The Seraphic System
Chapter: 117
(TheOuter Path)
-{???}-
She was going to die here.
That came with a strange clarity as she made another twist in the strange place with endless corridors.
Blood dripped from the wound in her shoulder, leaving a trail that anyone could follow. Not that they needed it. They had other ways of tracking them.
Nero stumbled beside her, one arm wrapped around his ribs. The young man's golden hair was matted with dust and sweat, his priestly outfit torn in several places. He was breathing hard, trying to keep pace despite his injuries.
This was supposed to be his first mission. A simple assignment to ease him into the life of an exorcist. Nothing dangerous, they said.
She wanted to laugh at the bitter irony.
Her legs burned as did her lungs as she gasped for air. The lightheadedness was getting worse with dark spots beginning to dance at the edges of her vision.
Multiple sets of footsteps echoed through the stone passage behind them. Unhurried. Patient. They knew their prey couldn't run forever.
"Keep moving," she managed, grabbing Nero's arm when he faltered.
"I can fight," he said through gritted teeth. "My Sacred Gear..."
"That's exactly why they want you." She pulled him forward. "I'm not sure who they are but we can't linger here, they outmatch us in number. So no. We run."
She knew that the church was moving once more, a joyful and dangerous affair as they began to make slow ripples in what she vaguely knew as the supernatural world.
Sacred Gear users like Nero were valuable. Too valuable.
Someone had found out about him. Someone had sent these hunters.
She rounded another corner and her heart stopped.
Dead end.
No. No, no...
She spun, pressing her back against the cold stone wall. Her hands fumbled for her blessed blade, the only weapon she had left. It felt pathetically small in her grip.
Nero moved to stand beside her, raising his fists despite the fear in his eyes. Whatever defensive power his Sacred Gear granted, it wouldn't be enough. Not against this many.
She closed her eyes for a moment and sent a silent prayer heavenward.
Footsteps echoed, slow and utterly unbothered.
Figures emerged from the shadows. She couldn't make out their faces in the dim light, couldn't tell what faction they belonged to. It didn't matter. There were too many of them.
One stepped forward, and she caught the glint of a blade.
"Stand aside exorcists. The boy comes with us." The voice was flat and almost bored. "You can die quickly or slowly. Your choice. It makes no difference for us."
She raised her blade with trembling hands.
Nero's Sacred Gear flickered to life around him, a faint shimmer of defensive energy. It wouldn't save them.
She took a breath and prepared herself.
The air changed.
She felt it before she saw anything.
A pressure. A presence.
Something vast and terrible and beautiful all at once, pressing down on the corridor like the weight of the sky itself.
The hunters felt it too.
Their confident advance faltered.
For the first time, something like uncertainty flickered across their features.
"What..."
Light bloomed behind them.
A figure stood in the corridor.
A teenager, or something wearing the shape of one.
Blonde hair that impossibly caught the light. Features that were almost too perfect, too symmetrical, like a sculptor's idealised vision of beauty. And those hazel eyes...
The lead hunter spun, blade coming up in a defensive position. "Who..."
The teenager moved.
No. That wasn't right. He didn't move.
He simply... was. One moment he stood at the end of the corridor.
The next? He was among them.
A golden flood descended upon them.
The hunters didn't even have time to scream. Their forms simply... came apart. Dissolved into motes of light that scattered and faded like embers in the wind.
All of them. In an instant.
The teenager lowered his hand, examining it briefly as if checking for dirt.
She should have been afraid. Everything in her training told her to be afraid of power like that. But all she felt was awe. And something else. Something that felt dangerously like hope.
"An Angel?" The words escaped before she could stop them.
The teenager's lips curved into a smile. Six pairs of white feather wings emerged from his back, with a halo on top of his head.
His face was almost shining. There was warmth there, but also something else.
"Not quite."
-{Michael}-
The sky above Mount Othrys had turned into chaos.
Golden light clashed against divine power, each collision sending shockwaves rippling across the heavens. The mountain's enchanted barriers had flickered with each strike, old protections straining against forces they were never designed to contain.
Strength belonging to Primordials, even if they were at probably the weakest level in the category, clashed and bent the air around them and even the fabric of reality around them shuddered away from their power.
Michael's fourteen wings flapped with barely any visible movement, his magic using them to hover in the sky without any movement, holding him aloft amidst the chaotic storm of powers.
His blade gleamed in his grip, unmarred despite the punishment it had already weathered.
Below, the mountain itself bore the scars of their battle. Craters pockmarked the stone where stray attacks had landed. Trees had been reduced to splinters for miles around the peak.
Michael's gaze flickered toward the far side of the mountain.
A world of orange power consumed the horizon and half of the mountain that stretched for multiple miles in diameter.
Michael could feel the time energy twisted the very air, and within that maelstrom, Father's presence clashed against something currently far more powerful even in his unfinished form.
The Titan King.
An elder being wielding perhaps the most dangerous element in the supernatural world. Time itself, backed by overwhelming power. With more knowledge and experience.
Any one of these attributes could change the tide of a battle and Kai was against all of them…
Michael gritted his teeth and attempted to fly forward, an act he knew wouldn't succeed but just had to try in any case.
Predictably he was easily blocked. The Titan appeared in an explosion of superior speed, his massive form carrying a powerful punch that bent the air around him.
The Arch-Seraph was forced to fly back, narrowly avoiding the strike.
The situation was dire and was getting more and more complicated by any measure.
The plan had worked.
It had been fast and clever, slipping in and performing so many actions before the Titan Lord could notice, and instead of trying to go unnoticed, directing his focus onto something else.
Michael twisted, catching the blow on his blade.
The impact sent shockwaves rippling outward, slamming into the enchanted barriers that surrounded Mount Othrys. Two of them shattered instantly, multiple of the protections dissolving like morning frost.
The irony wasn't lost on him.
Fighting above the very mountain where Atlas had been cursed to hold the sky. Where the Titan had spent many years bearing that impossible weight as punishment.
Now he was free.
"You should not have come here, Angel." Atlas's voice was deep and measured. "This is not your war."
Michael disengaged with a beat of his fourteen wings, golden light trailing in his wake. "We did not come here for you. But even if I had made the effort, your Lord has chosen to ally himself with an enemy of Heaven. For that, you can only blame yourself."
Atlas said nothing. He simply moved.
The Titan's speed was staggering.
Michael barely raised his sword in time to deflect the follow-up strike, and even then the force drove him backwards through the air. His arms ached from the impact.
He had fought powerful beings before, a great number of times. But Atlas possessed a physical might that bordered on incomprehensible. Every blow was beyond a majority of the beings he had fought.
Another barrier shattered somewhere below them.
The Titan went in for another punch only for Michael to counter with a swift slash of his holy blade. The weapon packed with holy energy it cleaved through the air toward Atlas's exposed flank.
Infused with angelic power, the sword's edge burned with a golden light that parted the clouds and ignited the surrounding atmosphere, trails of golden fire lingering in its wake.
But as the blade descended, a shimmering aura erupted across Atlas's skin, an ethereal barrier that solidified like forged adamant, rippling outward from his core to cover his massive frame.
