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Arrogance might be tamed by a humiliation. But in some case, a humiliation will only make the arrogant even worse.

Chapter 56 - Loyalty and Betrayal

Killer and Alexis looked up to their enemy, while Gaia, Alcana, Adrasthea, Taranis, Lemuel, Ira and Manticora also took position in a circle around the powerful demoness. Or better, goddess: she was a twisted product of technology, magic and dark arts, powered by the essence of mighty fallen Gods of the past and by a cold-fusion power core capable to pump out immense amounts of energy for the whole of Eternity. Sikanjal had been engineered to be indestructible and bare of any weak point. She was meant to charge her way through any attack, undamaged, and destroy each and every enemy with her tremendous power.

The monster stood in front of them, facing them fearlessly, an arrogant grin on her features, as her seven shields floated in front of her, forming a circle.

"Aim for the tail. It is the only thing remotely resembling a weak point... if nothing else, because it seems to contain a huge block of Soulstone and the power core." Gaia whispered, the Goddess standing at Killer's left side, her eyes glowing a soulless white as she looked at the enemy with mounting, evident battle lust.

"I don't think she can actually re-generate the Soulstones, so if we shatter a few, her power should diminish permanently." Ira's voice added, and Killer nodded imperceptibly to signal his understanding.

Manticora, however, bitterly warned through her gritted teeth: "It is not easy to shatter a Soulstone. They are believed to be pretty much indestructible."

Alexis, however, snorted contemptuously at that, her eyes flashing with power as she said: "Let me give one of them a squeeze and I'll show you how indestructible they are..." She closed one gloved hand into a tight, powerful fist, and then she was off, sprinting forwards with amazing speed, her shape becoming blurred before she simply vanished, too fast for even divine eyes to catch... And Killer advanced himself, swinging Wyvern down from the shoulder and slashing it downwards in a vicious cut. Sikanjal didn't bother to dodge, only grinning up at him as her shields floated forwards and surrounded him, dark lightning shooting from one to the other to form an impenetrable shield of electricity.

Killer snarled as Wyvern began to rattle violently in his hands, the handle kicking like a wild horse into his hands and making his thick fingers bleed as he leaned into the attack, stabbing the blade down in the middle of the shield.

Immense energy tried to blast him backwards, and electricity surged up his sword, up his arms, and burned his body with incredible violence, smoke coming out of his mouth with each breath... but as the electricity gripped into the blade, it turned almost into a supernatural arm, which tried to rip the sword out of his hands, and Killer grinned.

He had expected it.

It all happened in perhaps one second. Killer let his sword be seized, then he roared and arched his back, enormous muscles bulging with power as he swung Wyvern upwards, dragging the energies with it, dragging the shields through the air and breaking a large breach into the otherwise impenetrable barrier.

Immediately, Sikanjal's eyes widened in surprise and she looked upwards to see Alexis leaping onto Wyvern's thick blade and from there shooting against her, smashing her way through the shield as Killer slashed his sword violently, and sent lightning bolts arching inwards towards the demoness.

Sikanjal snarled and thrust out the palm of one hand, blasting forth with pure, crushing force. It crashed into Killer with a loud rumble of thunder, slamming him backwards and sending him crashing back-first into a broken cliff, enormous chunks of stone exploding in every direction as Killer crashed through, grunting in pain as he landed on his back and rolled a couple of times before kicking himself up into a crouch.

Alexis, however, grinned viciously as she pointed her own hand against the demoness, sending the dark lightning up to her, wrapping her into ropes of electricity which burned through flesh and muscle, before the goddess swung out a turning kick straight into Sikanjal's face, loudly snapping her vertebrae as the demoness was blow backwards by the force of the blow.

Sikanjal howled in fury as she shot through the air like a rocket, the demonic goddess swinging his arms upwards, her fingers making a rising gesture which sent psychic power rampaging all over the battlefield, immense cracks loudly snapping open into earth and stone as immense slabs of rock were ripped out of the ground and shot upwards, one thick, enormous slab tilting over to form a wall in front of Alexis.

The ligeress only grinned at this, lowering her muscular shoulder and ramming her way through two hundred feet of stone like she would through tissue paper, before she roared and thrust her arms forwards, gripping with her psychic powers into the massive rocks and boulders and hurling them like meteors against Sikanjal.

Thousands of tons of rock and dirt rushed against Sikanjal as she backflipped to a midair stop, snarling in rage, and she lashed out furiously with her mind, crumbling the enormous slabs of stone into dust, as her shields rushed back into place, forming a barrier which easily burned into vapor the fragments of stone which still rushed forth.

Gaia stepped in, snarling as lashed out her fist towards the sky, an earthquake rattling the whole First Sky as the very rocks of the insides of the planet obeyed to her order, shooting upwards into a massive series of sharp, diamond-tipped spikes which rushed towards Sikanjal to trap her, but the floating shields around the demoness swung into a new formation, relaying each other's beams of lightning to form a spherical barrier.

Taranis's spear smashed into the barrier an instant later, turning into a beam of otherworldly energy which came crashing down through the clouds on impact, but even this powerful beam was repealed, the burning energy washing over the sphere and rushing past it, shooting towards the horizon.

Even the columns of massive, sharp diamonds rising from the ground failed to break inside, as they were chopped in halves as soon as they touched the dark, terrible energy... but Gaia roared and redoubled her efforts, growing a tower of dark lodestone and diamond which rose two thousand feet into the air, wrapping around Sikanjal and trapping her... before Alcana breathed white, incandescent fire over it, melting lodestone and diamond like they were butter, the supernatural flames seeming to burn Reality itself as Killer stared in amazement... and as diamond and lodestone mixed in a glowing, incandescent paste, Gaia thrust a hand forwards with a snarl, and sent a icy, freezing mist up over the mountain, which instantaneously solidified the burning cone of molten materiel into a sharp tombstone of a toughened alloy of stone-metal which was far harder than diamond and far heavier than lodestone. So monstrously heavy and tough, in fact, that it began to sink deep into the ground, pulled down by its own immense weight, cracking the normal rocks apart like biscuits.

"I'll send it down to the center of the goddamn planet...!" Killer snarled, twisting his fingers together before ramming a tomahawk blow on top of the dark prison, pile-driving it deep into the ground as a whole, huge cliff crumbled, the earth cracking apart and magma eagerly licking over the sinking block of super-alloy, which quickly vanished in the depths of the continent.

Ira snarled as she pointed her hands down, her control of fire and magma allowing her to quickly solidify the liquid fire into hard brimstone, sealing the massive crater shut... but even as she guided another wave of magma over the crater, to solidify in another layer of stone, she tensed and snarled in shock, feeling an immense power shoving up from beneath, charging upwards to break free.

"It won't work, she's breaking out...!" Ira shouted, warning the others just a moment before the brimstone shattered into a million sharp, glass-like daggers which shot upwards against them all. Killer swung the huge blade of Wyvern in quick slashes in front of himself, shattering the deadly daggers with the thick, heavy flat of his blade, while Alexis glared down at the black spikes and simply shattered them into dust with her psychic wrath.

Alcana and Gaia were also easily able to batter the daggers back, while Adrasthea snarled as she sent a beam of focused energy blasting forth from her shield, the incandescent force washing over the brimstone slivers and turning them into dark vapor. Ira used Arctica to safe herself, shooting upwards into the sky with a mighty flap of her wings and using her icy katana to form a freezing mist which solidified around the dark blades, turning them into heavy blocks of brittle ice which she easily punched into fragments.

Manticora used her twin Khukri swords to fence back the wave of daggers aiming for her, snarling as she also slammed a roundhouse kick into a group of blades, shattering them into tiny pieces with the strength of her armored, thick hoof, before Lemuel held his hammer high above his head and conjured lightning bolts which shot down like lasers from the sky, erasing the brimstone projectiles in whole groups.

Killer looked down in horror as the crater that Ira had just sealed exploded upwards, shooting slabs of dark stone high into the sky as Sikanjal ripped through the ground with no apparent effort, laughing loudly as her eyes flashed with cruel, murderous cheerfulness, her flexible talon-fingers buried into the two halves of the prison of super-alloy, that she had cracked in half like an egg. It was like she was lifting two mountains at once... And they aren't made of normal stone, but of lodestone and diamond...

Taranis shot forwards, Aegis held up in front of himself and his long, powerful spear glowing with terrible energies as he charged down right through the wave of brimstone daggers, smashing into them fearlessly as they crumbled on impact against Aegis and his armor, snapping apart like fragile glass.

Sikanjal only floated up into the sky, grinning widely as incandescent magma leaked down her body, leaving it undamaged, as she so easily ripped out of her supernatural prison, before she roared as she threw the two massive halves of the metallic cone against her enemies.

She threw the first half straight in front of herself, laughing as she aimed at Taranis, but the God of War only snarled, lashing out with his shield and slapping it down into the super-alloy block, sending it tumbling downwards, falling like a meteor through the sky as the god ran over it and then launched himself against Sikanjal.

The other mountain of supernatural alloy was thrown against Alexis, the ligeress shoving her hands out against it and slowing it down to a sudden stop in midair, her fearsome power gripping into the solid block... before Alexis floated higher up into the air, eyes flashing as she looked down at Sikanjal and Taranis as they battled: at the right moment, she would send the massive stone rocketing into the enemy.

The mountain-sized block of otherworldly-steel that Taranis had slapped away like a pebble was now falling towards Orion, its shadow already covering the whole island. Gaia was the first one to notice, shouting out a warning as she flew towards the threat. Killer heard her voice, and immediately turned towards Orion, his eyes widening in shock. He flapped his mighty wings and dived towards the fortress, snarling in horror as images of destruction crossed his mind. He remembered the kids playing between his legs the very first time he had arrived in Heaven, he remembered walking through the town at the base of the fortress with its three enormous towers... and he slammed his wings once more, putting all his strength in the movement, propelling himself forwards even faster, wincing a bit as he broke the sound barrier and overtook the falling mountain, before twisting on himself to dive under it. He slammed his fists up into the solid steel, his fingers glowing with eternal, supernatural fire as he cracked the stone-metal apart, sinking his hands deep into the material and gripping into it tightly, before he shoved upwards with all his strength and flapped his wings to hover to a stop, snarling in both exertion and fear as he felt the weight and momentum dragging him forwards still, as the towers of the fortress rushed towards him, the distance diminishing so quickly that he could now see the faces of the angels on top of the bastions, and his gaze crossed several pairs of wide-open, terrified eyes.

He made a grimace as he realized he wasn't going to stop the fall in time, preparing himself for the impact against the middle tower, but he flapped his wings again, and pushed backwards with all his strength, slowing down to a full stop, just feet away from the battlements.

Killer let out a deep breath of relief, closing his eyes for an instant, before reopening them to look down at an angel in chainmail armor who trembled violently, staring up at him with a gape, eyes moving slowly up to stare at the mountain that the god held up over his head.

The angel swallowed thickly, then fell back on his ass with a shiver, hugging his spear tightly... and Killer grinned stupidly, both relieved and amused, before he turned around, aiming for the center of the Middle Sea, far away from the island. Killer took a breath, then he arched his back with a roar as he threw the gigantic block of super-alloy, putting all of his monstrous strength into the throw, to make sure that it would crash into the sea at a safe distance.

The people of Orion stared in terror at the unbelievable feat of strength, as the mountain smashed into the sea, far away over the horizon: immense tsunami waves were thrown up, rippling towards Orion, but Killer's throw had been formidable: the mountain had crashed down at so many miles of distance that, by the time the waves reached the coast, they had lost most of their size and destructive power. They still smashed into the tall cliffs hard enough to rattle the island, and they washed over the breakwater barriers around the small port: Killer and Orion's population watched nervously as a huge wave washed up into the bay, slamming the boats together with such violence that many of the smaller ones shattered into broken planks of wood, while a large trireme was carried over by wave and lifted up onto the quay as the water flooded the streets closer to the port before withdrawing... smaller waves followed for several more minutes, but the island was safe, and the angels and benevolents cheered their savior, raising a chorus of "Amon Ra, Amon Ra, Amon Ra!"

Killer, however, immediately shot back up into the dark sky, to see Taranis battling Sikanjal: the goddess was grinning, floating backwards lazily, her arms crossed as she laughed, her eyes glowing brilliantly as she lashed out with blades of psychic wrath which shot through her barrier and forced the God of War to swing his spear up in defensive swings.

Taranis was incredibly fast and elegant, his spear knocking back every assault, and stabbing forwards in each opening, no matter how fleeting: even though Sikanjal fought at the speed of thought, Taranis moved thrice as fast, his spear slapping away the blades of psychic force and then stabbing once, twice forwards before the demoness could think of the successive assault. It was amazing, but even that wasn't enough, as the barrier held up by the floating shields seemed simply impenetrable.

Taranis snarled in fury at that, stabbing his spear right through one, but the weapon only vanished into the black hole-like mirror in the middle of it as Sikanjal laughed in his face... before Taranis grinned and slammed Aegis against the barrier, Medusa's eyes staring right into the demoness's ones.

"Laugh, bitch. It is the last time you do it." Taranis snarled, grinning viciously as the body of Sikanjal stiffened and stone began to spread rapidly over her features, turning her into a statue in a mere second... And Alexis grinned as she sent the massive mountain of super-alloy shooting down through the sky, right against her.

The statue, however, burst apart in a cloud of dust, and Sikanjal laughed even harder, rolling over in midair and hugging herself as she looked invertedly up at Taranis, teasing him mercilessly: "You poor thing... the perfect, ultimate warrior... Ah! Incapable to even scratch me." She paused, grinning up at Alexis and looking at the incoming comet of super-steel, blasting it into pebbles with a vicious shockwave of pure force. "You are all way below my level, boys and girls. You should just surrender and beg me to be merciful."

Taranis snarled furiously at that, but the dark goddess only made a gentle shoving gesture, and the god was slammed backwards by a sudden blast of psychic force which cracked his thick full-plate armor, making him groan in pain as blood burst out of his mouth.

Killer and Alexis charged forwards with matching roars, the huge male slashing Wyvern down through one of the shields, trying to cut it in half, but again the blade only passed through the mirror, vanishing past it and passing through without causing damage... before a ghostly blade of energy slashed out from another of the shields, forcing Alexis to leap backwards out of the way, Wyvern's blade almost chopping through her. Wasn't it for her precognition, she would have been torn in half.

Killer had no time to move back himself, as the ghostly image of the tip of Taranis's spear stabbed outwards from the shield he had just gripped, and it pierced right through his wrist, blood exploding out of the wound as Killer let out a roar of agony... but his hand continued to squeeze on the mirror-shield, his monstrous physical power fighting against the waves of dark energy to rip the shield out of the network which formed the barrier.

He grinned through a snarl of rage and pain as the shield began to crumple like paper in his hand, and Sikanjal looked at him in shock, slamming her palm forwards and sending a blast of force slamming into his chest.

