Chapter 519 – A Battle of Lies. (Part 6)

"Heh... Heh... Heh..." Gale heaved as he and Reflia backed away from each other after their most recent clash. Each God had taken and dished out significant damage to the other, and Gale was starting to worry that Reflia actually would kill him. Such a feat would normally require either a great deal of energy or a God that was drained, and both were getting to the point that death was a serious possibility. Reflia's domain had been shaken to its core as the two Gods exchanged blows, and it showed a heavy amount of instability that threatened to tear it apart of things continued.

{That dammed Axe! My healing factors are largely nullified due to its Demonic power! In a battle of attrition, I'm almost certainly going to lose! Son of a...! If I could leave this place, defeating her would be a simple matter! All I'd need to do is fuse myself with my trump card!} (Gale)

"Not... Not so... Tough... Are we now?" Reflia laughed as she wiped some blood from her mouth. She was in better shape than the Order God, but was starting to slow down from exhaustion both from fighting Gale and relying so heavily on Labrys' power. "I might not even need the Reactors to take you out at this rate...."

"Laugh all you want, Reflia, but I will kill you." Gale said as he spun his spear around and readied himself for their next clash.

"Either you'll kill me, or the collapse of this world will." Reflia retorted, certain that she'd come out on top. "So..."

"I just don't understand. You never intervened or rebelled when we took necessary actions to preserve our status before, so why now?" Gale asked. "Are you truly that angry with me? Were the Spirits really that important to you?!?" He couldn't understanding it. Sure Reflia and the Spirits had a good relationship but the Space Goddess had gone from mere anger to homicidal for, what Gale saw as, no reason.

"You have no idea how angry I am with you." Reflia glared at him as she twisted Labrys to take a better stance. "I can tolerate lies and deceit, and as much as I hated it, I was ready to let the Spirits die to preserve our world... But to lie to my face and allow me to deceive everyone that ever trusted us..." She shook her head. "Its true that I'm not much better than the rest of you. I've sacrificed plenty of mortals for my own plans over the eons, but killing everyone? Just to allow myself to live? I can't do that, and I won't allow you to succeed. The Gods fought the Primordals because we believed that shepherding this world and its people was the right way forward. We have no right to destroy its people and their futures just to preserve our own. I refuse to go along with such a farce."

"I suppose I just can't understand it." Gale said, hoping to drag out the discussion long enough to recover somewhat. "Our lives are that much more valuable than even an entire world of mortals. Dying alongside them when we could use them to survive is the height of stupidity. If they're to be erased no matter what the fate of this world is, then why not allow them to be useful? Your way of thinking just doesn't make any since to me. We're Gods Reflia. We don't have to care for the mortals."

"And that's what I can't stand about you, Gale." Reflia said as she charged up tens of thousands of magic blasts that formed all around her. "You never even considered the idea of saving the people of this world. The thought that they may live while we perish was never even entertained for even a moment. We could've easily had the population flee, but then that would mean your own way out disappeared, so you'd never allow that."

"This is getting us nowhere." Gale shook his head. "I see now that we have two completely incompatible ideas about what our role in this world is. All that's left to do now is fight and see whose vision will succeed."

"Indeed, though I can assure you that it will be mine." Reflia smirked as she readied herself for a renewed battle. "You already know my plan. Your own little ritual will detonate the Reactors and prevent your escape, and I've gathered enough extra to ensure that even if the blast does not outright destroy Enoris, the Gods will be doomed."

"You act as if that's a problem." Gale said as even more divine power erupted from within him, pouring out of him like white hot flame. "All I need to do is kill you before that happens, and by my calculations, I've got plenty of time!" He said as the two Gods continued their clash, the outcome of which would determine the fate of Enoris.

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<Akagi POV>

Akagi watched the spot where Korex had disappeared for a moment longer, then turned back toward the surviving Gods. Her laughter was quiet at first, then grew louder as she rolled her shoulder and tested the movement of her arm. "You know, I was really hoping to have a bit more fun with him.” She flourished the Black Sunrise once, watching the black sheen slide along its edge. “But I suppose that end works. At the very least, I got to do something funny. And hey, that was the first time I ever got to use the Fourth Form in real combat.”

{It needs some refinement, but given it proved more than sufficient to slice through a deity's astral form and dissipate it, I'd say it turned out well.} (Akagi)

"S-She killed him so easily..." Esquire's voice barely carried across the battlefield as her eyes remained fixed on the Demon Lord. The destruction of a God was an absolutely terrifying prospect. When destroyed they simply stopped existing, and one's destruction rippled across Enoris like a shock wave. Every other God knew that Korex was gone, and it absolutely horrified them, that went double for those witnessing it with their own eyes. "Even if he was distracted... To destroy a God... The others before, they were only using Avatars, but Korex..."

"I knew there was something wrong with this battle from the moment it began." Hilare's jaw tightened. He'd been skeptical of Akagi from the very start but allowed himself to be lulled into the false belief that he could actually win against Akagi. "She's been hiding her true strength this entire time. I knew that... I knew that and yet... Dammit."

{I shouldn't have held back.} (Hilare)

Esquire reached out telepathically toward Marret, but there was no answer save for a vague magical response indicating that the other party was unconscious"Marret... She's... She's still alive, but not responding at all. Just how much force did she use in that single strike if it knocked her out?"

"The Emotion Goddess has quite a bit of potential. If the situation were different, I'd actually like to keep her around and test her limits." Akagi commented as she descended toward them, stopping well beyond immediate striking distance, and keeping both Gods in view. "But I've already decided that you all will die, so meh." She shrugged as she put her blade away.