The sword met it with a deafening clash, sparks of golden light exploding in a shower that scorched the air.
The aura held firm, repelling the holy weapon with a forceful rebound that jarred Michael's arm and sent vibrations racing through his fourteen wings, forcing him to adjust his hover mid-air.
Undeterred, Michael pivoted with unearthly grace, his form blurring as he drew back his fist.
He unleashed a full-forced punch, the strike enveloped in a corona of searing holy fire that distorted the space around it, compressing the air into visible waves.
The blow hurtled toward Atlas's core. Atlas twisted at the last instant, his body shifting just enough for the punch to graze his shoulder.
The impact singed the aura's edge, drawing a thin line of smoking ichor that dripped downward, and unleashed a gale-force wind that uprooted splintered trees below and cracked another layer of the mountain's barriers.
Michael backed away swiftly, his wings folding and unfurling in precise motions to propel him through the turbulent skies.
A small frown graced his lips.
It was just as he thought. He was too outmatched in physical might.
Atlas was on him instantly, his massive fist rocketing forward with earth-shaking power, the air compressing into a visible shock cone around the knuckles.
In that split second, Michael extended his free hand, palm outward.
Behind him, a cascade of intricate magical circles materialised in the air, five of them to be exact, each one a glowing mandala of interlocking runes and angelic symbols.
Angelic Magic, while better for more complex attacks, took time, which was why there had been an illusion over them before Atlas had seemingly sensed the buildup of the titanic reservoir of holy energy that made the atmosphere around it shake.
They formed in layers, stacking and forming wide circuits, their diameters spanning from mere feet to the width of a battlefield, drawing in ambient power from the heavens themselves.
The circles activated in unison, channelling their immense might into a singular assault.
Atlas narrowed his eyes.
Massive spears of light erupted from each circle's centre, their tips locking onto the Titan's advancing form with unerring precision. Brilliant tethers of pure holy energy connected them, marking their trajectories in burning lines across the sky.
A moment later, the spears detonated on impact, blooming into spheres of incandescent holy power that engulfed the Titan's path.
The blasts chained together in a devastating cascade, each one ripping through the air with a thunderous roar, shattering nearby rock formations and sending debris hurtling skyward.
The magical circles, drained of their colossal power, fractured like glass under the strain, their fragments dissolving into motes of fading light that rained down harmlessly.
The force hurled Atlas backwards, his aura flickering under the onslaught as cracks spiderwebbed across its surface, forcing him to skid through the air before regaining his footing on nothing but sheer will.
Michael moved to press his advantage.
Demonic energy lanced toward him from behind.
He hadn't sensed anyone else. His perception extended outward and found a familiar signature lurking at the edge of the battlefield, one that had been suppressing itself until this precise moment.
Michael flew back hastily, abandoning his attack to avoid the strike.
That hesitation allowed Atlas to recover.
The Titan's skin had taken on a bronze hue, his eyes burning with red smoke. Even so, the surprise attack had visibly hurt him, multiple impact points leaking ichor.
Atlas exploded forward.
Michael spun, deflecting the blast with his blade, but the distraction cost him.
Atlas's boot caught him in the ribs with the force of a meteor strike. Pain exploded through his side.
Michael tumbled but expertly caught himself, raising his sword just in time to block the follow-up attack from the new arrival.
Rizevim Livan Lucifer.
The previously presumed dead son of Lucifer looked ecstatic, having finally abandoned his observation to join the fray.
"Michael." Rizevim's eyes gleamed with that familiar madness, that perfect mixture of genius and insanity that made him so dangerous. "It's been such a long time…"
"Rizevim." Michael kept his voice level. Calm. "Perhaps it was too much to ask for your death along with Lucifer's."
His reply was measured, even as he critically searched for a way to his Father's side.
"How rude!" The devil disengaged, demonic energy swirling around his fingers. "I prefer to think of it as making a dramatic entrance. Speaking of which, lovely work you've been doing lately. The Egyptians, the Aztecs... I heard it was quite the performance."
Michael grew slightly confused at the comment but couldn't focus on it much longer. While Rizevim seemed intent on chatting, Atlas didn't appear to be on the same page.
Another punch rocketed upward as the giant Titan flew through the sky with a boom.
Michael's expression remained expressionless.
It was the confirmation that Rizevim was connected with the Khaos Brigade.
"Oh yes, I was rather surprised to hear about that." Rizevim circled slowly, keeping distance between them while Atlas sent him an annoyed glance, his massive shoulders tensing. "Heaven's little puppet show. The attempt had its effect, lies do that I suppose. But really? Trying to make the Aztecs and Egyptians believe He was back?"
Michael wanted to furrow his brows but he showed no reaction.
News had reached them.
That much had been expected and planned for. While many of the Gods had been killed they would reform. And the very small couple that had escaped must have recovered.
Rizevim smirked.
"Tell me, does it feel good?" Rizevim asked with a twisted smile. "To finally indulge and play pretend? Manipulating with your lies? Then again, I guess you've been keeping the hood over everyone's eyes for a while."
"I'm sure you would be apt on the subject, considering you've spent so long hiding away," Michael replied calmly, his gaze fixed on Atlas whose muscles coiled as he assessed him carefully.
Rizevim's cheek twitched at the comment, his fingers clenching into fists.
"Enough talking," Atlas said, his voice deep, echoing across the peaks. "I grow tired of wasting my time on this Devil. The Angel is a threat to the plans and already the barriers around strain to contain us. The Olympians' knowledge of this would be cause for hassle."
Below, Artemis stirred from her position on the ground where Michael had placed her earlier, her body no longer slumped in exhaustion. Her cheeks briefly flushed pink as she glanced up at Michael, but soon after her silver eyes narrowed with a dangerous glare at the enemies.
Her exhaustion had delayed her entry into the battle, her limbs heavy until now, but recovery came swiftly as her divine power noticeably wafted off her.
She summoned a bow of shimmering silver into her hands, the weapon materialising as strings pulled taut.
Rizevim sent an annoyed glance at the Titan and rolled his eyes, a sly smirk forming on his face as his posture relaxed slightly.
"Sure sure, I guess you should feel proud, golden boy," Rizevim said lazily, yet those sharp eyes gleamed with calculation. "This is as worthy a death as any I suppose. I'm even doing you a favour. I doubt you've been very enthusiastic about living since Daddy died."
Michael gripped his sword tighter, his knuckles whitening. Talking had served as a respite to find a way to his Lord's side without drawing these two immensely powerful beings with him.
Rizevim's eyes glanced at Artemis, who had entered her divine form. Glittering arcs of lights rolling off her form. "I'm glad you've picked up a friend as well, I might have felt bad if you were all alone."'
Light gathered at his fingertips, condensing into two spears of pure light. He hurled them at both opponents and was already moving before the projectiles began their streaks, circling wide to flank the Titan.
Atlas's body emanated a powerful aura as he caught the spear. His massive hand closed around the shaft of solidified light, muscles bulging for just a moment before he crushed it into dissipating motes that scattered like sparks.