Killer recoiled, vomiting blood as his ribcage collapsed inwards, the pain making his head pound as his vision turned black for a moment... but he only pulled with even greater power, his biceps bulging explosively. Sikanjal hit him again, snarling as she thrust forwards with both hands, but the huge male did not let go, even as he howled in pain and his chest was blown open, blood splattering all over the barrier, his beating heart visible through torn muscle and incinerated flesh.

Alexis stared at this in horror, eyes opened wide, fury mounting through her body as she seized two of the shields herself, and she pulled on them with all of her fearsome power, eyes glowing with indescribable rage as she snarled: "Get out of that birdcage, bitch, and I'll beat you down to a mush."

"If she doesn't get out... we'll drag her out ourselves." Killer coldly snarled, and both females turned towards him, easily feeling that something in him had changed... he had further relaxed his restraints, and his eyes now glowed with murderous sapphire light, the horrible wound in his chest glowing a bright white as it healed at amazing speed, while thick, golden plate armor spread over his masculine pecs, covering them entirely, hiding the wound as they replicated perfectly the imposing, godlike profile of his musculature.

He dropped Wyvern, the huge blade floating in the air silently as his hand wrapped around another shield instead, and he leaned forwards with a snarl as he squeezed this between his fingers, his eyes burning as he glared down at Sikanjal while the dark steel groaned loudly, crumbling like paper as he crushed both out of shape, bending them upon themselves like pieces of cheap tin... before he roared as he pulled backwards once more, trading a grin with Alexis.

Sikanjal stared in surprise as the two gods made such display of their fearsome physical power, their muscles bulging explosively as they ripped four of the seven shields out of the network, crushing them into useless scrap metal and throwing them away.

"Impressive, Lord Killer and Lady Alexis... but useless. Now please, get off the shield!" Sikanjal hissed, and she sent the remaining shields off, breaking the formation as they floated to form a triangle around the two ligers... before a supercharged beam of dark energy shot from shield to shield, crashing into the two gods, burning into their flesh, making their bodies smolder as they roared in agony... but Sikanjal's eyes bulged in surprise as both ligers pushed forwards nonetheless, shoving against her corrupt, destructive energy, undeterred by the pain.

Killer leaned into the beam of energy, his body spasming violently as smoke came out of his mouth, his insides churned by the agonizing feeling of flames burning his nervous system apart... but he forced his arm back nonetheless, and he lashed his fist out with all his strength, ramming through the barrier and hitting Sikanjal in the face, the mask of dark steel covering her features crumpling inwards violently as she was knocked flying down from the sky, falling like a meteor towards the ground beneath.

Even as she fell, however, Sikanjal's face quickly healed, even her mask rebuilding itself quickly as she coldly shoved a hand upwards, energy crackling loudly across the sky as she caught Killer with a blast of psychic wrath, slamming him upwards as his spine loudly creaked, his body arching painfully as he felt like giant hands were seizing his limbs and pulling them off towards the opposite sides, making him roar in agony, fangs gritted tightly as blood leaked out of his ears, his mouth and nose, and even rolled out in thick tears from his eyes as he nearly lost consciousness.

Alexis snarled as she blasted the remaining shields into slivers of dark steel, shaking the dark energy off her body as her vision cleared, her mind throbbing with pain but her spirit and body still filled with power and loaded with rage. She flapped her mighty wings and shot forwards in a burst of supernatural fire, instantaneously breaking the sound barrier and still gaining speed as pursued her target, her eyes tracing every single moment of the battle: the combination of her energy-precognition and of her sheer, superior senses gave her an unmatched situational awareness, and allowed her to follow the events as if they happened on mild slow-motion.

She saw Manticora and Diana flying against Sikanjal, Ira assaulting the dark goddess frontally as Manticora feinted a side attack before spinning elegantly in midair to swing behind the demoness, aiming for her tail.

Sikanjal only grinned as Ira charged at her, two long, black blades pushing out of the top of her wrists as she swung her arms outwards to meet Arctica and Vampira, the swords impacting together violently, sending sparks of pure energy flying through the air.

Sikanjal's swords glowed crimson as they superheated, lengthening as they turned into deadly blades of semi-liquid plasma, the incandescent materiel biting into the holy blades of Ira, even as Arctica glowed with her freezing mist, the two powerful females gritting their fangs as they battled with both their supernatural abilities and with their tremendous physical strength.

Ira snarled, leaning into the attack as she expertly let Arctica slide down along Sikanjal's own blade, covering it in ice... but it immediately melted away as the dark goddess slashed it hard against the Seraphim. Ira parried by swinging Vampira upwards, but the force of the blow was enough to slam her backwards, the ghostly glow of her energy-absorbing Katana flickering in and out of reality as Sikanjal's fire nearly melted the blade.

"You are just a traitor, Ira... you betrayed Hell, and you will pay for it." Sikanjal hissed, grinning viciously as she leaned forwards and swung both of her wrist-blades in a crossing cut, the fellow cobra female ducking under the blow and slashing Vampira out, cutting a deep gash in the demoness's powerful abdominals.

"It was Hell that betrayed me!" The Seraphim roared, letting herself fall back through the air as Sikanjal swung down her blades. Ira moved with all her speed, experience and elegance, escaping the blow and flipping under the goddess with a flap of her wings, shooting back upwards to assault her back. Arctica swung out and bit deep into the dark goddess's neck, immediately sending ice spreading all over her throat...

But Sikanjal was unfazed by the wounds, only turning back to face her with a snarling grin, looking darkly amused: "You are strong and fast, Ira... but you are still nothing compared to me. You are just a weak traitor."

Ira snarled, shocked at the sight of Arctica's ice cracking apart and melting away, as Vampira failed to draw any energy from the monster's body, the blade repealed out of the demoness's form almost with contempt, as the wound sealed shut, healing almost instantaneously.

"I don't care about Heaven and I don't care about Hell. They have both long ceased to be what they were meant to be... they are corrupted and lost." Ira replied coldly, her eyes flashing with power as she crossed her blades in front of her chest, parrying Sikanjal's stab, before she swung both katana swords again, lightning fast, trapping one of the demoness's own blades and trying to rip it off her wrist. "I only care about Lord Killer, my Master and my family!" Ira added, snarling as she thrust forwards with all her strength, burying both of her blades through Sikanjal's neck and opening her jaws wide, breathing a hurricane of fire over her face.

Manticora came in from the back, but Sikanjal seemed to have eyes on the back of her head as well, as she easily battled the zebra back, using her massive, mechanical tail, as the enormous cruel halberd blade on the tip slashed out against the Seraphim.

The Zebra twisted out of the way, spinning and slashing one of her Khukri blades against the glowing halberd, only to snarl in shock as the blade was chopped in half like a biscuit, the metal melting away instantaneously as the crimson energy passed through it. The muscular female threw the ruined sword away with a snarl, flipping to the side as Sikanjal slashed her halberd-tail against her even as she battled against Ira, the zebra gritting her teeth as she narrowly avoided the deadly spikes jutting from the mechanical appendage... before these suddenly grew longer, arching upwards into ragged, cruel blades of dark steel and bone, forcing Manticora to blast winds of terrible force against the thick, heavy tail, slamming it away from her.

Several blades still had enough time to cut into her powerful body, ripping deep gashes in her arms and legs and chest, the female hissing in pain as she retreated out of range and made a shoving gesture with her hand, sending mighty gale winds rushing into the dangerous tail, shoving it up until she could see the glowing crevice running down its length. She charged forwards and seized into the tail just as Ira sent hellish flames washing over Sikanjal's face, the zebra seizing the base of the heavy, massive tail and pulling on it with all her strength, even as she used the other hand to stab her Khukri blade savagely down into the fissure, snarling as the sharp tip bounced against the solid core of Soulstone.

"Pathetic." Sikanjal laughed, the flames seeming to have no effect at all on her as she arched her back and then leaned forwards in the flow of magma and fire, savagely headbutting the Seraphim's muzzle, Ira stumbling backwards with a snarl of pain and shock, before she grunted as she was blasted downwards by a tremendous shockwave of force which nearly tore her in half. She struggled against the immense power shoving on her chest, feeling her ribs snapping apart and coughing blood... but even her muscular, strong arms were bent painfully back, her fingers broken by the immense pressure as she tried to shove back, before she crashed into a cliff, howling in agony as the sunk deep into the hard stone, and massive boulders fell down upon her, the whole cliff collapsing on top of the Seraphim.

Sikanjal whipped her tail out to the side, shaking Manticora off as she turned to darkly grin at the zebra from over her shoulder, the dark goddess holding up a hand and making a crushing gesture which made Manticora scream in anguish as an invisible but immense energy clamped down on her, crushing her with tremendous violence, making her armor crack loudly as it crumpled inwards, the female struggling to rip the plates off her as the fragments bit deep into her flesh, her bones shattering in multiple points before she crashed hard into the ground, ripping open a deep crater.

Alexis was on top of Sikanjal at the same moment, slamming her booted foot into the muscular abdomen of the dark goddess, who bent forwards with a racking cough, her spine bending painfully as she was almost torn in half, the impact strong enough to send a shockwave tearing through the sky, blowing the clouds away from them.

Alexis's knee rose with savage power, slamming into Sikanjal's face with enough force to crack her armored mask, before Alexis flipped backwards and lashed out her foot to hit under the demoness's chin, knocking her flying backwards in a broken heap... before the ligeress swung her legs up and wrapped them around Sikanjal's neck, squeezing her throat in the vice of her muscular thighs as she flipped again, pile-driving the dark goddess down from the sky and smashing her head-first into the ground.

The impact was monstrous, shattering the ground as huge cracks tore their own over the landscape, enormous slaps of stone shifting under the power of the blow... before Alexis leapt back to her feet with an hungry, merciless snarl, stomping upon Sikanjal's large breasts as she bent down and shoved her hands in her face, blasting golden, terrible energy straight into the demoness's features, at point-blank range.

Killer looked up in amazement from the crater in which he had sunk, staring as Alexis's burning energy was pumped out in a massive, blazing beam which filled the world with supernatural, blinding light. The ground under the goddess's feet crumbled apart, the fragments blown up into the air and then crushed into dust by the shockwave of force coming from the blow as a huge region of the First Sky simply ceased to exist, cracking apart and then collapsing into the depths of the planet as golden, burning energy came erupting in blades of light from underground.

Alexis roared, and her voice echoed above every other noise on the battlefield, filling every head, rattling every country, as the unbelievable power of the goddess sent waves of energy rippling through the sky. Killer was left staring at the destruction, as the immense beam of energy smashed a miles-wide hole into the Wastelands, crushing Sikanjal deep inside the depths of the planet. It looked like Alexis's blast would tear all the way across the planet, from side to side... but then, after a few moments that felt like an eternity, Alexis stopped her attack, floating over the bottomless crater, panting hard, a grin on her beautiful features.

Please, tell me that she is gone... Killer thought, not wanting to think that anyone could survive such a discharge of burning, destructive power. Even Gaia looked astonished as she walked towards the edge of the immense black hole, looking down it and seeing only the darkness far below. There was no telling how deep it was... and Killer looked up silently as several massive boulders which had been lifted high into the air by the sole shockwave fell back down to earth, smashing down with all their weight.

Alexis floated backwards, away from the crater, panting but grinning, her eyes glowing with power, and she dropped down on the ground, landing on her feet easily and then going down to a knee as she took a deep breath, her arms spasming a bit: the aftermath of such tremendous discharge of energy.

"Is she gone...?" Taranis asked, his voice filled with impatience and anger as he landed near Alexis, walking towards her... but the goddess said coldly: "Stay back, and tune it down, boy. I don't like you using that tone with me."

"How dare you..." Taranis hissed, before Alexis made a grimace and added with a growl: "Later. She is not gone yet."

Alexis leapt high into the air, flapping her wings once and shooting up towards the sky, barely moments before a massive blast of psychokinetic force erupted from underground, breaking a huge slap of land off the crust of the planet and sending it flipping, overturning it.

Taranis was knocked off his feet as the ground literally revolted under his feet, but before the immense slab of stone could crush him, a massive war chariot pulled by huge, muscular horses made of dark flames shot down from the clouds and rushed by, the God of War easily jumping into the wagon as it shot out from under the ominous shadow.

A moment later, the massive block of stone crashed down onto the blackened, corrupted Meadows, but Alexis was able to get out in time from beneath it, turning to face the grin of Sikanjal, who flew out of the crater fearlessly.

She looked horrible, with the front of her body burned into gore and unrecognizable, blackened pulp, but her eyes had already reformed, and everything else was regenerating at incredible speed.

"Does this make the message clear, Gods...?" Sikanjal asked, her grinning jaws only made of bone and dark steel molted together, her skull exposed. But as she spoke, flesh, muscle and scales quickly reformed, leaving no sign of the devastating damage she had just suffered. "There is nothing you can do about it, my poor weak creatures. I'm invincible. I can't be stopped."

Killer pushed back up to his feet, climbing out of the crater he had ripped open in the ground when he had fallen down from the sky, the huge male gritting his fangs at the incredible pain cursing through his whole body, even as his wounds healed rapidly and his bones snapped back together as he rose his strong arm slightly and extended his fingers, Wyvern docilely floating up into the air from where it had fallen and flying back to his hand. Sikanjal was tremendously powerful, and she was making an easy job out of them all... she purposefully allowed them to hit her, even, knowing that nothing would damage her. She looked simply invincible, easily regenerating her body after each blow, shrugging off even the worst of wounds with a laughter.

As he walked towards her, her flesh reformed, her muscles filling up again as her thick, solid scales covered the regenerated parts, quickly leaving her fully healed, as she took on a easy ready position, holding up her wrist-blades.

"They also said the Cetus monsters just couldn't be killed, before we arrived." Alexis coldly said, as she drew her own sapphire blade, Blue Vixen, which glowed brilliantly as the blade was charged with the energies of the muscular female. Killer nodded silently as he reached her side, Wyvern balanced easily on one shoulder as his own wounds progressively healed, a thick golden chest-plate protecting his front, as further plates of solid armor covered his groin, hips and back.

"Ah, the Cetus. Such cute little creatures." Sikanjal cheerfully replied, shaking her head slowly and looking amused as she added: "I'm sure you must have understood already that the Cetus that scared you all so much, were all controlled by me. And so are the Basilisks. They are just dumb animals... aggressive if they feel threatened, but normally they would never want to venture close to the surface of the Middle Sea. I invaded their minds, and turned them into living weapons of war. I've effortlessly taken up over the whole of the feared Middle Sea, indeed." She paused, grinning widely. "So if that is supposed to impress me, sorry, but it really does not work."

Killer snarled angrily at that, but he had indeed long guessed it. Alexis, at his side, only made a slight grimace, before they both took position, their blades held up in front of themselves.

Killer charged forwards first, dragging Wyvern's tip on the ground before he slashed it in an upwards cut, snarling as Sikanjal replied with her twin wristblades, before he leaned into the attack and quickly turned the sword to slap the demoness's blades upwards with the vast flat of his own.