{And also, Gods can get knocked unconscious? How does that work?} (Akagi)

"As irritated as I am, I feel compelled to acknowledge your strength." Hilare said as Esquire positioned herself behind him, wary of the Demon Lord. "To bring Marret's rage to a screeching halt with a single hit and then annihilate Korex with practically no effort..." He let out a nervous laugh that also revealed a bit of exhilaration. "That's just what I should've expected from a Demon Lord. You truly are far more powerful than Vikes." He said that as steam began to rise around his body, the falling rain boiling even before touching his skin.

“Hilare, are you...” Esquire began but paused.

"Comparing a fully fledged member of my kind to an undeveloped child... The gap between us should've been obvious. Thinking that he and I would be the same was foolish, but..." Akagi said as she kept her eyes locked on him. The increased temperature did not seem to translate into increased strength, though she understood that whatever he was doing was likely part of a greater ploy and was thus, wary. "Underestimating your opponent, no matter how powerful you are, is a swift way to find defeat. I always go into a fight expecting my foe to be stronger than what my data shows, and so far that's worked out in my favor one hundred percent of the time."

{And things are coming to a head on the other side, so I should work toward bringing things to a close here. This battle has been enlightening, though I'm a bit disappointed that these four haven't used their full power. I suppose I should've expected that, after all, they were sent here to delay me rather than win, and four Gods going all out would risk collapsing Enoris. Let's see what he's got up his sleeve here and then-} (Akagi)

"Indeed, I did underestimate you." Hilare interrupted Akagi's thoughts as his body temperature skyrocketed even further, the rain now vaporizing dozens of feet away and leaving Akagi feeling like she'd stepped into a sauna. "It was a mistake to hold anything back against a creature like you. A MISTAKE I DON'T INTEND TO REPEAT!" He screamed as rain vaporized in an ever widening circle. The remaining nearby plant life blackened and crumbled to ash, and the stones beneath his feet glowed at their edges. The Forge God's skin flushed a deep, angry red as divine power compressed into his body, no longer spilling away in a show of force but being driven inward.

"Oh, so you had more power hidden away?" Akagi's smile returned as the Demon's eyes lite up with intrigue.

"Enough to tear you apart!" Hilare launched himself forward, crossing

the distance before Akagi could finish adjusting her stance. His fist drove into the Demon's stomach with a concentrated impact that folded her body around the blow, carring her off her feet and hurling her into the ground where she struck hard enough to leave a crater.

"Go get Marret and wake her up! We both know I can't do this for long! Do not waste this chance! Wake her up! And I will handle the Demon Lord for now!" Hilare said to Esquire without looking back. “Hurry!” He yelled before giving chase to Akagi.

"Hilare..." Esquire paused before turning to the smoking crater where Marret lay unconscious and partially buried, her hands tightening around her scythes. "I suppose you had no choice. I'm sorry that I'm so weak..."

*BOOM* *BOOM* BANG*

Hilare plunged into the crater and Akagi was still recovering from the first blow when his fist struck her face. Her head snapped sideways and he seized her by the arm before she could vanish, hauled her out of the crater, and slammed her down again where the ground burst apart beneath her back. He followed this up with a rapid succession of punches, driving her across the broken landscape. One blow caught her jaw; another crashed into her ribs and he shifted his stance with every strike, keeping his center of gravity low and his shoulders aligned so that each punch fed directly into the next. It was not wild aggression guided by anger like with Marret, Hilare's emotions did not impeded his training and experience which enabled him to exploit temporary advantage with ruthless precision.

Akagi raised her arms to guard, but the force behind each hit drove her defense backward. She skidded through the dirt, then vanished in a flash of movement. Hilare spun, tracking her by instinct as she reappeared behind him, but he had already turned. His fist caught her across the body and sent her tumbling through a ridge of stone, the Forge God had successfully countered the Demon.

"Where did that confidence go, Demon Lord?" Hilare said she kept up his pursuit, grabbing the Demon Lord's arm and swinging her around like a ragdoll and crashing her through the landscape.

*BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM

"Didn't you just say that underestimating an opponent is always a bad idea?" Hilare said as he thrust out his palm, power condensing at point-blank range.

Akagi barely had time to raise her guard before the blast detonated against her face and upper body. The explosion swallowed both fighters for an instant, then tore forward across the battlefield, carving a vast gash through the terrain that stretched toward the horizon. When the light faded, Hilare stood amid the heat shimmer, breathing hard and, more importantly, Akagi was gone.

"I won't lie, I was hoping that would kill you." Hilare said as Akagi reappeared several paces away. Her body was scorched from head to toe, black blood spilling from multiple wounds. She coughed once, then laughed as though the pain were a private joke. "Though based on your appearance, it may not take that many more hits like that to do you in." He said as he turned to her.

"You are... A crazy son of a bitch, you know that?" Akagi tilted her head, examining him with bright, delighted eyes. "Condensing your entire life essence down into a short burst of power... I thought Superbia's version was something else, but this... For a God to burn its own life energy in an attempt at defeating me." Her grin widened. "I'VE NEVER BEEN MORE EXCITED!" The Demon exclaimed as black power burst forth from her body. For a heartbeat it ignited into red flame, blazing around her like a second skin. The aura threatened to surge higher, then Akagi drew it back under control. The red faded, leaving the familiar black energy clinging close to her body. "Oops... Nearly lost my cool there." She wagged a finger at herself. "Can't go getting all hyped up like that, not yet anyway." Akagi said before summoning the Black Sunrise, the weapon settling into her hand as if it had been waiting for this moment. "Now come, Forge God. Let's bring this farce to a close."

"It would be my pleasure." Hilare said as he rolled his shoulders. Steam poured from him in thick waves, and the rain evaporated before it reached the ground around his feet. His expression was strained, but there was unmistakable exhilaration in it. He knew the power he was using was consuming him. He also knew that every second mattered. But in that moment, none of that mattered. Hilare was enjoying himself.