Rizevim opted to dodge with a burst of speed, his form blurring as demonic wings flared briefly, propelling him clear of the radiant projectile. It streaked past and detonated against a distant crag, vaporising rock in a flash of holy light.
Artemis drew an arrow from thin air, its shaft gleaming with divine power, and released it toward Rizevim. The projectile streaked upward like a comet, forcing him to swerve mid-dodge, causing him to block.
Instead of getting annoyed he let out a laugh.
Michael capitalised on the opening and burst forward, his fourteen wings propelling him in a tight arc to close the gap on Atlas.
His sword slashed in a horizontal sweep aimed at the Titan's midsection, the edge humming with amplified holy energy, trails of golden plasma arcing behind it as it cut through the air.
Atlas met the strike with a raised forearm, his aura flaring brighter to absorb the impact, his skin rippling under the force.
The collision rang out, sending fractures spiderwebbing through the surrounding barriers and forcing Michael to pivot mid-air to avoid a countering elbow that whistled past his head, close enough to ruffle his feathers.
From the periphery, a barrage of demonic energy bolts lanced toward Michael's flank. Dark crimson orbs crackling with corrosive power that began eating away at the traces of light lingering in the air.
He twisted, folding six wings to slip between the bolts. They slammed into a distant barrier instead, burning through it like acid, leaving smoking holes.
Artemis fired another arrow toward Atlas, striking his forearm and embedding in his aura, cracking the dark sheen slightly. He grunted as he shook it off, his arm trembling briefly. Then further rocked back as it exploded into a large cluster of ice shards.
It gave Michael just enough time to register Atlas's follow-up. A fist wreathed in gold and red energy smashed through the air toward him.
Multiple barriers of light formed in its path, shimmering layers stacking rapidly. They didn't hold off the punch, but the small amount of time they bought allowed Michael to attempt a precise cleave.
Atlas moved in a blur. The blade only barely connected with his shoulder, denting the aura and drawing a grunt from the Titan as ichor sprayed in golden droplets.
Undeterred, Atlas let loose another punch. Even dampened by the magical barriers Michael threw up, the blow smashed through and came into contact with his sword as he attempted to block.
Michael slammed down and through half of the mountain in the next instant, the sheer physical might behind the strike made evident by the crater forming around him. Despite this, he recovered quickly and exploded back out of the crater, dust trailing from his robes.
Just in time.
Rizevim was already moving toward Artemis, his eyes locked on her form. Michael intercepted, his wings propelling him in a blur to block the path, sword clashing against the incoming attack with a clang, sparks flying.
Rizevim slammed into the ground nearby, unleashing a massive eruption of demonic power that detonated, sending debris flying.
He could barely react before Atlas attacked again, lunging toward the goddess.
The Titan's form became a streak of motion hurtling through the air, his fist trailing a comet-tail of sheer friction against the atmosphere, so intense it warped the sky around it.
Michael flew in front, erecting a barrier of light that cracked under the blow, absorbing the force while his body shook from the impact. Then further dodging with a quick twist, his wings slicing the wind as he veered left.
The punch grazed his side, close enough to scorch his robes and draw a thin line of celestial blood that shimmered before evaporating.
In the same fluid motion, he channelled a surge of holy energy into his palm. He unleashed a lance of piercing light that streaked toward Rizevim like an arrow, its tip fracturing the air into prismatic shards.
The devil's eyes widened.
His form blurred as he attempted to evade.
Artemis released another arrow, piercing through the air and grazing Rizevim's side, forcing him to adjust his dodge and earning a burning look from the super devil.
The arrow itself was contained with a massive amount of divine energy, so much so that Michael suspected Artemis would only be able to release another hundred of them at most.
He wasn't fast enough.
The spell slammed into him, clipping his wing and driving him backwards and the holy power burned at his skin.
Rizevim threw up multiple barriers of red and black, but the force still cratered the ground where he landed, the impact sending fissures racing across the mountain and shattering another barrier in a cascade of failing magic.
Michael refocused on the Titan who was already closing the distance and barely avoided Atlas, who moved with superior speed, a blur of Titanic mass appearing in an instant. The Titan's knee drove upward like a battering ram aimed at the Arch-Seraph's chest.
The near-miss sent a pressure wave that buffeted Michael's wings, forcing him to spiral higher amid the chaos.
Multiple demonic spells erupted around him then. Crimson runes ignited in the air like hidden mines, spheres of corrosive darkness exploding in sequence with chains of hellfire linking them.
Michael realised Rizevim had set them up earlier, the traps woven into the battlefield's fabric during his taunts.
One blast just managed to catch his leg, the demonic energy eating through his defences like acid on metal, searing flesh and drawing a grimace as pain lanced up his limb. Black veins pulsed briefly before his holy aura raged around him and easily purged them.
An arrow from Artemis disrupted a chain of demonic attacks and created a brief opening, the divine tip shattering a rune and another shot at the Devil himself in a massive explosion that consumed a good chunk of the mountain.
Michael's lips pressed into a thin line.
This wasn't a good situation.
It wasn't one he could finish quickly either.
He had already sent a warning to Heaven. His Father would have as well. But with the method they had opted for, it would take time for reinforcements to arrive.
The battle itself would be noticed eventually. Beings of their strength simply couldn't clash undetected without massive and powerful barriers in place.
Those barriers were already failing under the strain of their combat. That should speed up the process considerably.
Michael felt the air shift, his skin prickling as power gathered around the Titan, his eyes narrowing while his muscles tensed. Michael reacted instantly, pouring all his power outward, creating barriers and attacks in equal measure, light blooming from his hands.
The air thickened instantly, gravity multiplying tenfold in a localised field around Michael.
The Titan's power manifested as invisible columns of force that crushed downward, bending space and cracking the mountain peak below into a web of fractures that threatened to split the entire summit.
Michael sensed the shift a heartbeat before it fully enveloped him, his wings straining as the pressure bore down.
He barely avoided the core by folding his wings and dropping like a stone, but the edge of the domain clipped him, slamming him sideways with bone-jarring force that bruised his ribs and sent him skidding through the air.
Artemis fired rapidly, arrows raining upward in succession, each powerful enough to shatter boulders on contact.
Their divine tips forced Atlas to dodge, the streaks of lights that had enough power to level a town proving only to keep the Titan barely occupied as Michael made sure his focus wasn't able to land on Artemis entirely.
Even with her distance this was a battle above her realm. He wouldn't be surprised if she were working by predicting the flight paths of the Titan and Rizevim to get hits, even with the large amount of power being channelled into the arrows.
At the same instant, he sent a powerful attack in return.
A bright cascade of holy light lances erupted from above in a blinding storm, each shaft piercing the air like falling stars that converged on Atlas, shattering through layers of his aura with explosive brilliance and flooding the battlefield in an overwhelming glow that vaporised swaths of the mountain below.
Michael kept an eye on his reserves.
Magic power didn't normally matter once you reached a certain level, but he was fighting two beings in this realm of strength. Each attack could drain reserves that would fill a low-God class being's capacity.
Simultaneously, he activated the attacks he had stored up with Heavenly Domain Skill: Strategic Placement. The pre-positioned seals glowed across the battlefield, followed by Heavenly Domain Skill: Wartime Seal: Release.