Sikanjal grunted in surprise, then in pain as Killer swiftly swung Wyvern downwards, the blade chopping into her legs and nearly tearing them off as she snarled in rage, swinging her blades down against his head.

Alexis's blue sword slammed into the glowing blades of the demoness, energy crackling in lightning bolts from the impact point before the ligeress tore to the side with her sword, and pulled the golden trigger in the handle, sending a long burst of high-power armor piercing rounds exploding out of the barrel built in the spine of Blue Vixen.

Sikanjal roared in pain as the large bullets tore across her face, sending up slivers of metal and bone and unrecognizable gore as they tore into the eyes of the demoness... before the cobra howled in rage and opened her deadly fangs wide. Alexis winced, as the ghostly image of what was to come flashed in her mind, but Sikanjal gripped into her body with a tremendous psychic hold, and the ligeress didn't break free in time, as a murderous, pitch-black fire, liquid and sticky, erupted out of Sikanjal's mouth.

Killer backstepped with a snarl, but before he could fly away from the fire, he saw that Alexis was struggling against psychic restraints, and he threw himself over her, his hands blindly reaching for the invisible but powerful energies as he gripped into them and pulled with all his strength.

"Go away!" Alexis shouted, but the huge male for once ignored her, refusing to get away without her... before he groaned breathlessly as the fire washed over the both of them, Alexis gritting her fangs for an instant before she howled in agony, trashing violently, as the unholy darkness washed over her, even as the huge male hugged her tightly and tried to shield her with his own body.

Alcana stared in horror as Killer's huge arm was burned away almost entirely, flesh and powerful muscle consumed by the dark fire, until the bones came into sight, and his mane burned away as well, his back devastated by the flames as he was consumed by the terrible heat.

The goddess of love felt her legs trembling with horror and rage as Killer's wonderful eyes burst into liquid, and she stared breathlessly as Alexis was similarly burned, her face and chest hungrily devoured by the unholy, supernatural flames, her eyes melting down, before somehow Alexis and Killer found the strength to break free of the psychic ropes, and the huge male flapped his burning wings once, propelling the both of them out of the burning inferno.

Alcana charged forwards without even noticing, tears rolling down her cheeks and a roar of disbelief, fury and despair mixed together coming up from her chest, booming out of her jaws, even as her ears refused to perceive any noise... other than that of Killer's wings flapping, before they fell off and burned into ashes as the two ligers collapsed on the ground.

Alcana dragged up her massive halberd, her eyes fixing on a laughing Sikanjal, and she roared again, this time sending white, draconic fire erupting forth in a swirling, devastating hurricane.

Sikanjal only pushed out one hand, the flames drawn to it and helplessly compressed by immeasurable psychic force, as they were pumped into a growing sphere, as blazing as a new sun...

Taranis's chariot dived down from the sky, and the God of War hurled down a massive spear, which Sikanjal did nothing to avoid. It slammed against her, but bounced off as the dark goddess turned her own scales into a dark, impenetrable metallic alloy which wasn't even scratched by the Godblood tip of the polearm.

The spear burst into flames an instant later, a massive explosion of crimson and black energy crashing into Sikanjal, but she seemed unfazed by it, her eyes glowing murderously... before the ground around her rippled as thirty-feet tall warriors, carrying massive cleavers and circular shields of stone and clad in full armor, ripped up from the surface of the planet.

Taranis's mighty servants, the Stone Soldiers, assaulted the demoness and swung their massive swords down, ramming them into her... but her scales were simply impenetrable, and she didn't even budge, as the massive cleavers shattered apart like cheap toys.

Alcana and Taranis stared in disbelief as Sikanjal then slowly spun on one foot, grinning sharkishly as she sent the white fire she had captured from the Goddess of Love washing out over the massive warriors made of solid rock, melting them into magma.

Ira struggled up to her feet, climbing out of the crater her fall had torn open in the ground, and she roared as she channeled her eyes into the magma, shoving her hands together to send the incandescent flow of liquid fire washing over Sikanjal. The Seraphim glowed with energy as she super-heated the magma, turning into blazing, white-hot plasma, even as blood burst out of her deep wounds and she coughed hard, her vision clouded up by blood and exhaustion... before Sikanjal pointed a finger against her, and Ira was knocked backwards with a scream, sent crashing into the ground by a fearsome blast of psychokinetic force as the dark goddess walked fearlessly out of the cloud of plasma.

Manticora stumbled as she forced herself back on her feet, panting hard and looking with horror towards the smoldering, ruined bodies of Killer and Alexis, before she appealed all her energies and rage, aiming against the dreaded enemy as she lashed out with both arms, blades of hurricane winds lashing forth and slamming into the dark goddess, pushing her backwards slightly as sparks flew from her metallic scales... but Sikanjal inexorably moved forwards again, and sent Manticora crashing against a cliff with barely a flick of her gaze, the Seraphim screaming as rocks and boulders fell upon her as the whole cliff collapsed upon her.

Alcana slashed her halberd down into the ground, sending a crack shattering the Wastelands, before the ground exploded upwards under Sikanjal's feet, as a massive ridge erupted upwards, propelling the demonic goddess towards the sky before it exploded in a hail of massive stone spikes which slammed into Sikanjal's body, savagely ramming into her from all directions... before Alcana thrust her free hand outwards and sent hooked ropes of crimson energy shooting against Sikanjal. The energy passed right through the impenetrable scales, as the hooks tried to grasp right into the demoness' emotions before Alcana sent burning, cruel energy up the ropes.

Sikanjal, however, only laughed as she walked onwards, licking her lips slowly as she hissed: "You won't achieve much... my only emotion as of now... is my triumph!" The dark goddess roared, laughing with cruel glee as she sent her own energies down the ropes, making Alcana stiffen with a groan of agony, her eyes glazing over as she was almost overwhelmed by images of destruction, torture and death, as Sikanjal overloaded her brain with disgusting, bloody images of how she planned to tear Killer apart, piece by piece... before piecing him back together as nothing but a slave, a toy for her lustful urges. And then images of Alcana herself, hanging from meat hooks pierced through her body while Sikanjal hungrily chewed on her intestines... and more, unimaginable images of anguish and terror.

Alcana stumbled backwards, groaning in psychological as well as physical agony, her mind throbbing with pain as her vision darkened and lost definition, things blurring before her eyes, before she snarled and focused for long enough to dispel the energy forming the ropes. The relief was instantaneous, and as her senses returned to her, her eyes bulged at the sight of Sikanjal now mere feet away, the terrible dark goddess rising a long, crimson wrist-blade as she prepared to execute the goddess of Love on the spot.

Alcana backstepped with a snarl, her hands gripping tightly into the heavy, solid pole of her huge halberd, before she swung it in an upwards chop. Sikanjal, however, moved with amazing speed, slamming a finger against the thick, heavy blade and forcing it backwards with such incredible strength that Alcana grunted in pain, feeling her arms blown sideways as the halberd nearly broke out of her grip.

She allowed the violent momentum to push the halberd outwards, letting it slide between her fingers before she turned the violent moment in a swift, elegant overhead chop, putting her formidable strength in the blow... but Sikanjal's eyes glowed, and it was suddenly like an immense, strong hand had seized her and was crushing her in a vice grip. She was lifted up off the ground, and she groaned in agony as her bones loudly cracked, the halberd falling out of his fingers and clanging on the ground loudly, before Sikanjal licked her lips with a hungry growl, and stabbed her crimson wristblade straight through Alcana's abdomen, piercing her from side to side, blood spurting out of the wound as the dark goddess began to slowly, torturingly slowly saw the dragoness in two, the blade slowly tearing its way up towards the goddess's chest.

Alcana howled in pain, struggling with all her power against the tremendous force keeping her prisoner, but Sikanjal only grinned wider... before Gaia stomped in, her height increased to over thirty feet, her eyes burning with indescribable rage, the snow leopardess' fangs much larger than usual and dripping with drool as she charged at the cobra and tackled the dark goddess hard into the ground.

Alcana was freed of her prison, but as Sikanjal fell over, the long crimson blade tore its way out of her body, cutting sideways until it burst free from her hip, leaving the dragoness gasping and trembling hard as she fell on her knees and then collapsed backwards, a long rope of her intestine hanging out of the terrible wound.

Gaia stomped onto Sikanjal's abdomen and dropped her knees on her chest, roaring in her face with animal, unrestrained fury: the sight of Killer and Alexis burned down to the bone had driven the meek, shy goddess into a terrible rage, and now raw, devastating power pulsed out of her in shockwaves which rattled the land and sent ripples through the sky.

"You. Will. Pay!" Gaia snarled, huge curved claws pushing out of her wrists and knuckles as she slammed a huge, powerful fist down into Sikanjal's face, before she lashed out again, and again, and again, each blow sounding like an enormous explosion as the ground cracked and shattered, the two females sinking deeper and deeper into the ground with each savage, world-rattling punch.

Each tremendous blow carried with itself the full might of all the Elements, as immense lightning bolts came crashing down from the heavens, mixed with hurricane winds which rushed down to drill into Sikanjal, the cold air as sharp as razors and as solid as diamond, powerful enough to rip deep swirling tranches into the ground. The wind was loaded with massive daggers of ice, clear and deadly, which rammed down into the target with savage power, and from the depths of the planet, enormous waves of water washed up in tsunamis, forming a column of water which rose as high as the clouds, while magma and fire erupted upwards in the middle, while stone spread upon Sikanjal's body with each blow, encasing the dark goddess in thick, enormous coffins made of solid rock.

The power of the goddess of Nature was fearsome, and Taranis, Adrasthea and Lemuel didn't dare to get any closer. Taranis circled over the battlefield in his chariot, with Seth keeping the massive fire-horses under control, whipping them without mercy... while Lemuel and Adrasthea rushed down on the battlefield, mercifully rescuing Alcana, Ira and Manticora, lifting the badly wounded warriors away from the destruction of Gaia's rampage, and giving them some of their own energies to help stabilizing the three, with particular attention for Ira and Manticora, who were incredibly strong, but always Seraphims, not divinities. They did not have a regeneration capability even remotely comparable to that of the gods, so they were by far the ones exposed to the greatest risks.

Gaia smashed her fists down on Sikanjal, pounding the demoness savagely, as the world was rattled by the power of the Elements raging with each punch, the snow leopardess leaning forwards with another roar of hate and fury, before Sikanjal's eyes snapped open, glowing crimson, and the dark goddess looked upwards with a grimace, spitting out a small gout of blood and broken nanomachines as she snarled: "Is this all you have to give me?"

Gaia's eyes widened in shock, and then the goddess snarled as she was hit by a huge blast of psychic force, blades of crimson energy shooting at her chest... but the flowers covering her breasts became brimstone and thick, cruel vines lined with steel thorns leaking with poison, which wrapped around the glowing daggers and dispelled them, hungrily drinking all the potent energy away.

The goddess of Nature latched her hands together and smashed them hard down into Sikanjal's chest, the tremendous blow breaking the First Sky into a broken, shattered wasteland of islands floating over rivers of magma surging through the cracks, but the dark goddess only grunted in what sounded more like masochistic pleasure than real agony, her incredibly hard shell of armored scales barely pierced, with gashes all over her body but little real damage.

"Again...!" Sikanjal teased, laughing cruelly as she licked her lips. "Again...! I can regenerate and recover from any wound you can tear into me... and I can even make myself invulnerable..." Sikanjal cackled with cruel glee, grinning widely as she calmly stood up, even as Gaia's hands turned into black metallic alloy and came down again, smashing into her head again and again. But nothing seemed to work, the dark goddess simply shoving up against the world-shattering blows, before she vanished from the spot, Gaia's huge armored firsts passing through the ghostly image of her as she vanished... and she teleported up into the air, on Gaia's right side, at the height of her head.

The goddess of Nature turned around with a snarl, but Sikanjal lashed out her own armored fist, smashing it into Gaia's cheek and sending the much taller female crashing onto the ground, skidding several hundred feet on her back as she coughed out a dark spat of blood and broken teeth. Even as she fell, though, Gaia flexed her powerful body, and tentacles made of twisted, thorny vines rushed out of her arms, wrapping around Sikanjal and squeezing into her with brutal, savage power, the thorns lengthening and thickening as they drooled with acid venom, while the vines entirely cocooned the demoness, thorns pushing their ways into her eyes, vines shoving into her mouth, invading her throat, even her ears as Sikanjal was lifted high into the air... Before the dark goddess flexed her own mighty musculature and incinerated the vines with just a thought, laughing as she landed back on her feet, looking at her own hands.

"I'm even stronger than I thought..." Sikanjal purred, grinning widely even as Adrasthea, Lemuel and Taranis, riding with Seth on his war chariot, all charged against her. The courageous lion was the first to strike, the huge male roaring as he swung his golden, massive warhammer straight into the demoness's face... her scales cracked slightly and her head bent to the side as a massive beam of holy light crashed won into her from the sky, but she swiftly spun on her bare foot to seize in midair a huge arrow shot at her by Taranis with his godlike, crimson longbow.

The demoness seized the arrow like it was a fly, even though it was charged with divine energy and traveling at insane speed... she was able to stop it dead motionless, a crack of thunder echoing loudly across the sky as her fingers stopped the God of War's force, before she twisted to the side and stabbed the arrow hard down into the chest of Lemuel, knocking the lion god staggering backwards with a roar of pain.

Adrasthea charged forwards next, stabbing her spear forwards with a roar, but Sikanjal vanished from the spot and teleported behind her, wasting the beam of white energy that shot from the polearm, before the dragoness turned around with a swift slash, exploiting the long cutting sides of the sword-like blade to cut down into the enemy's arm, just below the large pauldron... but even as lightning crackled in bolts from the clash, the scales of the dark goddess absorbed almost all of the force, seeming really invincible, even as Adrasthea easily dodged a lazy but deadly punch from the demoness and stabbed her spear straight up one eye, before she was slammed backwards by a psychic blast, groaning in pain.

"I'm not done, arrogant bitch." Gaia hissed, even her voice changed, made cruel by her fury, as thorny vines and dark stone formed a thick, impenetrable armor over her body, her fingers turned into long, flexible talons as further spikes and blades pushed out of her forearms and down along her spine. Nature radiated all of her tremendous power, long blades of cruel steel pushing out of her joints whenever she moved one arm, but Sikanjal did not seem impressed, only beckoning for her to advance.

"Come, Gaia... you can help me discover how truly powerful I am."

Killer coughed hard, rolling onto his side a bit as he vomited blood and gore, repressing a shiver of horror and fear as he felt the liquids rolling out of his mouth even from under the chin, where flesh and skin and fur should have been. He did not dare feeling his back, knocking that it was mostly annihilated and feeling all too clearly the agonizing regeneration of bones, flesh and muscle. What scared him the most about himself, was the darkness, as he realized that he was blind... and he remembered immediately, with a groan of agony, that his eyes had been burnt away.

