commence."
Pain rocketed through Indra as the runes on him began to fade, flowing to Ignium. However, when they reached him, Ignium started to do something else. He repeated the same sequence but gave him as well. The runes faded into the aether to absolute nothing. When he was done, he let go of Indra, the God now unconscious on the cold stone.
"It is done…Let the gifts of God return to their rightful homes!" Ignium declared.
"It's happening!" Jeanne said as she watched every single Sacred Gear in the vault of the Hindu light up, some vanishing back to the system to be assigned humans, but some flew through the gate, going back to their rightful owners. Jeanne watched in awe as the Gears went away. "It's so beautiful…"
"J-Jeanne…" Darium called her through the communication network.
"Darium? Heh! Did you defeat that monkey?"
"Jeanne…Yes….Help…"
"Darium? DARIUM!" Jeanne shouted, then rushed away to help the old devil.
Atop the mountain, Ignium watched the Sacred Gears return to their home. Even below, the Buddhas who were using Gears given to them by Indra were finding their tools vanishing. "Sir!" Marakus showed up and saw Ignium a little worse for wear. He, too, as the effects of the demon cells were wearing off. "The Chinese Heaven and Brahma are on their way!"
"We have accomplished our task here, Marakus…Order the retreat of all forces! Victory is ours!" Ignium said. Then, as he tried taking a step, the demon collapsed to his knees. "Agh!"
"Sir!" Marakus rushed to him, holding him steady. "Sir, talk to me! Did Indra harm you so much?"
"No…I did this to myself…Marakus! Take me home…"
"Understood, Sir!"
As soon as they received the order, the forces of the Snake began to vanish all over India. Even the deceased were being teleported away to be given proper burials, as their armor had a teleportation spell engraved to ensure easy recovery. All of the Snake's soldiers retreated to their main HQ, leaving the Hindus to process their defeat. When their reinforcements arrived, it was too late.
The Snake had retreated to their corner of Hell. Hanuman, Shiva, Arjuna, and Indra were badly wounded. Ganesha, Vishnu, and Durga got off with lighter wounds, but still, when Brahma arrived, he was ashamed to see such a scene. Had he been there, the war could have been different.
Their enemy timed their attack well.
Over 75% of their army was either dead or missing. The rest were wounded or shocked that they lost. And above all? They lost them. All of the Sacred Gear confiscated by the Hindus over the years had vanished and returned to Heaven. And they knew they couldn't just demand them back. It was true. When God first made the system, before going to battle Ddraig and Albion, he gave Indra the ability to confiscate Gears as a show of trust, with the sole condition that he never horde Gears himself. He broke that promise and refused to return the permissions and Gears, even threatening to wage war with Heaven if they tried to demand them back.
But now? Now, they were given their due karma. Brahma knew that well. Indra's arrogance brought them humiliation and disaster. And now, he lay wounded and disgraced. But the Snake was not without losses either. Some are greater than others.
"Darium…" Sanac said as he looked down at the body of their comrade. Even Ignium was there, his arm bandaged tightly. "How could this happen? Did Hanuman do this?"
"No…" Jeanne said, holding back her tears. "When I arrived, the deity was beaten out of commission…He was warned."
"My cells…" Ignium said slowly. "My cells awakened in you the power of your ancestors, but Darium…" He shook his head, taking a pause. "I told him it was long overdue, and he retires. I told him he should pick a replacement. I told him his body won't be able to take the after strain of the cells!"
"Sir…" Tadeus faced Ignium. "It is as we suspected. His heart gave out. I'm sorry."
"Old man…" Alonzo said softly. "You fought well."
"He fought and died on the battlefield." Sanac said. "He died a warrior's death, surrounded in victory. He died with honor."
"We will honor him for years to come…" Ignium said. "We will mourn our losses, my friends. And appoint a new Colonel of the Satanachia House. For now, however, we celebrate victory. There is plenty of time to grieve after we celebrate the victory we earned."
"We gained nothing from this," Jeanne said. "Why, Sir? We could have taken the Gears for ourselves."
"It was never about the Sacred Gears, Jeanne…It was about sending a message." Ignium began. "The Snake won't back down from any challenge. This war? This was a test for us all. The ones who died? Their deaths will be our reasons to keep going. Those who survived? They now know what war truly looks like. They will grow stronger. And the message? It doesn't matter if they are the strongest in the whole creation. We won't back down in fear. We are the Snake of Adam…We don't cower. We will fight anyone who challenges us and who stands in our way."
"What now, Ignium?" Tadeus asked.
"We return home. We rest. We recover. And we prepare for our next target." Ignium told them. "Make sure the cure for the virus is released throughout the Indian continent as well. No need for more people to die."
"Understood," Tadeus said.
"As for all of you…" Ignium looked down at Darium, placing a hand over him. "Prepare the funeral details for our fallen brother."