Bursts of condensed holy energy detonated in a synchronised barrage, beams and explosions chaining together, piercing through defences and hammering into Atlas with unrelenting precision.
Atlas widened his eyes minutely and vanished in a massive burst of speed, his form leaving afterimages.
Even then, a large number of the piercing attacks struck his massive body, assaulting the aura around him. Blasts tore gashes across his chest and arms, ichor spraying in arcs that sizzled against the failing barriers.
The mountain trembled violently, entire sections avalanching downward as the impacts overwhelmed the last protections. Shards of enchanted energy shattered like glass, exposing the battlefield to the wider world.
Atlas backed away, his form rippling as he drew upon deeper reserves. His body hardened with a dark metal sheen as Michael felt another domain skill activate.
He couldn't focus on that for long. The super-devil behind him hadn't stayed idle. Rizevim surged upward with a maniacal gleam in his eyes, his teeth bared in a mix of emotions that didn't feel natural.
Demonic power rolled off in waves and coiled into a new spell, transforming into a long, dark, almost tentacle-like limb that shot up, dominating the sky in its contrast to the surroundings.
It quickly writhed and curved past Michael, his keen sight able to make out red dots along its surface that began glowing, prompting him to vanish back in time to watch it explode into massive spike-shaped spheres of corrosive power.
Michael avoided them just in time for Rizevim to close the distance with a glowing sword now in the devil's grip.
An arrow from Artemis struck one sphere, exploding it prematurely and creating a gap for Michael to gain some ground, all the while another three arrows shot at Atlas, or the line of path he was travelling up.
Atlas sent the Goddess an annoyed glance and pivoted mid-ascent, his massive arm swinging in a wide arc that unleashed a colossal wave of crushing force, a shimmering ripple of Titanic energy barreling toward Artemis like an unstoppable avalanche, the air compressing and ground fracturing in its wake.
Michael intercepted in a flash, his body materialising between them as he raised his blade and channelled a surge of holy power, erecting a bright shield that absorbed the impact with a deafening boom.
The barrier cracked along its edges while his muscles tensed and wings strained against the recoil.
In the same motion, he unleashed a massive light attack that split the sky open, a blinding pillar of pure holy radiance erupting from his palm and cleaving through the sky, the beam expanding into a cataclysmic storm of spears that rained down on Atlas, forcing the Titan to shield his face with crossed arms as gashes opened across his metallic skin.
All while Michael kept his primary focus locked on Rizevim, his sword whipping forward to clash against the devil's glowing blade in a shower of opposing sparks.
"It seems like you've still got it, Michael." Rizevim laughed. "Though not quite up to standard, are we?"
Michael followed through, spinning to redirect his blade toward Rizevim, who deflected it with a ring that pervaded the surrounding area.
The devil barely evaded the next slash, freeing one hand to weave threads of demonic energy into a whipping tendril that lashed out.
In response Michael parried with his sword and avoided the small, but dangerous tendrils, knowing better than to overlook such an attack, especially at the level of power that was being operated on.
Another barrier shattered below.
Rizevim's sword cut through the air and Michael deflected it with his own, allowing Rizevim to attempt a punch, corrosive energy surrounding his pale fist.
It would have been painful had it landed.
Michael avoided it nimbly, his wings giving him superior control and coming into contrast with Rizevim's twelve devil wings.
With a slight opportunity lashed out with a kick of his own, his boot connecting with a barrier that was erected, sending the spawn of Lucifer tumbling through the sky even as a demonic blast forced Michael away from pursuing.
Not a moment later did Atlas explode into Michael's guard, his massive form barreling forward with a series of rapid punches that compressed the air into shockwaves.
Michael navigated the onslaught with precise wing adjustments, dodging left then right, his blade deflecting one blow while his free hand summoned Earth Armament.
Colossal spikes of holy-infused stone erupted from the mountain below, the stone having noticeable veins of gold that empowered it in a way only a divine skill was able to achieve, acting as brief cover and walls that the Titan smashed through with ease.
Artemis's arrows peppered Atlas with another barrage, each strike annoying him into brief pauses, his aura cracking further as he swatted at them.
Each arrow carried different elements and exploded on impact, weakening the aura around him significantly to the point that Michael did not doubt that such a barrage would have killed anything below the super class.
Even now, it only took one good shot from such an arrow to kill them… but having such a level of power meant you could spend a lot of it on defending yourself, so the chances of it happening were close to zero.
Michael invoked Strategic Placement, subtly shifting the battlefield's layout with a pulse of domain energy. Invisible seals materialised in the air, pre-positioned for ambush.
Rizevim, who had recovered, sensed the shift and having witnessed a fight with Michael before, acted quickly, unleashing a wide-arc demonic wave. A curving blade of dark power sliced through the seals, disrupting half of them before they could activate.
Michael pursed his lips, activating Wartime Seal Release on the remaining ones.
Bursts of holy energy detonated in sequence, forcing Rizevim to dodge erratically while Atlas powered through one explosion, his aura cracking further but holding as he grabbed Michael's wing in a crushing grip.
Rizevim capitalised with a laugh, firing point-blank demonic spheres that Michael barely deflected, the explosions singeing his clothing.
For a brief moment, Michael considered unleashing his true form, the full manifestation of his status as an Elder Angel, but dismissed it. Such desperation would leave him depleted if more foes arrived.
With that in mind, he regained his stance within the unstable air, proceeding to call upon his Heavenly Domain over Earth, drawing power from the ground to form a barrier of radiant soil that absorbed Atlas's next charge.
It cracked under the force but held long enough for him to counter with a thrust of his blade, piercing the Titan's aura at a weak point and drawing more ichor.
The rock then melted as a high-powered spear drove into Atlas's stomach, shrinking his aura dramatically and sending him flying back through the sky.
"I told you to be careful, Titan!" Rizevim laughed without a care, even as his body glowed with demonic power.
Michael seized the momentary opening, his wings flaring with a burst of ethereal light as he channelled holy energy into his blade.
With a swift, arcing slash that cut through the air, he caught Rizevim off-guard mid-grin. The sword bit deep into the devil's shoulder, holy flames erupting along the wound, searing demonic flesh and eliciting a guttural howl from Rizevim that echoed across the crumbling mountain.
Rizevim's eyes widened in shock, then twisted into frenzied madness.
Black veins pulsed across his skin as he unleashed his full demonic essence, the air thickening with malevolent power. From his core, a colossal storm of inky darkness erupted, swirling into a massive black tempest that blotted out the sky.
Bolts of corrosive energy lashed out like living serpents, striking indiscriminately, crashing into the mountain, vaporising rock, and homing in on Michael with vicious intent, forcing him to weave through the chaotic barrage.
Artemis's arrows cut through the storm, massive bolts of light exploding like miniature stars and instantly pushing the only darkness away.
Simultaneously, Atlas' body convulsed as he tapped into ancient reserves.
His massive frame began to swell, muscles bulging and bones cracking as he grew exponentially, towering higher and higher until he loomed like a living colossus, his shadow engulfing the battlefield.
Michael narrowed his eyes, gripping his blade tighter as the dual threats escalated before him.