He tried to focus his energies up towards the eyes, hoping that it would help... and after a moment, his eyes began to reform, until he blinked to try and clear the blurry, confused and faded image around himself. His heart beat like a drum as he remembered fully what had happened, and his mind filled with a moment with the image of Alexis burning in his arms... before he looked down, under his body, to see her blinking her own just-regenerated eyes, her own body horrendously damaged by the unholy, unstoppable flames. He could see her ribs through huge holes in her chest and abdomen, and he knew that, had he opened his eyes earlier, the sight would have been even scarier... but she smiled at him lovingly, and pushed up to kiss him, biting teasingly at his lower lip as she pushed her tongue into his mouth, seeking his, until he wrestled her eagerly back, invading her own mouth, as he squeezed her tightly against his chest, covering her with his larger body, protecting her as she regenerated her powerful, beautiful body.

"I sure did not imagine that our first kiss, after so long, would be... like this." Killer whispered, pushing his muzzle against her, and burying his face into her golden hair, breathing her familiar, delicious perfume. There was also the scent of her battle sweat, but I knew it well, and it only made her even more delicious, especially as her hands ran up his arms, squeezing into his biceps, then sliding up his shoulders, until they wrapped tightly around his neck, pulling him closer.

" You bastard, you did not listen. I told you to get away..." She scolded, but she had a smile on her lips, and there was gratitude in her voice, and endless love, as she gazed at the devastating wounds in his body, knowing that each was a promise of eternal, infinite adoration for her. "Thank you, though... for staying with me." She whispered, licking his cheek, before she brought a hand down from his neck to his spine, caressing his powerful body until she felt the hard muscle and flesh miss out from under her fingers, and she focused her energies there, helping his own incredible regeneration to rebuild his body.

At the same time, she felt his own energies flooding her, and she looked down to see his hand covering a huge, terrible hole burned open in her abdominals.

"Stop wasting your energies on me!" They both said, their voices mixing as they thought, did and said the same thing at the same moment, before Killer nuzzled her with a soft laughter, pushing his muzzle under hers, resting her head on a huge breast.

The damage to his body was fearsome, and the agony was worse than he had ever experienced, but she was in his arms, for the first time in well over one thousand years... it still felt impossible and dumb to even think about it, but it was true. They had been apart for such ungodly-long period... and they had only been reunited in the anteroom of death. Gods, it was a real close call, this time around...

"Lover... how do you feel?" Alexis asked, looking at him firmly, and he knew immediately that the question had nothing to do with their wounds: there was no need, after all, to ask to know that they had never felt worse in their lives.

"She is a monster. Incredibly powerful, and nothing seems to hurt her at all." Killer replied quietly, before he gritted his fangs and snarled: "But I'm angry, not scared. I'm furious... and I want to make clear that no one gets to be stronger than us. We stop her, no matter what it takes."

Alexis listened intently, closing her eyes as he spoke, and slowly, with every word, a grin gained her features as she arched her back slightly, flexing her powerful musculature as she guided one hand to his chest, and one to her own, before she said: "It is exactly what I expected to hear."

Her fingers seized into his thick, powerful muscle, seeking the contact with his masculine, broad chest, but her grip went much deeper than that, as Killer felt her energies reaching out for his own, grapping something deep within himself... before she pulled gently back with her hands, and two glowing chains inscribed with ancient runes appeared over their bodies, wrapped tightly over their chests.

"It is time to step up the game... break my Seal, and I'll break yours." She said, looking calmly up in his eyes and smiling slightly as she easily recognized the shadows of his worries creeping into his expression. "Do not hesitate, my love. Do not doubt of yourself. You are no monster... and you have the Will to do any and every thing you set your sights on."

Killer looked down at her lovingly at that, feeling incredibly touched by her absolute trust... and he leaned down over her again, kissing her lips gently as his hand seized into the chain wrapped around her. The divine energy running down the links burned at his flesh and stung his nerves with blades of pain, but it wasn't enough to stop him: a signal that, despite his worries, they were indeed ready to move another step.

"It's not like we have a choice anyway, if we want to stop the bitch..." Killer muttered, pulling on the thick chain even as he and Alexis looked up past the edge of the deep crater their fall had caused, to stare at the spectacular, fearsome clash of Gaia and Sikanjal.

Gaia was once more proving to be incredibly powerful and full of resources. Each of her blows carried the whole might of the Elements, and now that her body was wrapped into a supernatural armor made of magmatic stone and thick, tough steely vines, she was proving as hard as the mountains themselves.

Sikanjal, however, seemed to be limitless in her energy, speed, durability and sheer power, as she leaned forwards into a slide, stabbing a thick crimson blade through Gaia's abdomen. The Goddess of Nature, however, turned into a shape made of clear water, and the sword pierced through it uselessly... before the water rushed forth in a huge tsunami wave which slammed Sikanjal backwards, before Gaia turned into a long serpent, with a thick, immeasurably long tail made of raging waters which wrapped tightly around the enemy, lifting the dark goddess high into the air.

The demoness snarled as the rushing waves cut with incredible force into her metallic, super-hardened scales, the water flowing with such violence over her body to tear parts of her hide away, scales ripping off as her armor cracked and, amazingly, began to rot and rust quickly, before Sikanjal flexed and hit out with an explosion of psychic force, tearing Gaia's spires apart and sending huge splatters of water raining down on the ground.

Gaia, however, simply changed into a hot, scorching wind, a desert breath loaded with fire, which seized into the evil goddess and slammed her hard down into the ground, before Gaia reformed in her physical form and dived down from the sky, impaling Sikanjal with a huge cleaver sword made of incandescent, liquid magma. Gaia grinned as she shoved down with both hands on the handle of the flaming weapon, the impenetrable outer shell of the dark goddess finally visibly scarred as a white crack opened in the hard scales, before the goddess of Nature roared and channeled her energies down into the blade, causing it to grow and lengthen as it ripped through Sikanjal and pinned her to the ground.

Sikanjal's attention, however, was caught by a golden glow of burning, powerful energies, and she turned to the side to look out to where Killer and Alexis had fallen, her eyes widening as she saw the two ligers quickly healing and recovering from their terrible wounds.

"That's impossible..." Sikanjal whispered, her hand clawing at the ground as she thought of her dark fire: it was Unworld fire, a terribly destructive energy-consuming fire which could burn even a god down into nothingness. The Unworld was the place where every living being met its real end, where everything was consumed down to atomic level, and then even further down to energy level, until all that was left were motes of energy. Unworld essence could burn and consume any and everything, and exposure to such essence would inexorably mean a dramatically poisoning and contamination, which made the wounds impossible to treat and heal. The poisoning, eventually, would turn the contaminated being or even objects into Unworld beings, ghostly creatures capable to absorb huge amounts of energy, destroying even whole worlds and stars before they dissolved... and yet, somehow, there they were: healing under her astonished gaze, as the black, poisoning essence was hungrily torn apart, dissolved and absorbed into the gods' bodies.

"They... that can't be..." Sikanjal muttered, staring at the unbelievable sight of Unworld essence not only failing to absorb something, but being absorbed itself. It was something unprecedented and unbelievable: nowhere, never, had existed someone, god or mortal, capable to do anything even remotely comparable.

"I've been given the capability to open rifts to and from the Unworld, I have been given the Unworld's power of completely annihilating any and everything... how can you do that...? How?" Sikanjal snarled, then turned back to glare at Gaia's face with a howl of fury and disbelief: "How?"

The dark goddess shouted in rage and envy and wonder and fury, her mixed emotions flooding into her mind as she seized Gaia's head in a psychic grip, crushing on the goddess's skull and making Gaia shriek in agony as she was blasted away, falling to the ground with a groan of pain.

Sikanjal punched the flat of the magma-blade pierced through her body, snarling in rage even as she sent the sword exploding in a splatter of liquid fire, before she stood up and walked towards Killer, hissing venomously: "You will tell me how... and I will rip that power out of you... I will take all your power away, and I'll absorb it, and it'll make me even more perfect... it'll make me really invincible..."

It was something no one else had ever even dreamed to be able to do. Everything that died, in the whole universe, always flowed into the Unworld, where it would be broken down into lifeless energy which would, eventually, recombine into a new being or object, something during the endless circle of Creation and Destruction. Nothing and no one could escape the Unworld... Hell and Heaven were a life after the mortal life, but they were only passages, no matter how long, towards the eventual end into the Unworld.

And yet, under her eyes, Killer and Alexis had somehow defeated the Unworld.

"How can you two be so powerful...?" Sikanjal snarled, looking down at the healing bodies with hateful envy. She saw in that the ultimate, the perfect, flawless immortality... well beyond the immortality of normal gods, which were far from immune from the effects of the terrible Unworld. Even more so, she couldn't help but think of the possibilities: if they were immune to the Unworld, and able to absorb even its destructive essence to gain more energy, their power was practically unlimited... She almost missed a step as she daydreamed of stealing them that incredible ability, before opening a rift to the Unworld, where she would have been able to absorb all the energy of the universe. "Growing to be truly limitless..."

Sikanjal licked her lips, dark lust cursing through her veins as she drew nearer and nearer to the two ligers... before two glowing sickleswords slashed down into her, chopping gashes in the sides of her neck as Vesta dived down from the sky and swung her twin blades in a cross, to decapitate the dark goddess.

The cobra glared up into the Seraphim's eyes as Vesta snarled in disbelief at the sight of her blades failing to penetrate through the metallic scales... before the white tiger pulled back one fist, without dropping the handle of her sicklesword, and she smashed her mountain-shattering punch into the demoness's muzzle.

"You won't get any closer to them." Vesta snarled, putting all her strength into the tremendous blow and grinning as Sikanjal recoiled, stumbling back one step as her head tilted backwards with a violent snap... before Vesta growled as the cobra slowly straightened, her muzzle pushing back against the Seraphim's fist.

"And who will stop me...? You sure won't." Sikanjal coldly said, her eyes glowing crimson as she swung up one arm, her cruel talons slashing against the white tigress, but Vesta backflipped and went into a handspring, landing on her feet at safe distance, holding up her sickleswords as she got into a ready position, standing between the dark goddess and the healing bodies of Killer and Alexis as the two ligers slowly regained force and senses.

Sikanjal snorted and shoved a hand out against the Seraphim, striking forth with a focused beam of psychic force, but Vesta only braced herself and pushed her wrists together, opening her palms outwards even as the fingers remained wrapped around the handles of her sickleswords. The Seraphim focused her own psychic energies, and leaned into the blow, her powerful muscles bulging as she acted as a mirror, deflecting the tremendous force rushing against her.

Killer looked up with admiration as the queen of Seraphims valiantly resisted, even as she was slammed backwards, her feet digging trenches into the ground as she braced herself... before she roared as she shoved forwards with all her strength and power, and she managed to move a step forwards, tearing through the psychic blast and sending her own energies smashing into Sikanjal.

The dark goddess recoiled with a snort of surprise and irritation, but her impenetrable scales absorbed the worst of the damage, before she charged forwards with a snarl, slashing out a deadly punch made up by her balled talon-fingers, the thick dark gauntlet bursting forth with deadly spikes.

Vesta swung under the attack, moving with such grace and speed that Killer once more wondered if she and Alexis came, somehow, from the same bloodline, before the queen of Seraphims used one of her curved blades to hook savagely into the extended arm of Sikanjal, tearing it hard outwards and opening a wide way to strike the other sicklesword straight through the demoness's chest, the crescent-shaped blade chopping down between the cobra's large breasts.

Killer pulled harder on the chain wrapped tightly around Alexis, but with his body still busy trying to regenerate from the tremendous wounds, it was hard to break the sturdy Seal. He cursed in his mind whoever of the Gods had been to originally place that Seal in place, and he flexed his just regenerated bicep with a low growl, even as his eyes stared at Vesta dropping to her knees and bending her spine gracefully backwards to avoid Sikanjal's blast of black Unworld fire.

The Seraphim was still hit by a few thick droplets of the goo-like substance, and she hissed in pain as they immediately started to suck her energies away, even as she slapped away the junk as best she cold, even while dropping onto her shoulders to donkey-kick Sikanjal under the chin, forcing her jaws painfully closed, the dark goddess chocking on the deadly stuff for a moment, before her lower jaw was almost dissolved.

Killer grinned a bit at that, glad to finally see some actual damage on the monstrous enemy, even as his mind registered the most important details his eyes managed to caught: Sikanjal was not at all an Unworld dominatrix, and not even a Broken or a lesser Unworld being: in her jaws, he had spotted the sparkling of sophisticate miniaturized devices, one on each side, which opened a small rift to the Unworld in her mouth, allowing a blast of black essence to rush out as she dragged it forth with her psychic might.

It was a tremendous weapon, one to avoid at all costs.

Sikanjal stomped her foot down with a snarl, but Vesta shoved her hands into the ground and threw herself forwards, shooting right between the dark goddess's legs: as the cobra's foot smashed into the ground and sent a ridge of cruel spikes of stone erupting from the dirt, Vesta planted her feet into the ground behind her, and sprung back to her feet, hacking backwards with both of her large, deadly sickleswords.

The sharp points of the curved blades chopped into Sikanjal's sides, but once more they failed to penetrate the tough hide of the goddess, who turned around with a snarl of fury as her steely tentacles extended from her sides and wrapped around Vesta's weapons, snaking down the blades and towards her arms.

The queen of Seraphims immediately pulled back with all her force, even as she focused her energies down the blades, turning the already-glowing metal into an incandescent, bright crimson super-heated material.

Vesta slashed the superheated blades down against the tentacles, but even so, the blades only managed to sink a few inches through the powerful appendages... before Gaia charged in again, and a water-laser shot through them, chopping the thick tentacles into pieces which fell to the ground withering and trashing in agony, like they were living beings.

"Queen-bitch is good." Alexis grudgingly admitted, her eyes following the battle even as she pulled the thick chain slowly apart, the enormous links beginning to give in to her tremendous might even as the Seal wrapped around Killer glowed angrily, trying to burn her hand off. Her expert eyes had followed every move made by Vesta, who was once more proving why she was the queen of Seraphims.

Killer nodded, smiling a bit in amusement, despite the moment, despite the pain... before he looked up in shock as a shadow came upon them, Diana landing at his side with a flap of her six wings.

"Diana, no, it's too dangerous here, get away!" Killer exclaimed, but the seraphim gently pushed a finger against his lips as she checked over his and Alexis's terrible wounds, moving her hands over the deep gashes and murmuring healing spells which greatly speeded up their regeneration.

"Shut up and let me work, I'm not going to leave you alone in this mess." Diana said, calmly but with absolute determination, giving him a loving smile as she saw him opening his mouth to protest again. Alexis looked up at the Seraphim as well, biting her lower lips and wanting to tell her to ran away, to get to safety, warning her that it was way too dangerous... but she knew all too well that Diana would never accept to leave Killer in such sorry state, no matter the risks, so she only murmured a thank you, instead.

Diana smiled at that, before she turned back to Killer and announced urgently: "We managed to break through the demons' lines, and tear a corridor open to get the angels out of the pocket. William, Taurus, Vicky and Gabriel are still there, fighting to keep the corridor open. Hell's forces have been assaulting us constantly to close the gap again. But we did it."

"You did it." Killer corrected, smiling up at her with affection as she beamed with pride, blushing visibly, even as her eyes continued to glow with their amazing ruby color. "You did as I asked, and it wasn't easy. Thank you, Diana. And Vicky did her own, finding Gabriel and getting everyone to retreat. You two have saved a lot of lives today... and kept Heaven from losing the war."

"We only survive this battle if you stop this... this monster, though." Diana said, looking out to Sikanjal with a grimace as the dark goddess smashed a kick into Gaia's chest, knocking her backwards with a roar of pain, while Vesta battled against a barrage of daggers of crimson energy, maneuvered in the air by the demoness's power.

The Seraphim looked back down over the terrible wounds on Killer's body, and as she did, her eyes widened as she stared at the liquid, thick goo infesting one of the wounds: it was impossible for her, the best Healer in all of Heaven, to mistake that goo for anything other than Unworld essence that it was, and she gaped a bit at the sight of Killer's body actively eating away the black substance, absorbing it, removing it, as the wound worked to repair itself, as the god's body regenerated.

"Killer..." She looked over to Alexis's own body, and she quickly spotted the same thing happening, making her even more amazed. "Killer, Lady Alexis... you seem to be absorbing Unworld essence."

"Yes, they are!" Sikanjal roared, shoving her hands out and blasting both Gaia and Vesta away from her, sending the two powerful warriors crashing into exhausted, bloody heaps on the ground, as the dark goddess stomped her way towards Killer and Alexis. "And it's an ability I'll rip right out of them!"

Diana looked upwards with shock, even as she rushed out more of her remaining energies, giving away her own life force to try and heal both Killer and Alexis as quickly as she could, while the two ligers snarled and redoubled their efforts, trying to break the Seals apart.

"Run away, Diana!" Killer urged, but the Seraphim continued to pass her energy into his body, until she gave a weak groan, her hands ceasing to glow with healing power as she stood up and drew out her swords, the blade of the smaller one bursting into flames as she got in ready position, courageously facing Sikanjal.

The dark goddess paused, grinning viciously and then bursting into laughter as Diana walked against her, while Killer snarled in frustration, pain and fear, knowing that the black tigress had no hopes against the dark goddess. Tears rolled down his cheeks at he and Alexis gritted their fangs and pulled on the chains, desperately trying to get the boost in power that they needed to get back in the fight.

"Get out of my way, doll, before I shatter you." Sikanjal teased, waving a finger at Diana to send her away... but the Seraphim didn't waver, even though she repressed a shiver of terror.

"I'm going nowhere." Diana replied, her voice cold and firm, before she shot forwards with a flap of her wings, slashing her swords down against the cobra. Sikanjal easily pushed out with a finger, slamming it in the flat of the largest sword, cracking the blade in half like a twig, before she slashed the same finger against the cutting edge of the flaming sword, knocking it backwards.

Diana snarled, tossing away the broken sword and forming a small sphere of bright, burning holy energy, while she swung the other sword in a downward cut, slashing it against Sikanjal's thigh. The blade bounced back against the incredibly hard scales that the goddess had hardened into an impenetrable armor, and the flames erupting from the enchanted sword washed uselessly over the body of the demoness, who only absorbed the fire and teasingly breathed: "A demoness of Lust normally has a very good feel with fire, bitch... didn't they tell you during training...?"

Diana growled in a mix of anger and frustration, shoving the sphere of holy energy right into the goddess's face, grinning as it exploded in a massive blast of white light... but even this left Sikanjal unfazed, as the cobra laughed cruelly and teased: "But perhaps it is just because you are merely a second-rate Seraphim."

Diana snarled, lunging forwards again, slashing her sword up against Sikanjal's throat, and when the dark goddess struck the blade with her own wrist-sword, the seraphim grinned and quickly swept down, twisting around the demoness's side and chopping her sword down hard into the base of her tail.

The blade bit into the thick black metal, and Sikanjal hissed in shock and rage, while Killer grinned at that, impressed and delighted by Diana's speed and prowess. The black tigress had never been a warrior in her mortal life, and even in the afterlife she was primarily a Healer, and someone all too keen on avoiding conflict and only helping the others, not fighting them: nonetheless, Diana had wanted to prove herself to Killer's eyes and to all of Heaven, getting into the endless and grievous training course to become a Seraphim. She had learned to survive on even the most dangerous of battlefields and she had learned to be a skilled, deadly fighter. It hadn't been easy, but Diana had overcome all the challenges and difficulties and she had become an excellent all-around warrior. Calling her "second-rate" was tremendously offensive to her... and tremendously untrue.

Sikanjal lashed out with her enormous, heavy tail, trying to chop in half the seraphim with her huge halberd, but the black tigress elegantly leapt over the swing and stabbed her large sword down into the back of the cobra's neck.

Once more, though, the blade bounced off, sparks flying from the impact as the metal slid down on the thick scales, barely scratching them, before the cobra turned around, her talons glowing with dark energy as she swung them in a wide cut. Diana once more evaded the assault, throwing herself backwards and then slashing her sword down on the dark goddess's wrist... but Sikanjal ignored the attack and grinned viciously as she hissed: "I have no time to play with you."

Diana's eyes bulged wide as she felt a distinct variation in the energies in the air, but she had no time to do anything as Sikanjal's eyes glowed with power and the goddess swung a hand upwards, sending a blade of psychic force ripping into the tigress' abdomen. It hooked into her belly and tore upwards with tremendous violence, lifting the Seraphim into the air, before her whole abdomen and chest were sliced open, blood bursting out in a thick splatter as Diana fell backwards with a weak gargle, chocking on her own blood, one hand weakly reaching for her devastated front, pushing her own intestine back inside as she trembled violently.

Killer found himself screaming, staring at the black tigress with eyes wide open, all the air in his lungs rushing out as he howled his pain and rage. He didn't even know what he was screaming. His senses kind of abandoned him, time moving on slow motion as his eyes fixed on the agonizing seraphim... before a doe with bright white wings shot into his vision, rushing against Sikanjal.

Oh, no, no, no... "Vicky, no!" Killer shouted, his hand tearing desperately at the Seal on Alexis's chest, as the blonde ligeress did the same on his own chain, her own eyes darting from Diana to Vicky, a snarl on her beautiful features.

Sikanjal laughed cruelly as she easily avoided the simple stab of the spear Vicky was carrying, the goddess laughing mercilessly as she effortlessly ripped the weapon out of the doe's hands, snapping the thick pole in half and throwing the pieces away with a snort. "And who are you, bug...?"

Vicky did not reply, only hovering backwards as she drew out her sword, the sweet female looking horrified, yet determined not to waver... but Sikanjal was way past her possibilities, the goddess easily seizing the blade in her hand and forcing it back towards the doe's chest, stabbing the much smaller, much weaker female with her own sword.

Vicky's eyes bulged wide as she let out a groan of agony, slumping as Sikanjal wrapped a strong, huge hand around her neck and lifted her easily high into the air, grinning viciously as she teased: "Your sluts obviously like you a lot, Lord Killer... but they aren't much of an obstacle. Who is this bug, huh...?" The goddess paused, then she roughly seized a leather poach hanging from the doe's belt, ripping it easily off and opening it with a snort of amusement. "Oh, an artist...! Look, Lord Killer, she drew of you a lot..."

Sikanjal turned the pouch upside down, sending several scrolls falling to the ground, each carrying a wonderful drawing of Killer, of Alexis or of both. Killer saw a wonderful image of he and Alexis kissing, and in another they were standing back to back in the middle of a battle, their swords cutting down monsters and demons into pieces, and then sketches and portraits, close-ups of his face, pages upon pages of hands, eyes and other details she had been working upon, exercising to get even better at arts. But Killer already found each and every image simply wonderful: the drawings were better than any photo could have ever been. The lines were perfect, the shadows added depth to every detail, and the expressions were so alive that it looked like the characters would walk out of the parchment in any moment.

"Such skilled little girl, aren't she...?" Sikanjal cruelly teased, chocking the doe mercilessly as the young female cried out silently, tears rolling down her cheeks... before she let out a breathless sob as the dark goddess stomped on the drawings, twisting her foot upon the sheets and crushing them into fragments and dust. "She sure put all her talent and love in each and every sketch." Sikanjal laughed, before she reached up with her hand and pushed her talons against the doe's wide, loving eyes. "Who knows if she will still turn out such masterpieces once I make her blind...?"

Killer's stomach twisted and groaned in disgust, fear and hate as he stared in horror, things beginning to happen incredibly fast as he let out a deafening roar of fury, Alexis matching him with her own as they tugged hard on the Seals and the chains finally snapped.

Killer met Vicky's gaze one last time, the doe's cheeks streaked with tears but her lips somehow finding the strength to rise in a little smile as she looked at him as if to reassure him that it wasn't his fault and that she did not regret anything, before Sikanjal's talons pushed in and burst the doe's eyes into blood and gore, the terrible claws of the goddess sending Unworld essence spilling into the sockets of the female's skull, as Vicky let out a howl of misery and agony, her body spasming violently.

As it happened, the broken links of the two snapped Seals fell to the ground and vanished, and as Killer and Alexis both charged forwards with roars of terrible, indescribable rage, their bodies healed and regenerated almost instantaneously, energy glowing all over their powerful forms as new, massive wings of flame burst out of their backs and fire and magma erupted from each of their footprints as new, immense power flooded their veins.

Sikanjal had barely enough time to guess, more than understand, what had just happened in front of her eyes, and she dropped Vicky to the ground, backstepping with a gape of shock and fear as Killer, now easily more than fifty foot tall and still growing, stomped in front of her, cracking the ground into fine dust and causing magma to erupt in thick waves from the depths of the planet. His enormous fist lashed out with incredible speed and tremendous force, smashing into the cobra's whole upper body, from belt to forehead, and Sikanjal howled in pain and shock as her scales, which had proven invulnerable to mostly anything the gods had been able to throw at her, shattered and fell off in slivers of broken, molten metal, his punch carrying the power and heat of exploding Suns.

The dark goddess was smashed flying through the air, her body bonelessly crashing into the waves of the Middle Sea and vanishing down below, and Alexis rushed behind it, charging fearlessly forwards as the non-waters of the ocean pulled apart to let her enter, the sea opening up a dry corridor of land as the strange non-liquid rose into two immense vertical walls.

Killer dropped to his knees between Diana and Vicky, however, tears rolling down his cheeks as he put a hand over each of them, using his energy to stop the bleeding and regenerate the tremendous damage as he said over and over: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." His gaze darted from one female to the other, as his hands glowed with white, holy energy which flowed into the two girls, healing their wounds, sealing Diana's abdomen closed and stopping the blood from flooding out of the devastated face of Vicky.

"Why didn't you get away...? Why did you come...?" He asked, swallowing tickly at the sight of the empty, bloody sockets in the doe's face, especially as he realized that they were filled with poisonous black goo that prevented him from healing the damage and made it absolutely impossible for new eyes to ever reform, much as he tried to create them for her.

"Not your fault..." Vicky weakly whispered, but she smiled up at him, even as she turned her head blindly, trembling hard and holding up a hand, seeking for Killer's body. The huge male seized her hand in his own and squeezed firmly, lovingly, kissing the back of her hand as he promised: "We will find a solution, Vicky, we will... you... you will see again."

"I trust you. I know I will." Vicky replied, and the confidence in her voice made Killer swallow thickly as he promised to himself that, yes, in a way or another, he would give her eyes back to her. It just amazed and touched him so deeply that she could, even in such a terrible moment, voice her most complete trust, before she said meekly: "I'm so sorry, Lord Killer, for the drawings... I had been working on them ever since you asked me, when we first met in Orion. I..." Vicky sobbed, her voice failing her as she repressed a shiver, bloody tears somehow still leaking out of her destroyed eyes, making Killer cry in rage and sadness, even as he shook his head firmly, replying: "I saw them... and they were awesome. You did far more than you should have... and... thank you. Thank you so much." He hugged her tightly against his chest, passing more of his energies into her... and with the other arm, he hugged Diana as well, the black-furred tigress looking at him tenderly, smiling with love and somehow finding the strength to kiss his thick, powerful chest.

He silently kissed her hair, squeezing her tightly against himself as he traced a finger down the terrible gash which had almost torn her in half down the middle, sealing the wound and beginning to regenerate her body.

As he did so, however, his eyes were drawn towards the Middle Sea as the smoke-waters boiled and rippled, enormous columns of water rising against the sky as gigantic explosions ripped apart the depths of the ocean, flashes of golden, sapphire and crimson energy shining through the waves.

Alexis was down there, battling Sikanjal in a terrifying clash... and Diana, following his gaze, kissed him gently again and said quietly: "You have to go, Killer. Leave us, and go help Alexis... we will make it through."

Vicky sobbed quietly, hugging his warm, huge body needingly, but after a second she nodded and then added in a whisper: "Please, Lord Killer, make sure she pays."

"It's a promise." Killer replied, not hesitating in the slightest as he gently guided both females back down to the ground, delicately laying them on their backs as he looked at them with affection, his eyes waving them the goodbye his hands refused to show. "I'm sending you both to Eaglenest. They will take care of you in there... and I'll see you in the castle later."

They smiled weakly, exhausted but not tamed, and he looked down at them with admiration, as well as love, impressed by their courage and dedication... before they vanished from the spot as he thought of Eaglenest and teleported both females into the fortress, the only place of Heaven that Killer still considered safe.

He sighed, tiredly and sadly, as he dropped his hands down and stared for a brief moment at the ground where the two girls had been until a moment before, his eyes tracing the shapes of large stains of blood on the scorched earth, before he stood up with a low, tremendous growl, turning towards the Middle Sea and charging against it, flexing his enormous body and letting his newly-freed power flood his veins, spreading all through his mighty form as he tried to focus on the battle ahead and, admittedly, on the exhilarating feeling of omnipotence he felt now that his force had undergone such a sudden, immense growth. Breaking the Seal had been like smashing down a dam, releasing a monstrous amount of water to flood the valleys below, washing everything and everyone away. It was unbelievable, as the ground shattered and crumbled under his feet, the First Sky rattled by his step alone as magma and fire erupted through the cracks, exploding upwards in columns and blasts, the crust of the planet shifting and breaking apart under his toes. He grinned a bit to himself as he pictured in his mind the effects that he could have on the planet had he just stomped his foot on the ground, if his mere step was enough to cause such devastation, before he ran straight through the ravaged, ruined beaches and into the dark, smoke-like ocean, the image of Vicky's empty, bloody eye-sockets flashing painfully in his mind once more as he dived underwater.