A sigh escaped him as he watched another arrow streak through the sky, exploding with enough power to push them all back, Michael marking down that the attack must have used quite a bit of her divine power.
Atlas stood at one side, a massive body that rippled with strength.
While Rizevim floated in a form he hadn't seen from the super devil before, dark inky power covered his wings and made them look massive behind him, while his body swam in a mass of inky power.
Michael looked back at Artemis, who narrowed her eyes at the changing of form, her body still glowing with her divine form bending the space around her from the sheer power output.
He had his work cut out for him, indeed.
-{Kai}-
My hand was held in front of my face as orange power raged around me, divine power suffocating the air as the large Titan in front of me stared with cold, calculating eyes.
It seemed like the time for talking was over.
I took a breath, allowing Gravity magic to coil around my limbs, wrapping my body in a field of distorted space that combatted the powerful orange energy that left anything it touched in a state of status.
Where the orange light tried to freeze me in place, the gravitational pull I exerted on myself created a loophole. A narrow window where I could still move if not somewhat sluggishly.
My footing shifted.
Kronos's eyes squinted beneath his hood.
"Gravity magic," he said, and there was genuine interest in his voice now. "How rare."
I didn't respond. Moving through the world of orange he had formed around us was like wading through tar. Every step demanded that I maintain the gravitational field around my body while simultaneously using it to propel myself forward.
The moment I let that field slip, I'd be frozen like everything else and just like that the Titan would kill me.
He seemed to notice that as well, almost mockingly giving me a moment to adjust. An easy confidence that put me on edge. He felt like he was going to win.
I clicked my tongue, looking for any signs of Michael but only seeing an orange wall in the place he had been battling Atlas prior.
I was alone… I couldn't say I hadn't deserved this, taking on a Titan with a domain in time itself was never going to not be dangerous.
But I could move.
That was what mattered.
Kronos watched me for a long moment.
Then he smiled.
"Very well. You've earned my attention." Kronos stated, his eyes still deathly cold, flickering down to the blood that had come from his host's body.
The orange light around him intensified.
I felt it before I saw it.
The entire battlefield shifted. The temporal pressure that had been oppressive before became crushing. The dome of frozen time contracted, grew denser.
And Kronos moved. He crossed the distance between us in a blur that my enhanced senses barely registered, even with my semi-divine form active.
I threw up a barrier on instinct, a basic barrier of compressed light that would burn anything that touched it.
His fist punched through it.
The impact sent me spinning backwards. I caught myself with a burst of gravity, pulling myself toward a nearby boulder just to change my trajectory before his follow-up strike could connect.
His knee caught me in the ribs, driving past my defence and hitting with a force that made something crack, the force of the blow catching me perfectly.
My teeth grit and I found myself once more flying back, managing to form a large spear of light, the fastest attack I could manage, and firing it towards the Titan.
Pain wracked through my body even as my natural regeneration showed its presence.
My attack formed and held in the air uselessly, urging Kronos to look at it pointedly, as if taking amusement out of the sight with reminiscent eyes
That would be the world of orange surrounding me. It seemed I'd have to cover each of my attacks in a powerful layer of gravity without disrupting the attacks in the process.
Even bypassing it, the world of time energy around me posed a challenge.
What a dangerous technique.
And he presumably had a far larger amount of magical energy than my own.
I regained my bearings, activating my Holy Grail for the first time and allowing the golden power to flow through. I felt its cooling presence trickle through me soothingly. My regeneration speeding up exponentially and the pain simply ceased, the healing cost that would have normally been steep was offset by the sheer power I had in me with my semi-divine form's activation.
With the Holy Grail's power coursing through me, I took a moment to feel the massive pool of chakra in me, bolstered by the semi-divine form's boost to an insane degree.
The Rinnegan was proving a good way of weaponising my chakra into something more powerful. The dojutsu spun in my eyes, my hand still drawing in the temporal energy from the frozen air around me, converting it into chakra that fed directly into my gravity magic.
The orange temporal dome pressed in harder, but the Rinnegan's absorption weakened its edges just enough. Ripples of distortion appeared where the time trap met my gravitational field, like cracks in ice under pressure.
It wasn't breaking the domain entirely, but it gave me room to breathe, boosting my gravity spells to counter the stasis that would have otherwise pinned me like a bug in amber.
Kronos didn't stay idle, his form blurred as he unleashed his full might. Orange energy exploded outward in multiple blasts, time itself fracturing into shards that rewound and fast-forwarded in chaotic bursts that served to boost his traversal to me.
It gave me a brief view under the cloak and two eyes stared at me intensely. The face I could make out had veins that bulged unnaturally beneath the skin visible at the neck.
Armour plates cracked with faint golden fissures as if the flesh inside was overheating. A subtle tremor ran through the gauntlets that he masked with raw power.
The ground under me crumbled and I once more took in the air, only to find myself on the end of a powerful punch that I barely blocked by predicted its path from the black blur.
I formed a barrier around myself but the blast of orange simply surrounded me.
I slammed down into the air, feeling the wind get knocked out of me and I recovered in time for a massive dark orange blast that slammed down into me, disrupting the layer of gravity around me and invading it with orange wisps of chaotic energy.
I pushed myself back, the bending of gravity allowing me to move through the river of time he was trying to drown me within. At the same time, my hand raised and even more gravity pooled at the sight of the rapidly approaching Titan.
My hand flicked and an attack of my own sprung back at him, Gravity inverting around him, yanking him upward for a split second and ruining his trajectory.
He corrected almost instantly, temporal energy flaring to negate the effect. But that split second was enough.
I reformed into light, flashing away.
Or tried to.
The transformation stuttered. The frozen time resisted my attempt to become pure radiance, and I only managed to travel a fraction of the distance I'd intended before I was forced back into physical form.
I scowled.
Kronos appeared in front of me.
His palm slammed into my chest. Orange light erupted on contact, and I felt time itself try to stop around me. My gravitational field strained, cracked, held.
I managed to recover though. And I struck back with a gravity-enhanced fist. The blow connected with his shoulder, and the added gravitational force actually made him shift.
I followed up with another punch he blocked and a massive ball of light that exploded into a massive ball spike, sharp light edges that fizzled with enough energy to burn through a part of his gauntlet.
His counter came instantly and nearly took my head off.
I ducked, letting the strike pass over me, and drove my knee toward his midsection, blocked as a wave of orange briefly repelled my knee and forced me to apply more magic into the rifts of gravity allowing me to move.
I finally adapted, resummoning my weapon from my inventory and pushing my body to the max. Vesper materialised in my grip and I slashed upward in a blur at his approach, holy light trailing the edge and burning the frozen air with heatwaves that merely froze in the air, producing little heat.
Kronos blocked it, his gauntlet catching its side as a glow clashed around his arm in what I knew to be his acceleration of time. But in this exchange I caught the slight twitch of pain the action caused.
His gauntleted hand clamped down on the blade, metal screeching against metal as his fingers crushed inward. My blade shook and pain exploded through my hand as he squeezed harder, bones grinding under the pressure.