He immediately realized why no one wanted to ever touch the non-waters of that cruel, warped ocean: it was like liquid despair. The sight of Vicky's shattered eyes was followed by images of Alexis burnt into a blackened husk, and images of Diana, dead and covered in her own guts as they spilled out of her torn-open body, as physical pain added itself to the mental agony, as he felt like thousands and thousands of spikes were pushing into his body, piercing through him from all sides.

He only snarled, though, using his wings to propel himself into the depths, into the darkness which was turned into bright daylight every few seconds as, somewhere in the distance, ahead of him, Sikanjal and Alexis fought their vicious clash. Somehow, his mind fought off the tremendous images of death and despair, sealing them out, and his body hardened even further, his powerful muscles flexing and bulging with power as his body automatically reacted to the vicious assault... before he managed to think straight again, and he thought of the torpedoes that his submarines, back home on Earth, would employ in battle: they were sophisticated and incredibly dangerous as they flew underwater, literally, pushing two hundred knots fast while the normal torpedoes would only go sixty or so. He knew why that happened: the torpedoes that the old admiral "Sandy" had designed were so fast because they did not swim in water, but flew in the air, propelled by a rocket. They were super-cavitation weapons, shaped to form a large bubble of air around themselves as soon as they were fired out of the torpedo tubes of a submarine. Moving into the bubble, without touching the water, they were able to move far faster due to the lower attrition and to the possibility of employing not a propeller but a true rocket to push them against the target.

He thought of how nice it would be to be able to move in the same way... and somehow, his mere thought was enough, as a large bubble of atmosphere formed around him, pushing the non-water away from his body and allowing him to breathe and fly like he was out in the open sky.

You are a God. You really are a God. Black Killer tiredly reminded him, his bored voice coming from somewhere deep within Killer's mind. You can Create. You have almost endless possibilities at hand. You can make reality quake with just one thought... yet you continue to think like a useless Mortal.

Killer didn't even bother telling him to shut up, only doing his best to ignore the voice and shove it further deep down in some obscure corner of his brain, before Black Killer went silent by himself.

The huge male shot down towards the depths of the ocean, Wyvern balanced on his shoulder as the explosions of the clash between Sikanjal and Alexis rumbled through the sea all around him, before he snorted as he saw a massive Basilisk serpent, complete with the armored structure built on its several hundred feet long back. Killer knew that it had to be filled to the brim with a new wave of demons, but he only grinned, shooting right towards the mouth of the gigantic creature, the monstrous being whipping its long body from side to side, rushing forwards to eat him in a single bite.

The Basilisk had not even time to open its mouth, lined with countless rows of deadly fangs, as Killer dropped his shoulder with a grin and launched himself forwards, smashing into the huge teeth and cracking them into dust and slivers, ramming into the serpent-like creature and shooting down its whole body, tearing his way out through the thick body, blasting a hole in it and sending a dark cloud of blood and gore spreading into the water as the Basilisk let out a gargle of agony and swiftly sunk, the dead body almost torn in halves as Killer merely continued to fly on his way to his real target, only allowing himself a brief grin at the ridiculous ease with which he had slain such immense, dangerous creature, now that more of his power had been released.

His focus became total as he drew nearer to the big fight, the water boiling outside of his little personal atmosphere with the force of the explosions, as a golden flash illuminated the bottom of the ocean for miles, before he snarled as he sensed Sikanjal incoming... before seeing her smashing back-first into a submarine mountain in front of him, the dark goddess sinking deep into the stone and sending a huge crack breaking in half the tall spike of stone, huge boulders falling to the bottom of the ocean in landslides as the whole thing collapsed upon her.

He immediately held up a hand, forming a large sphere of golden energy that he threw hard down into the pile of rubble, snarling in rage as he looked at the massive explosion that followed, continuing to fly forwards and knowing full well that it would take far more than that to stop the monstrously powerful female.

Alexis arrived from the left, the muscular female surrounded by her own little atmosphere and moving at incredible speed, propelled by her powerful wings. She only slowed down for a fleeting instant, enough to raise a hand in a little wave to him, winking to him with an accomplice smile before she dived directly into the explosion, Blue Vixen at the ready.

He followed her in, before his senses screamed at him and Alexis made a cutting gesture with her hand, shooting out to the side as they broke the formation right before immense boulders and spikes of stone were shot at them from within the cloud of dust and smoke.

Killer dodged the first, then lashed out his fist against another, crumbling in into gravel and dust, before he snarled as he swung his arm out in a wide cut, sending a huge crescent-shaped blade of incandescent energy shooting down through the stones and the dust, the immense force shattering every rock at once before it tore a semicircular scar into the bottom of the ocean.

"Up here, dear!" Sikanjal teased, as she emerged from the cloud and shot towards the surface, her eyes flashing as she pointed a finger at him, and more massive Basilisks swarmed against him from the dark depths, the beasts biting savagely towards him and drooling mindlessly.

Killer let the first come close, then twisted to the side and swung Wyvern down from his shoulder, chopping the long snake body in half like it was a twig, before he smashed his hand down, slamming the heavy pommel of his sword's handle into the skull of another Basilisk, cracking it into fragments as the head of the beast crumpled inwards, the pressure of the miles of water burdening upon them doing the rest of the job, crushing the creature like it was nothing more than a worm. Killer had already slammed his free hand upwards, his palm connecting with the open lower jaw of another basilisk lunging at him and crumbling the maw into dust, sending the sharp fangs piercing into the monster's own palate and even all the way up into the brain, making the monster howl in agony with a piercing sound, similar to the lament of a whale, while Killer slid under the massive mass of the serpent and stabbed Wyvern upwards into its body, slicing it in half from head to tail.

Alexis lunged against Sikanjal, shooting past the tangle of Basilisk bodies revolving around Killer, her eyes glowing with fury as she reached out with a psychic grip and chocked Sikanjal, dragging the dark goddess towards her as she stabbed Blue Vixen forwards, before the cobra sent a wave of steely tentacles stretching out of her arms, the massive appendages reaching out to wrap around the ligeress. Alexis chopped the first with Blue Vixen, setting a second on fire with just a look as she slashed out with her own powerful tentacles, massive black-fleshed creatures with cruel mouths lined with vicious fangs, the long bodies jutting with rows of deadly spikes and metallic blades.

Her monstrous tentacles wrapped around Sikanjal's own, biting into even the steel bodies and tearing chunks out of them, as a tangle of long, battling appendages formed around the two warriors, before Alexis flexed her powerful body with a roar, and her tentacles whip-lashed, tearing the cobra's own steely tentacles apart, ripping it off her body as the ligeress grinned widely and pressed home her advantage, lunging forwards with Blue Vixen flashing and sending bursts of huge, armor-piercing bullets smashing into the cobra's face.

Alexis's tentacle-beasts shot forwards and lunged against the demoness's body, biting into it savagely, sinking their cruel claws into the dark goddess' limbs, and Sikanjal screamed in shock and pain as the teeth managed to pierce through her thought-invulnerable scales, and they all hungrily devoured pieces of her body, ripping her apart before Alexis herself rammed into the cobra, sinking Blue Vixen all the way through her chest as she smashed the demoness down against the bottom of the ocean, pinning her to the rocks beneath.

Sikanjal howled in fury and agony, opening her jaws to once more fire a hurricane of Unworld Essence, but Alexis punched her hard into the face, cracking her jaws into sharp fragments as she snarled and leaned down over her, dragging Blue Vixen upwards, cutting her chest open and drawing near to her throat. "I'm not going to let you do that again, bitch." Alexis venomously hissed, before she slashed her sword in a wide cut, Sikanjal's eyes widening in shock one moment before the blue blade ripped up into her throat and tore the cobra's head right off.

Alexis grinned at that... but it turned into a snarl of disbelief and rage as Sikanjal's loose head smiled teasingly up at her, before the eyes glowed crimson and the ligeress was smashed backwards by a tremendous blast of psychic force, blades of solid energy ripping deep gashes in her abdominals and chest. The dark goddess laughed, as nanomachines weaved themselves in thin ropes which stretched from the neck to the bottom of her head, reconnecting it and dragging it back to its place as her throat quickly regenerated, the female leaping up to her feet and cracking her neck with a grin.

"Sorry, Lady Alexis, but even decapitation is useless, with me... there is just nothing you two can do. Breaking your Seals has made the both of you much stronger, but I continue to be invincible. Hit me all you want... but it won't force me down."

"I just need to beat you harder!" Alexis replied, snarling as she lunged forwards for a new attack, but this time Sikanjal was ready and on alert, and the dark goddess stepped forwards with a wide slash of her arm, a huge crimson blade pushing out of her wrist and cutting effortlessly through Alexis.

Sikanjal grinned, but the ligeress tore in two halves neatly, without a drop of blood coming out... and a moment later she vanished in front of her, breaking down in motes of blue energy.

"Wrong target!" Alexis growled, grinning mercilessly as she appeared at Sikanjal's side, smashing the goddess's face with a turning kick which sent the cobra crashing on the ground several hundred feet away, her body bouncing off and rolling bonelessly, before Alexis appeared over her and stomped both her feet down in her face, crushing her hard down into the rocky seabed.

Before Sikanjal could react, Alexis kicked her hard into the side, knocking her rolling, before the ligeress seized the heavy, mechanical tail of the cobra as she rolled over. Sikanjal snarled furiously as she felt her tail pulled hard, as Alexis dragged her into the air, above her head, the ligeress beginning to turn around on her feet as she built up momentum, before she roared as she threw the cobra hard.

Killer grinned at the sight, seizing the long body of one Basilisk and kicking it into the open jaws of another of the monsters, which remorselessly bit down hard, tearing its compatriot apart before understanding that it was the wrong target. The basilisk pulled back in surprise, terrible mouth wide open... And Killer seized Sikanjal's tail as she shot past him, the huge male roaring as he threw the cobra hard down the throat of the shocked monster.

Sikanjal howled in agony as the massive monstrosity hungrily chewed on her and swallowed, forcing her down multiple circular jaws lined with terrible fangs which ferociously ripped down into her, before Killer roared and arched his powerful back, sending his own tentacle-beasts rising from his broad shoulders. The huge male laughed as the water around him turned dark with blood and gore as the beasts lunged over the remaining Basilisks, tearing through them, ripping them apart, clawing and biting savagely, as one five-hundred feet monster was wrapped up by the spiked, black tentacles and simply crushed until it burst apart in a cloud of gore and blood which dispersed in the water.

He left behind only the large, ugly monster which had swallowed Sikanjal, glaring at it with hate as he held up both hands above his head and channeled his energies towards his palms, forming a large sphere of golden energy which crackled with sheer power, sending bolts of light traveling through the boiling ocean, the blazing light turning the whole sea as bright as daylight, sending its many cursed creatures scattering, searching for a dark corner in which to hide... before he threw the mini-Sun down against the Basilisk.

It tried to escape, but it had no hopes to: the Sun shot forwards with incredible speed, and the creature was vaporized as soon as it came near, well before there was an actual impact. Sikanjal, as was to be expected, was still alive, and found herself suddenly floating in burning, incandescent non-water, her eyes fixed on the fast incoming Sun.

She snarled and rose her hands against it, using her fearsome psychic powers to push back against it, and Killer immediately felt it recoil, the massive sphere of energy moving backwards quickly... before he flexed and leaned forwards, his immense physical power dueling with her might as the sphere was first compressed, then expanded in size by the two gigantic powers converging on it. The Sun began in fact to absorb some of the immense powers at play, from both sides, as the huge male moved a step forwards, arms flexing and biceps bulging explosively as he shoved down with all his strength... before Sikanjal snarled and sent a new blast of force hammering into the massive sphere of energy, ramming it hard backwards as the psychic force reached all the way into Killer's brain, making him groan in agony as blood leaked from his nose and ears.

Alexis flew around the blazing sun and threw another large sphere of energy against the dark goddess, but it collided against a cage of crackling bolts of black force which formed around Sikanjal, the dark goddess laughing as her gigantic reserves of energy acted as a barrier, as the shockwaves of force rippling out from the battle of might cracked the seabed for miles all around them, rattling the whole Middle Sea.

Alexis charged against the dark goddess, aiming for her tail, and she sent hooks of mental energy against the cobra, engaging her in clash of psychic force, trying to fry her nerves and mind... but the dark goddess grinned, even through the pain and exertion, shoving back against both Killer and Alexis, forcing the both of them to recoil, before she roared and let her tremendous power explode out in a massive blast as she began to rapidly gain terrain, Killer's eyes bulging in shock as he was shoved back, the Sun coming back towards him.

"It is impossible..." Killer muttered, horrified by the idea that his tremendous strength was being bested, his body flexing with power as he shoved back down with a snarl, sweat rolling down his body as his mind pounded painfully and his arms spasmed, his bones creaking loudly.

Sikanjal grinned widely, glaring upwards towards the Sun suspended between them and blasting forwards with her mind, again and again and again, hammering the immense sphere of energy back, foot after foot, meter after meter, even as Alexis slashed Blue Vixen against the cage of lightning bolts protecting her, before she slashed out her massive tail and forced the ligeress to retreat... and finally, Sikanjal let out a roar and leapt into the air, shooting through the Sun as it finally imploded and fell apart in motes of energy, the dark goddess charging against Killer and sending a rush of force knocking him back towards the surface, even as he lunged forwards and punched her hard in the chest.

Sikanjal coughed in agony, breathlessly shooting down through the sea to crash into the rocky bed, her chest blown inwards and her large breasts crushed into mush, but Killer and Alexis were both slammed out of the Middle Sea, crashing like meteors against one of the tall rocky cliffs of Orion.

Killer groaned in pain and exhaustion, his body covered in wounds and sweat, his arms still burning with the fatigue of the duel of power just fought, but he nonetheless pushed quickly out of the thick, hard stone he had smashed into, dragging himself out of the crater to find Alexis doing the same a few meters to his right, before they both snarled as Sikanjal floated out of the Middle Sea as well, her chest quickly healing even though Killer's punch had practically annihilated her upper body barely moments before.

"You are incredibly strong, Lord Killer. Even Gaia's punches, even the force of the Elements, were unable to break through my scales." The cobra said, grinning viciously even as she bowed and clapped at him teasingly. "But I'm even stronger. And you are growing tired... soon, you'll be out of energy, and you'll be mine."

"You'll find out just how much energy we have. And you'll learn it the hard way." Alexis coldly replied, as she and Killer faced the monstrous divinity with defiance.

Sikanjal, however, only grinned, nodding slightly as she said: "Oh, but I know that you two are very special. That's why I'll use special methods to drain you." The dark goddess raised a finger, and her eyes glowed black, energy rippling through the sky in massive waves which blew each and every cloud away, as the ground rattled violently and the Middle Sea howled in a symphony of massive waves which smashed into the cliffs with savage force, as if they wanted to slap the land into pieces. Then, a massive crack spread horizontally all around the cliffs of Orion, and Killer turned back to stare in amazement as the island shifted, a loud rumble echoing over the sea as the rock of Orion, with the whole territories around it and the whole town, was broken off the ground and lifted high into the air as Sikanjal laughed viciously.

"What do you do now, Lord Killer...?" She asked, grinning widely as she pushed Orion high into the sky as the people in the town shrieked in terror: the angels flew away in a hurry, but most if not all of the Benevolents crowding the town had no wings and could only brace in terror against something solid, hoping that the island wouldn't crumble under their feet as their whole world changed dramatically. "You try and catch the island, at risk of being crushed, or you let them all die?"

Alexis snarled and shot against the dark goddess, but Sikanjal only laughed as she made a downwards shoving gesture and sent Orion plummeting down from the Heavens, the island cracking loudly as several Benevolents lost their grip and fell through the air, Killer staring upwards in shock as the whole rocky island rushed down against him.

Alexis swung Blue Vixen hard down against Sikanjal's tail, but the dark goddess rammed her halberd-tail against the blade, the clash sending lightning bolts crackling through the sky, before the ligeress seized the rival by the neck, snarling as she squeezed hard, with all of her tremendous strength, until Sikanjal's vertebra snapped like a twig... but as she heard the Benevolents screaming, Alexis was assaulted with the ghostly image of them crashing into the Middle Sea, to meet their ends, and she turned to look at them from over her shoulder, easily stopping their fall with her psychic powers and then teleporting them away, to safety.

The brief distraction was enough for Sikanjal to assault her mind with a psychic invasion, making Alexis groan in agony, coughing blood at the violence with which her insides were churned and set on fire with pain... But the ligeress did not let go of the cobra's throat, and she used Blue Vixen to knock back another slash of the halberd-tail, before the muscular female roared and threw Sikanjal hard towards the shore, sending her crashing into a hill many miles inland.

Alexis panted, closing her eyes for a moment as her mind pounded painfully, before she shoved out her palm and blasted a huge beam of sapphire energy into the distant hill: it went off in a massive explosion which all but vaporized the whole area, before the energy shot through and carried on, burning and ripping open a deep canyon across the Meadows, as the muscular female flew low over the waves, charging against her rival.

She only gazed towards Killer once, but the huge male gave her a thumb up and a smile even as he leapt up into the air, rushing towards the huge island falling from the sky.Without Sikanjal around to harass you, you can lift one hundred Orions without breaking a sweat, Lion. I'm sure of it.

Killer did not hesitate. He flew right against Orion, even as his eyes scanned the miles-wide plate of heavy dark stone blotting out the sky above him. It had to be, without a doubt, a weight measured in millions of tons... and yet, it didn't scare him at all. He flexed his mighty musculature, even as his eyes glowed sapphire, burning with power as he used his telekinesis to slow down the fall of the island while he flew up along one side of it, until he found a tall cliff he could grip into.

He snarled as he slammed his hands against the solid stone, and it turned into a grin at the ease with which he clawed deep into the rocks, tearing through them like he would through butter, before he flexed his huge arms, biceps bulging explosively, and halted the fall of the island, holding it up into the air like it was a pebble.

Millions and millions of tons of weight... and there it was, powerless in his grasp. He felt a shiver running down his spine as he pulled back one hand, and he pushed the island higher up, singlehandedly, realizing how immense his power truly was.

When he was a mortal, his powers sealed away and dormant, he had already been strong enough to wipe whole countries off the map in his rampages, when he was young, arrogant and merciless... and now he realized, with a jolt of dark lust, how unstoppable he now was. He could have annihilated Orion with a single hand, in seconds. And no one would have been able to do anything about it.

His eyes glowed intensely for a moment, the huge male flexing with a hungry growl... before he shut his eyes and growled against himself, restraining his destructive urges and letting himself descend slowly through the air instead, carefully dropping the island back in place before letting go of it and flapping his wings once, moving backwards quietly.

The huge male gazed down at the town, the streets filled with angels and Benevolents pointing at him and cheering and clapping, and he thought with disgust that he had been seconds away from destroying them all... just because he could. Just for the kick of showing his power, his superiority, and his domination.

He bitterly repressed a shiver of horror at the awareness of his dark, cruel urges, and he turned his back to the island, shooting towards the mainland with such speed that the non-waters beneath him parted in two massive, diverging waves.

Sikanjal is right. We can't continue to battle her forever. I'm growing exhausted, and my wounds regenerate more and more slowly. Killer angrily thought, horrified and enraged by the thought that Sikanjal could be even stronger than he was.

Ahead of him, Alexis and the dark goddess were once more clashing, waves of psychic wrath rippling through the sky and making him shiver, almost unable to believe the sheer power of the two females, before he snorted tiredly as Black Killer suggested: Why not breaking another Seal, huh?

Killer did not reply. He did not want to, particularly so after having been so close to losing control in Orion... but all the same, he was all too aware that breaking the fourth Seal would give him the power he needed to take on Sikanjal.

And the simple idea of growing even more powerful made his body flex with lust and craving.

"Just one." Killer muttered, appearing deep inside of himself, standing on one of the massive pyramids which served as anchors for the enormous, enchanted chains the gods had once placed upon him to restrain the immense power inside him.

Black Killer, unsurprisingly, was standing nearby, arms crossed, a grin of delight on his features. He said nothing, there was no need to... he just looked on as Killer seized a worn, strained chain link in his hands, and snapped it apart like a twig, his enormous muscles barely flexing.

You know what, little brother? You are growing even stronger than I expected. Black Killer exclaimed, his voice loaded with sincere amazement... before it all went dark, and Killer reopened his eyes, back in the outside world, the wind rushing against his face as he flew at formidable speed. He was much, much faster than barely a moment before, and he felt unbelievably stronger. He was unable to even estimate what he could do now...everything he could think of, though, suddenly felt ridiculously easy.

He spotted Sikanjal in the scorched, ruined badland that had once been the green sea of the Meadows, and his eyes fixed on the target, giving him clear view of each and every detail as he rushed against her in a dive, faster than a meteor.

The dark goddess felt his immense energies and turned to blast him with dark lightning, but Killer ignored the wounds torn into his chest, lunging against her and smashing her with a punch which carrier immeasurable strength. It tore her in half just above the waist, making her howl in agony and shock as her body was slapped into the air.

Long ropes of nanomachines began to stretch between the two parts, trying to reconnect her body into one, but she gasped in terror as Killer appeared right above her and smashed another punch in her chest, making her large breasts burst apart as his fist rammed right through her, piercing her from side to side.

She lashed out angrily, and Killer snarled in rage as psychic blades cut through his shoulders, in his muzzle, in his chest, blood clouding his vision as he felt them ramming into him again and again, savagely trying to chop him into pieces... but he only leaned forwards into the attack, roaring as he seized the dark goddess's head in his huge hand and squeezed on her armored skull, crumbling it like it was a biscuit.

He slammed her face-first into the ground, crushing her deep into the rocks and dragging her for miles across the Meadows, snarling as he used her destroyed face to rip a deep trench across the First Sky, growling: "I'll rip you into pieces so small that you can't put them together anymore."

"You... wish... you... could." Sikanjal replied, her voice coming broken and weak from what remained of her mouth, before Killer howled in pain as her body began to regenerate right around his fist, trapping his wrist into her chest as bones sharper and harder than swords pierced through his arm from all sides, and tendrils of her nervous system latched into his, flying him with tremendous discharges of dark energy which ran all the way into his brain.

She blasted him backwards with a shove of her hand, her force ramming into his chest hard enough to make his back arch painfully as he vomited blood and roared in agony, the blades buried in his wrist tearing his arm apart as it was torn forcefully out of her body, while the tendrils hooked into his nerves and gave him unbearable anguish as they tried to rip his brain and nerves out of his body.

He fell backwards with a groan, but shoved himself into a roll and landed on his feet, screeching to a halt some forty feet away, panting as he looked up to see her legs already reattaching themselves to her devastated body, which was already quickly healing.

Not quite so quickly as before, though...

Killer moved forwards again as his own arm began to regenerate, but he stopped as Alexis shouted a warning, and a hurricane of golden and sapphire flames shot from her hands, crashing into Sikanjal and blasting her backwards with a shriek, the cobra trashing violently as she was burnt down, her scales melting before her flesh was burned away into dark smoke, leaving behind a skeleton made of dark steel, hardened bone and nanomachines, wrapped in the black armor containing the many Soulstones... And somewhat, Sikanjal pushed back against Alexis, even in that sorry state.

For the first time, Sikanjal roared in true agony and in infinite rage, and the force blasting out of her scorched the Meadows for miles all around, cracking the ground into slabs of rock that first floated upwards, then shattered into dust and pebbles as Killer and Alexis fell to their knees with howls of pain, grabbing their heads as their minds menaced to burst apart.

Killer snarled, forcing one eye to open as he dragged himself to the side, using his immense physical power to shove back against her psychic might, and he gained a meter, even as his body screamed and pounded with pain... and then he pushed forwards again, and shoved his palms out, like Vesta had done earlier, focusing his godlike strength to form a mirror, a shield with which he could beat the dark goddess back.

He stumbled to his feet, standing up even as his talons tore trenches in the earth as he was shoved violently backwards... before he began to make steady progress, gritting his fangs and flexing his enormous musculature.

"Scream all you want, bitch, it won't work." He snarled, as he used his massive body to shield Alexis from the worst of the psychic attack as the ligeress pushed up to her feet as well... and thanks to his protection, her mind cleared enough that she could hit out with her own power, slapping Sikanjal's head hard backwards, almost tearing it off her shoulders.

The cobra fell on her ass, panting hard as her body struggled to regenerate from the tremendous damage suffered, and Killer and Alexis charged forwards to get to her tail.

Sikanjal crawled backwards with a snarl, her eyes flashing and dark lightning crackling around her, but before she could lash out again, the immense horses of flames of Taranis's chariot ran over her, crushing her body under their massive hooves of incandescent magma.

The god of war, even if badly wounded, did not miss, slamming his huge spear right through the dark goddess's mouth, pinning her to the ground before the pole weapon exploded in a massive blast... and Seth, holding the reins of the massive war horses, snarled as he lashed out his terrible whip, the steely arms of it chopping Sikanjal's legs right off as lightning bolts crackled up her regenerating body, burning it down again.

As soon as the chariot rushed away, climbing towards the sky and curving back for another passage, however, Sikanjal roared and shoved herself up, ropes of nanomachines and regenerating flesh once more beginning to piece her together as her tail glowed, infusing power into her form. Killer rushed against the tail, before his eyes went wide with surprise as he saw a dark, shapeless shadow with empty eyes which glowed white. It shot past him without a word, and wrapped his cloaked arms around Sikanjal's neck. The female, somehow, hadn't seen the mysterious creature, and she seemed not to notice even as it pushed back the cloak to reveal a long snout with oversized jaws which he quickly snapped over the dark goddess's skull.

Killer looked on in confusion as the fangs passed through the head of Sikanjal as if ethereal... before the cobra's eyes went wide and she trembled in fear, hugging herself miserably and scampering away, kicking at the ground to crawl away from Killer, her eyes wide open but unseeing, lost in some sort of vision, as panic took over.

Even Alexis looked on in awe and horror as Sikanjal trashed and shivered in fear, howling in despair and complete, irrational terror, unable to react even as Killer came close and wrapped his huge, powerful arms around her tail, pulling on it with all his strength and grinning as it began to crack and rip off...

That seemed to awaken Sikanjal from her panic, the female snarling in fury as she turned around and slammed a punch into Killer, knocking him crashing onto the ground as she leapt to her feet. The dark creature wrapped around her neck was blasted by a crimson lightning bolt and writhed in silent, wordless agony before vanishing from sight... leaving the cobra awake and furious as she stomped forwards with a snarl. "How dare you..." She growled, her tail sizzling and crackling with energy as it lolled from just a few last tendrils of flesh and muscle, almost completely torn off. Even so, she shoved a hand up towards Taranis's chariot, and knocked it off the sky with a blast of force, sending it crashing down into earth like it was a toy.

Before she could do more, Alexis smashed a kick into her chest and knocked her back, her exposed spine snapping in half like a twig as she gave a chocking cough... but she still had the strength to leap back to her feet, facing Killer and Alexis with a grin.

"You two are extraordinary. But even with my tail reduced like this, I can still get energy in other ways, you know...?" The cobra grinned sharkishly, and then turned to the right, looking over a town not far away, a large city of houses built on the side of a gently-sloped hill. She looked over the large town for an instant, then she let out a hot, seductive breath towards it... before she inhaled again, and a river of translucent energy and souls ripped out of their physical bodies rushed into her jaws, coming from the town.

Killer's eyes widened in horror as he realized that, with just a breath, Sikanjal had absorbed the life energies of the whole population of the town... and in his mind he saw for a moment the terrifying image of people suddenly dried down to husks, then to nothing but dust blown away by the wind, without even seeing the enemy, without even having the time to understand what was happening, and why.

Killer's thoughts rushed out to images of family and friendship, of peaceful lives and of kids playing in the streets... Who could tell how many happy families, how many innocent people had lived in that town. And they now were gone, drained of all their energies, consumed entirely and turned into nothing but dust.

He felt tears rising to his eyes, even as he snarled as the regeneration of the cobra's body immediately speeded up, the dark goddess rising her hands with a cruel grin and preparing to strike... before he stomped a foot on the ground, cracking the crust of the planet like it was a thin egg shell, a ripple traveling through the lands before spikes of stone and slabs of rock exploded upwards under Sikanjal's feet, knocking her into the air and out of balance as she was impaled by a massive column of stone and crystal shoving out of the ground.

As Sikanjal fell to the ground, impaled by multiple sharp crystals which pierced through her from side to side, Killer shoved a hand down into the earth, cracking the stones apart like biscuits as he gripped into the rocks and then pulled upwards with a roar, tearing a massive portion of the ground up and overturning it like it was a small table, sending the massive plate of stone crushing the cobra under its massive weight.

He charged on top of the mountain of rubble, roaring in desperate fury as he began to smash punch after punch down into the stones, crumbling them into dust until his knuckles found the shocked, devastated dark goddess, breaking her body apart piece by piece, as Sikanjal breathlessly, silently screamed to the heavens, trying to push him away, trying to blast him back, clawing into his chest, slashing wounds in his body, but it was all for nothing as he continued to demolish her with vicious, merciless punch after punch.

Alexis stared at this silently, her own fangs gritted in hate and disgust, which only grew even more as she read into Killer's thoughts, adding his own pain and shock to her own, as she walked forwards and then stomped her boot down into the cobra's face, crushing her head into pieces and twisting her cruel steel sole on the remains as she hissed: "You don't deserve to exist, monster...."

Sikanjal regenerated again and again under their blows, the dark goddess trying to free herself from that torture, howling in miserable agony as she was beaten into mush again and again... before she stopped with a groan of disbelief as one of the large Soulstones inserted in her thick, seemingly-indestructible collar cracked loudly apart, snapping down the middle and turning opaque and dead.