Surprisingly my sword wasn't able to feed on any hatred, meaning no extra power from its curse. Regardless, channelling attacks through my sword lessened the cost.
Which was why I channelled a massive amount of it out of my sword, the light blending into the destructive purple light and burning through his aura rapidly.
His gauntlets exploded, chunks of metal coming to float in the air, prompting him to back away and command a swirl of orange energy that quickly rebuilt the gauntlet.
I let out a slash infused with a sufficient layer of gravity, wincing slightly as the attack wobbled a bit before exploding out. The slash erupted from my blade in an arc of cursed light, the air warping around it as gravity bent to my will, pulling debris and loose stones from the ground into its path like a hungry vortex.
The debris noticeably froze once more when out of range.
Kronos twisted aside at the last moment, his time-accelerated form blurring, but the edge clipped his shoulder, tearing through his armour with a screech of rending metal.
Purple light flared where it struck, the curse seeping in like venom, rotting the edges of the wound even as his gauntlet glowed to heal it faster than natural.
He let out a grunt, but nothing else as once more the wound began undoing itself.
Still, I didn't give him time to recover.
Gripping my sword tighter, ignoring the grinding pain in my hand, I channelled more hatred into the blade. My own, raw and boiling from years of betrayal and loss.
It was harder with the recent memories of Heaven.
The steel hummed, vibrating with power as the destructive purple light intensified, veins of cursed energy pulsing along its length like living tendrils.
I snarled, swinging in a wide overhead arc. The sword trailed a comet's tail of purple light, the air hissing as it superheated, gravity amplifying the swing to make it fall.
Kronos met it with both gauntlets crossed, time accelerating around him in a shimmering bubble, but the cursed light ate through his defence. Purple sparks danced across his arms, corroding the metal, forcing him to leap back as cracks spiderwebbed through his gauntlets.
My eye twitched when his fist merely clenched and the attack undid itself, rewinding to the point it had released, allowing him to easily dodge as it once more made its path as it had done.
That's just cheating…
Pain flashed in his eyes again, but regardless he narrowed his eyes, his form blurring. He countered with a sweeping punch, his fist accelerated to blur-speed and I found myself gasping, my stomach burning with pain.
I channelled a defensive surge of purple light that clashed against the glow that erupted out of him, his next punch hit Vesper, which was covered in sparking arcs of cursed light that paused whenever going out of reach of my immediate zone.
The impact sent shockwaves rippling out, or the beginning of one as that once more paused. And I felt the curse bite back at him, his arm jerking as if aged a decade in an instant.
Vesper glowed brighter, the destructive light coiling around it, gravity pulling him off-balance just enough for the edge to graze his thigh. Purple energy erupted on contact, rotting the armour and eliciting a chuckle out of him.
"What a nasty little technique."
That was all well and said until I was suddenly flying back, my entire body rippling in tense burning pain.
I barely managed to recover and when I did I found His hand pointed at me, the orange glow around him intensified, brighter than before, then proceeded to blast out in a wave and surround me in another smaller dome.
His fist shut and the dome closed in one me before I could even react, with no small amount of power channeled it, leaving me in a suffocating haze that made my limbs start to numb.
Pins and needles spread from my fingers upward.
The time freeze effect around me intensified.
I focused on the gravity magic surrounding me, it being my made card against Kronos for now.
Even if I was draining the divine energy around me with the sheer magnitude of it, I wasn't able to do much against the overwhelming amount of it being used.
Time and gravity were cousins in a sense. They were both in the same rarity group at least in Raphael's eyes. Both bent space. Both warped reality. And where one ruled absolutely as a primal force, the other could bend that in a sense.
Kronos's temporal field worked by locking objects in a fixed point of spacetime. Nothing moved because nothing could move. The flow of cause and effect simply stopped.
But gravity didn't care about the flow of time. Gravity cared about mass and the curvature of space. When I wrapped myself in gravitational distortion, I wasn't moving through time. I was falling. Constantly. In every direction at once.
The temporal field couldn't freeze what was already in a state of perpetual motion relative to space itself and my Gravity magic was bending the potent domain of time enough to move around.
It wasn't perfect. I couldn't match his speed or power. But I could move when he expected me to be stationary and that was enough to keep me alive.
I could break it if I tried, but if this became a contest of pure power I would lose.
Raphael's lessons on how my gravity magic could be used stuck in my mind. She had prepared all sorts of plans like this, teaching me how to use them in special applications.
It was safe to say I was giving her head pats when I got home.
Whatever time magic Kronos used allowed me to still think. Whether that was intentional or not, I wasn't sure. But it had truly frozen my body, making my limbs simply not respond.
His hand slammed down next, aiming to crush my skull. A true killing blow that would finish me should it land. I twisted free just in time, pain shooting through my mangled fingers as I channelled massive amounts of chakra into one of my first abilities.
Mokuton.
Wood erupted from the ground in a frenzy of roots and branches, the sheer amount of chakra packed into them making the spikes blur through the air like wooden lances glowing with an aura of blue, propelled by raw life force.
The beginning of a forest taking root, but I held back, channelling all of it for smaller but infinitely more deadly attacks to spend less gravity magic. The gravity rifts were the only thing allowing the branches to actually move.
Massive gravity tears formed around them, rifts of distorted space allowing most to surge forward while some got stuck midway. Frozen in orange bubbles as time took hold. Suspended like insects in amber.
Kronos stared at the wave of incoming roots and wood, his fist raising and clenching in a simple gesture.
The captured wood withered away into dust instantly, crumbling to fine powder that scattered on the wind. His temporal power unravelled the chakra bonds in seconds.
He followed up with a ranged attack that exploded through the dust not a second later. Orange orbs materialised around him and fired like cannons, each one a compressed burst of temporal energy.
I barely dodged the first volley, my body blurring with enhanced gravity pulls, twisting through the air as one grazed my shoulder. Skin wrinkled briefly before regeneration kicked in.
Another ripple of time hit me mid-movement, halting my dodge for a fraction of a second.
That was all he needed.
Kronos closed in and landed a massive hit. His fist drove into my chest with explosive force, ribs cracking audibly as I flew back. Blood sprayed from my mouth. Pain bloomed like fire while my regeneration surged to knit the damage, flesh mending in frantic pulses.
He didn't let up.
Punches rained down in a storm of orange-enhanced strikes, each one landing with bone-shattering impact and performing a weird inverted charge that shook my bones.
My blocks crumbled as he hammered my guard. Bruises formed instantly, cuts opened across my arms and torso.
I reactivated the divine curse around me.
Anathema pulsed outward in a wave of rejection that blackened the ground and sapped his movements slightly, forcing him to expend more energy.
In the same breath, I activated Sun Breathing. Flames roared along my limbs as multiple wood clones sprouted from my sides, each wielding swords of holy fire fused with wind and light.
The blades converged in point-like arrays, a formation of slashing arcs that unleashed through focused bursts. Buying me split seconds to breathe amid the chaos.
Unfortunately, it was another wave of orange that simply turned them into dust, making a small wave of genuine caution run through me.
My hand flicked and a simple but blazing ball of light energy, further covered in a wavering purple glow that bent the area around it, shot forward. It instantly found itself assaulted by a wave of dark orange.
I allowed it to explode, creating a ball of light that hung in the air as the gravity magic dispersed under the assault.
In that moment I made another wooden clone. A single look was all we needed.
Together we raised our hands, the wood clone using all of the considerable amount of chakra that I infused into it, my own eyes reflecting with those unique purple ripples.
Chibaku Tensei.
Gravity coalesced above us into a dense core that shot upward, bending the space around it into a massive gravitational singularity.
Kronos looked up at the ball of gravity in mild surprise as it tore apart his world of orange.
"Such a technique," Kronos admired. "Wasted on your level of power."
The world pulsed. A wave of pure orange light rolled forward, briefly obscuring everything around us. For just a second, a void of orange surrounded me.
I breathed heavily, my body burning while the Titan regarded me once more. Only for a split second before he watched me channel massive amounts of energy to keep the rifts of gravity around me stable.
Kronos' hand flicked forward.
The ground around me cracked. Multiple lacerations formed on my body, blood leaking from wounds I hadn't seen him inflict. His fist was already moving towards my face.
Finally, I released the massive amount of angelic magic I had been holding for my last move.
Kronos was simply too powerful. Too experienced. Wielding perhaps one of the strongest Domains in existence. Even with the strain I had observed wracking his host's body, he was a powerful Titan King.
My angelic power exploded out.
The world of orange turned white.
Kronos reacted quickly to the massive attack, the full brunt of a massive part of my angelic power allowing his body to be instantly assaulted with burns as sound ceased to exist.
Time resumed. All our attacks rang out and exploded in waves of power, yet Kronos quickly gained an orange glow that rapidly undid the damage.
His head titled in confusion.
Had this been my last move it would have been akin to suicide, while I had gotten the drop on him and done substantial damage, his control over time was already undoing it with ease.
It was the massive sealing matrix below that caught his full attention.
Truthfully, I had never underestimated him, I of all people knew better
Symbols lit up, barely visible through the world of light I had created.
At the same time Mahoraga seemed to have finally adapted to the presence of time restricting his movement.
Columns of light exploded up and the Titan King found himself in for a nasty surprise.
-{Percy}-
What was he doing here?
Kai stepped out of the smoke, but something was off.
Behind him came two figures Percy didn't recognise. A young man with spiky golden hair in a torn priest outfit, and a woman clutching a blessed blade who looked like she'd been through hell.
Percy's brain paused.
"Uh." He looked at Kai. Then at the two strangers. Then back at Kai. "What?"
The hunters of Artemis stopped their volley of arrows, not that they had many left, and looked at Kai with confusion.
Nemesis paused her assault, her eyes narrowing warily at Kai.
Which only offended Percy a little bit.
The glowing measuring scale behind her tilted slightly but didn't move as she merely opted to hold her ground. Her form aloft and in the same position as she had arrived in, with the addition of a few wounds.
Kai barely acknowledged her. His attention was on Percy.
"Percy," Kai said seriously, eyes stuck on the battle above. "I need to go. Can you look after these two? They need protection."
Percy was confused at the shift, his eyes flickering at the frankly massive and genuinely intimidating display of power dominating everything above them in flashes of colour.
"Hunted?" Annabeth questioned.
"By who? What?" Percy asked with bewilderment.
"I found them nearby. While it's not ideal, I decided to save them. I'm needed elsewhere so I need you to look after them." Kai said.
Percy paused. "I'm kind of in the middle of something here."
"You're one of Kai's clones?" Annabeth deduced. "I believe I saw him create you before he went up to rescue Lady Artemis."
Kai shot her a smile and Percy frowned.
He had known that. In the back of his mind.
"Yes, and I came across these two being chased. I don't have much time. I need to go." Kai nodded. "You got this."
"I really don't think I do," Percy replied flatly, then remembered the Goddess was watching. "Ehem, I mean, I will clear this up soon. This Goddess isn't deserving of the title!"
The Goddess in question looked unimpressed.
Kai assessed her carefully, a sliver of confusion in his eyes, then gave Percy a nod and burst up the mountain in a blur of speed.
Nemesis looked ready to pursue but Percy sighed, his hand waving and his power surging. A massive whirlwind of water shot towards her and the battle began in earnest once more.
Percy quickly turned to the two newcomers, who looked just as confused as he felt.
The young man with golden hair had his fists raised like he expected another attack at any moment. The woman was pale, clutching her shoulder where blood had soaked through her clothes.
"Who are you?" Percy demanded. "Actually, no, more importantly, why are you here? How did you even get here?"
"We were..." The woman swallowed hard. "We were being chased. That man saved us. He said he'd take us somewhere safe."
"Safe?" Percy looked around at the goddess, the hunters with bows drawn, the craters and scorched earth. "Safe?"
"I don't think he had many options," the golden-haired one said. His accent was Italian, maybe. "There was fighting everywhere. He grabbed us and then we were here."
Nemesis watched this exchange with a cold look, having dealt with the attack. "Are you finished with your little reunion?"
Percy ran a hand through his hair, letting out a groan. "Great. Just great. Now I've got babysitting duty on top of goddess smacking. This day keeps getting better."
His eyes sharpened, the humour dropping as he gripped Riptide tighter.
"At least you're getting that fight you wanted." Annabeth chided.
Percy smiled brightly. "Yeah, I guess you're right."
Annabeth rolled her eyes, her daggers in hand. She sent them a reassuring smile. "If you wouldn't mind, please stand with those ladies over there with the bows."
"I can help," the young man said, a stubborn set to his jaw.
"Great. Love that and I appreciate it. Please don't, Kai and his definitely not scary body-guard have been stealing all the glory." Percy turned back to Nemesis, his stance shifting. "Sorry about the interruption. Where were we?"
Nemesis tilted her head, then divine power raged out of her.
"Right. That."
Percy planted his feet and reached out with his senses again. Past the clearing. Past the forest. Down into the earth where the underground rivers flowed.
But this time he didn't just pull.
The ground exploded.
Water erupted from every direction. Not just from below, but condensing from the air, pulling from the trees, drawing from sources Percy hadn't even known existed.
It spiralled around him in a massive vortex, his eyes glowing with brilliant sea green light.
He hadn't been idle during this chat, even if he had taken it as a brief reprieve.
He needed to finish this. Especially with the new additions.
Nemesis's eyes flickered with something that might have been surprise, her scale adjusting rapidly.
Percy thrust his hand forward, his voice steady now, all traces of humour gone as the fight reignited.
The water responded almost eagerly.
It crashed toward Nemesis in a tidal wave of raw power. But this time Percy wasn't just throwing force at her. He remembered her measuring scale. How it destabilised his attacks.
So he split the wave into dozens of separate streams, each one striking from a different angle, each one carrying enough pressure to cut through steel.
She couldn't balance them all at once.
Her scale flickered, tilting frantically to adjust, but there were too many variables. Three streams got through, slamming into her chest and sending her skidding backwards. Her feet dug furrows in the dirt.
A purple light pulsed and the scale vibrated, sparks of energy rolling off its golden surface.
The incoming blasts of high-pressure water began falling into useless puddles.
Still, Percy pressed forward. Riptide flashing as he charged in, water swirling around him like a protective shroud.
He slashed at her midsection, forcing her to deflect with her conjured weapon. The clash sent sparks flying.
She countered hard. Her free hand whipped out with a blast of energy that clipped his shoulder, burning through his shirt and searing his skin just from being in its immediate zone.
Percy watched the massive energy blast obliterate a tree in the distance and gritted his teeth. The pain sharpened his focus.
He spun away, summoning a whip of water to lash at her legs. She tripped momentarily.
An arrow whizzed past his head from the hunters, embedding in her barrier with a crack. Then another, and another. Their volley kept coming, chipping away at her defences, forcing her to split her attention.
Annabeth decided to get involved, much to Percy's chagrin. Her Mirage Sacred Gear activated more aggressively this time, illusions multiplying around the battlefield.
Not just of her, but now of Percy too. Five versions of him charging in unison, each swinging a watery blade.
Percy blinked.
Nemesis swung at one, only for it to dissipate like mist, leaving her open. Her ethereal scale pulsed with corrective energy that rippled outward, attempting to equalise the deceptive images by shattering two illusions in a burst of balancing force.
The ground below her cracked from the power that vibrated in the air, flattening the area around them and blasting everyone besides Percy back.
Percy capitalised, driving Riptide toward her chest in a real strike, the blade infused with swirling water that trailed vaporous tendrils.
She deflected with her conjured weapon, the clash erupting in a shockwave that uprooted nearby trees, but she countered instantly, her free hand summoning chains of divine power that made Percy see images of his past as they lashed out.
Percy shook off the visions.
They wrapped around his water shroud and began emitting that same purple vibration, distorting the massive whirlpool around him, forcing him to channel more to break free, his arms straining under the magical pull.
Percy dodged a follow-up barrage of purple orbs that homed in with unerring precision, each exploding on contact with the ground in craters that obliterated everything around them.
Percy glanced back.
The boy and the woman who had arrived watched the battle with wide eyes, while the hunters had finally seemed to run out of arrows. Not that they had been able to do much against the powerful Goddess.
Thankfully Annabeth had opted to stay back, while her new Sacred Gear was proving useful from a distance.
Percy stomped his leg, the earth rumbling as underground waters burst forth in geysers laced with his power, erupting beneath Nemesis and hurling her upward, her body twisting mid-air with graceful control.
He went forward only to blink as the golden-haired kid charged past him, his fists blazing with holy light that crackled, his body glowing with a sheen of light.
A barrier formed and Nero's punch connected with Nemesis's barrier, the holy energy fizzling against its surface and creating a momentary crack, staggering her just enough for Percy to follow up with a sweeping water strike infused with storm winds, the gale-laced torrent pushing her back slightly.
Percy quickly moved forward and pulled the kid back by the scruff of his shirt, throwing him back from the rapid swipe of Nemesis's weapon that would have sliced him with a fatal hit.
"I told you to stay back," Percy said, in a tone that he liked to think was serious, even if he was technically close to the same age.
He looked much older.
Nero sent him a look. "I can help. I'm with the church. My Sacred Gear makes me harder to hurt the more I get hit. I can take it."
"That's the dumbest power I've ever heard of," Percy replied, his focus still on Nemesis. "And this is a Goddess. You can't play around."
"It's not dumb. I'm an exorcist. I'm trained to fight and I can't allow an obvious enemy of the Angels to win." Nero said with determination.
"Talk about indoctrination." Percy murmured, then realised he was technically shit-talking his friend. "Nevermind, keep doing a uh good job."
Nemesis's next attack forced them both to scatter, ending the argument.
Her aura flared with intensified might. She unleashed a wide arc of energy that equalised forces around her, reversing Percy's water momentum and hurling it back at him in amplified torrents.
The reversed streams crashed against his defences and soaked him through. His skin chilled from the magical backlash.
The Goddess didn't seem to be in the mood for any comments, hand gesturing to invoke a veil of shadows that enveloped the battlefield, dimming the light and sapping strength from those below her level. The hunters staggered as fatigue gripped their limbs, their bows trembling.
Percy felt himself tiring. Every command to the water felt heavier, his breath ragged, and whatever she had done had made it worse.
The kid stumbled next to him, taking it a lot worse but strangely beginning to glow brighter in the face of the strange effect.
Percy pressed on, his arms shaking as he summoned a colossal whirlpool in the air that drew in debris and Nemesis's shadows, then snapped his hands shut and wincing as his power dwindled and the area froze.
He made up for it by rushing and slashing at her thigh with Riptide. She faltered, her scale tilting wildly to compensate, her body shuddering from the wound that followed.
She swiped her hand and was forced to make another barrier as the kid darted in once more, landing a glancing holy punch to the barrier that formed behind her back despite Percy's internal frustration.
The detonation disrupted her balance only slightly, holy flames licking at her robes and forcing her to channel more power to extinguish them.
Percy rushed forward, summoning multiple blasts of water around him to intercept her counterattack, while also sending a wave to push the overly enthusiastic kid away.
Percy pulled more water, forming it into a massive arm that mirrored his movements.
Percy shattered her reforming scale with a concentrated blast of pressurised water, the effort making his head pound, veins standing out on his forehead, his vision narrowing from the strain.
Percy didn't waste time and capitalised, driving Riptide toward her chest in a real strike.
She deflected, but barely, her breath coming heavier now.
"For a Demigod to have such power." She sighed. "I suppose a child from one of their lines was always considered impressive."
She frowned at Percy, her head suddenly snapping up to the sky above. A hint of fear and trepidation entered her eyes as she seemed to sense something amiss.
More specifically it was in the vague direction of the orange dome Percy knew was Kai's battle.
She sent them one last look, promptly backing away and vanishing in a flash of dark light, her departure sending a final ripple through the air that uprooted stones and bent trees.
Confusion pervaded his mind.
The battle had been going on from the start. Why was she suddenly so wary?
It was right after this thought that Percy's legs gave out almost immediately.
He caught himself on Riptide, using it like a cane, his vision swimming.
That had taken everything he had. Maybe more. His body felt like it had been run through a blender, every muscle aching, blood trickling from cuts he hadn't even felt during the fight.
"Percy!" Annabeth was at his side in an instant.
"I'm fine." He definitely wasn't fine, but he managed a weak grin through the pain. "Just... remind me not to pick fights with goddesses on an empty stomach next time."
Then his expression sobered as he looked over at the two newcomers.
The golden-haired one was breathing hard, staring at his own fists like he couldn't believe what he'd just done.
The female exorcist had collapsed against a tree.
"You two okay?"
Another explosion lit up the sky.
They all looked up.
The battle above Mount Tamalpais had intensified. Orange light clashed against gold and something else, something Percy couldn't identify. The shockwaves were getting stronger, each one pressing down on them.
Percy clenched his fist, attempting to gaze at the two battles but failing at the sheer speed and level of power that was being thrown around.
Such a level of power...
His desire to grow once more flared up. The desire to protect one of his closest friends and the shame at having been the one to bring him here.
-END-
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