Killer and Alexis grinned at that, smashing down their fists with even greater power and with vengeful delight, knowing that it meant that she was exhausting her very reserves... before Sikanjal gave them a broken, shattered grin and vanished from the spot, turning into black smoke which quickly disappeared as she teleported away.

I'll be back. And I'll tear you apart and I'll kill everyone you care for, and I'll take your powers away, your kingdom, your world, your family away. I'll leave you nothing but despair. Sikanjal's voice snarled in their minds, as Killer and Alexis leapt to their feet with roars of fury, senses alert to try and find her.

"She is gone." Alexis muttered after a few long moments, making a grimace of distaste.

"Yeah." Killer replied simply, before he let himself flop down to the ground, panting as he tried to calm down and get back a grip over himself. There wasn't much else to say... Sikanjal could be anywhere, and there was no way to find her. And on a side, it was for the better, because she wasn't beaten yet.

We just managed to exhaust her reserves of juice... but she will be back. And we'll better be ready when the moment comes.

Alexis did not add anything, probably thinking the very same thing anyway. They were exhausted themselves, after all. It had been a tremendous clash, they had been fighting for a very long time, and they were covered in bad wounds. They couldn't go on much longer themselves. She only dropped down to the ground as well, before leaning against him with a soft, tired sigh, closing her eyes for a moment and dropping her head on his shoulder.

Several long moments passed like that, in exhausted and relieved silence, as they both recovered their breath and put back under control the adrenaline pumping through their veins, the two warriors letting their worst wounds heal up at least a bit.

It was only after a while that they stood slowly up. They had no idea of how much time had passed, and they felt drained and in need of some good sleep... but the first thought was for their friends, as Killer said: "Let's get back to the others."

They teleported together, back on the devastated beach, and looked around themselves to see everyone laying down in sore heaps: Gaia was badly wounded and rested with her back leaning against a large boulder sticking out of the bloodied sand. Her chest was slashed open, and she had several other very nasty wounds... but she smiled at them as soon as they appeared. She was weak and tired, but nonetheless still stood fifty foot tall and sporting huge talons and a thick but elegant armor made of solidified magma and thorny, steely vines.

Alcana rested against a large, blackened piece of thick armor plate, which had once been part of a massive Hellish land battleship but now looked more like a bizarre tombstone, sticking out of the sand like a broken finger. The goddess of Love had her armor broken down in pieces and was slowly regenerating her enchanting, beautiful body, several large wounds closing up and fading from sight as her scales grew back in place. One hand rose to salute Killer, who smiled to her with a nod that expressed her sincere gratitude for her help, while her other remained wrapped around the thick pole of her massive halberd.

Killer walked towards her and Gaia, who had fought hard against Sikanjal and now carried wounds looking serious enough to require his immediate help. He wasn't a healer, but with his energy, he could help almost any kind of wound to heal, aiding the body's regeneration. But Gaia pulled one hand up, saying quietly: "I'm fine, Lord Killer. I can wait. Help the others first, please."

She did not name anyone, but she quietly looked to the side, over Ira and Manticora, who laid down on the sand and, Killer now saw, were terribly roughed up. He traded a gaze with Alexis, and they walked over to the two Seraphims, as Killer kneeled down beside his mentor, while Alexis took care of Manticora.

"Took you long enough to smash that bitch." Ira said, smiling up to him despite how weak her voice sounded, her body bruised and wounded all over. She held a hand up, and Killer seized it in his own, squeezing it lovingly and bending over her to kiss her lips softly, before he kissed Manticora as well, the zebra gazing at him tenderly.

"Yeah, it was a tough game. And it is not quite over yet." Killer replied, making a bit of a grimace as he added: "She teleported away."

The two Seraphims grimaced at the news, but they had kind of been expecting it. They had heard the tremendous clash going on in the distance, and they had felt the energies rippling and crackling in the air, and both of them had guessed that something had happened when, after losing most of her energies, Sikanjal's aura had suddenly grown distant, and quickly moved outside of their perceptions.

"You broke two more Seals..." Ira observed after a few moments, grinning a bit even as she repressed a shiver while Killer's energies flowed into a nasty gash across her chest, helping it healing and closing up. "Now that is what I call progress."

"That makes it four, right...?" Vesta asked, the queen walking over to them, looking exhausted and holding a hand over a nasty gash in her abdomen, but nonetheless grinning as she put a hand on Killer's muscular shoulder and nodded. "Yeah, it shows. I can feel your new energies in the air... Well, that means that we're halfway there. Three more to go."

"Well... we shouldn't rush the process. I'm already amazed that I can control myself after breaking two Seals in such a short time." Killer said, shaking his head a bit as he added bitterly: "I nearly lost it when I was holding Orion up. Destroying the island and annihilating everyone on it suddenly felt so very amusing and so very right."

"Well, Sikanjal made us a favor at least... battling her kept you occupied and allowed you to vent your new powers. Hadn't she been there to get her face crumbled by your blows, it could have been very nasty indeed." Manticora wisely observed, and Ira nodded in agreement, even as she pushed her hand upwards to caress Killer's cheek, her eyes looking at him with affection and gratitude.

"Lady Alexis also snapped a Seal of her own. And that makes five for her." Adrasthea added, the goddess sitting tiredly nearby, leaning onto her spear as her large shield rested against her shoulders. The dragoness looked exhausted and was clearly in pain as her own wounds slowly regenerated, but she smiled nonetheless out to the two ligers.

Alexis snorted a bit, grinning amusedly as she teasingly nudged Killer, saying softly: "See? I'm always leading."

"Yeah, yeah. We all know that you are a living cheat." Killer amusedly replied, before he leaned to the side to push his shoulder against hers, nuzzling her lovingly as she smiled softly, looking sideways at him.

Lemuel observed them with a soft smile, the lion tiredly standing up and dragging his heavy warhammer behind himself as he moved a few steps forwards and looked inland, his expression hardening as he looked over the immense number of angels still pressed in the narrow escape corridor which had been torn open in the demonic lines. The mighty tigers of the XXX Legion, Gabriel and other Arkanges and Seraphims were fighting hard all along the perimeter, trying to keep the passage open even as demons and monsters assaulted them from all sides... and the lion shook his head slowly before observing: "It has been way too long. Why are they still there? Why aren't they getting away?"

Killer and Alexis turned back, looking in the same direction, and Adrasthea grimaced at the sight, while Killer cursed under his breath.

"Something is preventing them from portaling away, there is no other valid explanation." Alexis muttered, shaking her head slowly as she added: "They had all the time they needed, and more. They are not exploiting the chance to get away."

"We need to find out why, immediately." Killer urgently noted, before looking towards Lemuel as the huge lion male shouldered his hammer. "Please, Lemuel, Vesta, if you could get there and see what the hell is wrong..."

"Sure, Lord Killer." Lemuel replied, bowing a bit before he flew into the air, almost-invisible wings of pure energy flapping once to send him shooting over the Plain, as Vesta quickly followed after giving Killer the thumb up.

"You should probably go as well." Ira said as soon as Killer turned back to her, his hand glowing with golden energy as he helped healing another wound on her strong, beautiful body.

"Shut up, I'm going nowhere until we get all of you back on your feet." The huge male simply replied, smiling amusedly as Ira huffed, then retorted: "I'm your mentor. You should listen to what I say, you know."

"Not when you don't make sense." The huge male playfully replied, before turning to look at Gaia as the goddess smiled softly. "I'll be with you in a moment, Gaia."

"I know, lord Killer. That's why I have no fear." The snow leopardess gently replied, nodding quietly. But as she did, Alexis suddenly stiffened and looked up, her eyes narrowing as she sensed something... and an instant later, she shouted a warning and leapt forwards, covering Gaia with her own powerful body.

Killer leapt to his feet and drew Wyvern out, springing into a ready position as Ira pushed herself up a bit, panting but nonetheless drawing out her katana blades, while Manticora and Alcana readied to the best of their currently limited possibilities, as Adrasthea held up her large shield, taking position to protect the zebra, as she was the most vulnerable.

Alexis looked upwards with a snarl, shoving up one palm and sending a vortex of fire exploding forwards, just before a grey shape materialized in midair. The newcomer had not even time to react, the goddess using her precognition to attack before he could even realize what was going on... but as the flames burned through him, the grey creature seemed to melt down into gel, splattering like water all over the ground and over Alexis's own strong body.

Killer snarled at the sight, glaring at the strange substance as it slid over the muscular body of the female, aiming for her unhealed wounds and seeping into them, before one teasing, amused voice came from the jelly, cheerfully exclaiming: "So much power, Lady Alexis...! So much power...! I will love it here!"

"You'll wish you were never born." Alexis corrected, before flames of blue energy burst into being all over her mighty body, energy crackling out of her wounds, blasting the silvery substance out of her and breaking it down into droplets and splatters which sizzled and burned into her supernatural fire.

The voice howled in pain as the liquid literally jumped off her... before Killer roared and sent a freezing mist over the mysterious substance, turning it into solid ice shards.

"Nice idea, but it would have been a pretty obvious vulnerability, no?" The voice teased, as the liquid somewhat managed to melt its way even through the ice, flowing together and taking the shape of a tall, slender but toned male lizard, a sexless yet masculine creature with pitch-black eyes. The ice shifted over his body to form a thick, translucent armor, forming into plates at the groin and hips, large pauldrons and a thick chestplate. "Try again, it won't be that easy to take me-"

He couldn't finish the phrase as Ira slashed Arctica out across his ankles, chopping his feet right off, grimacing as they seemed to turn into water, splattering in a puddle on the ground, while Adrasthea stomped forth with a roar and savagely rammed her large shield into his chest, knocking him flying into the air as he broke down into splatters of liquid before being blasted into droplets by a beam of energy erupting from the large circular shield.

"... down. Nice try, again, but you can't knock holes into a liquid." The voice continued, as the substance splashed down upon the ground and immediately reformed into a massive snake, which shot forwards against Alexis.

The muscular female stepped forth and stomped her boot down on the head of the snake, crushing into a splatter of shapeless liquid before she lashed out one turning kick, her thigh flexing with power as she sent the body of the creature exploding in droplets, but the liquid substance only surged through the air again, aiming against Alcana.

The dragoness snarled and then opened her jaws wide, sending a hurricane of super-heated flames washing over the weird substance, hoping to vaporize it, but only succeeding in sending the creature breaking down again. Before her eyes bulged as the droplets rushed right against her, and the sexless male reformed in front of her face, ramming a punch into her muzzle.

Before it could strike, Alcana roared and swung her heavy halberd against his hand, and she grinned as the blade chopped deep inside solid flesh, the monster groaning in pain before fully reverting to liquid, rushing into her face with the force of a massive tidal wave, pinning the goddess against a rock which was eroded and then shattered by the fury of the water.

The powerful wave washed over the goddess and deepened and reopened her wounds, making the dragoness hiss in pain as she was crushed into the ground, before she screamed as she felt the substance trying to push into her through her wounds and mouth.

Gaia stumbled to her feet with a snarl, making a shoving gesture with her hand and sending winds of incredible power washing over the fellow goddess, the air catching the thick droplets of alien substance and blasting them away, before the sexless male reformed in front of them, grinning widely.

"Shi... You should be at the bottom of a Pit of Despair, down in Hell." Gaia muttered, looking over him coldly, as Killer looked over the weird grey creature, trying to build a plan, trying to find a weakness in the mysterious being. He made his hand solid and fully physical for a moment, when he tried to hit Alcana. If he does that again, we have to exploit the chance.

"I spent more than enough time down a Pit." The muscular creature replied, making a grimace of distaste and repressing a shiver of fury at the thought of what had been his prison for uncountable years. "But it is nice to see that, even after the Eons that have passed, you still remember me."

"How did you get out...?" Gaia coldly asked, her fangs gritted in a snarl as she held up her hands, her fingers wrapped in thick gauntlets of stone and magma and her eyes glowing with power and rage, even though she bleed profusely from several ugly wounds all over her beautiful body.

Shi laughed darkly, shrugging a bit as he easily replied: "The Pits aren't unbreakable prisons as they used to be, you know. Hell is no longer taking good care of us prisoners... and with a bit of help from Sikanjal, breaking out was a piece of cake."

"Then we will make sure to get you to visit the depths of Retribution: so you'll have the honor of getting to know the most secure prisons of both Hell and Heaven." Adrasthea roared, slashing her sword-spear through him, chopping him in half at waist level, and then cutting diagonally through his torso, before decapitating him as she swiftly concluded her S-shaped movement, spinning the long spear and resting the pole under her armpit.

Shi didn't react, only standing coldly in place and giving her the shoulders, as the liquid making up his body simply flowed down to rejoin the various parts of his body, the deep wounds immediately sealing and smoothing out.

He turned around with a grin, even as Adrasthea stabbed her spear right through his chest, the dragoness snarling in disbelief as she pulled the polearm back only to see the large wound vanishing... before Killer slammed his fist through the creature's head, sending him breaking down in a splatter of liquid.

"What the hell is this thing...?" Killer asked, turning to Gaia with an urgent question in his eyes.

"A parasite. He takes over the bodies and powers and minds of creatures stronger than him. He is a monster that Elelyon and I had to fight back Eons ago. There was no way to kill him, so we sealed him into a Pit of Despair, for an eternity of punishment..."

Killer made a grimace of hate and distaste at that, before turning back towards the enemy as Shi reformed once more, the sexless male creature leaping towards Gaia with a snarl on his face. "You won't add a word to that!"

Adrasthea leapt in front of Gaia, holding up her shield to protect her, while Alexis blasted the monstrous parasite apart once more, but it was all useless, as the liquid droplets swung through the air to land upon the snow leopardess, quickly covering her body and pushing into her wounds.

Gaia stumbled backwards with a howl of pain, and electricity crackled over her body as she tried to repeal the invader, but it wasn't sufficient: Shi screamed in pain, the droplets boiling and rippling, but he continued to push into her, invading her mouth, her ears, her wounds, making the snow leopardess fall onto her back, the goddess screaming and clawing at herself to slap the sick liquid away.

It was over in a second, before anyone could think of a proper way to react: the voice of Gaia suddenly changed into the voice of Shi, as the screams of pain of the two first became one single lament, then turned into laughter as the parasite took over, the female's eyes glazing over and then turning pitch black.

"I've dreamed of this every single night, for Eons..." Shi cackled through Gaia's mouth. Killer watched on in horror as the goddess's body leapt up, back on its feet, the wounds all over it healing much quicker now, as grey liquid filled them up, flowing from within the body.

Gaia was gone, and now Shi was using her body. Killer stepped back with a grimace of horror, not daring to hit the goddess's body, and Alexis hesitated as well, everyone looking up in astonishment.

She can't be gone... she must be still there, somewhere... she must be... she must.

"Oh, the power...!" Shi exclaimed, cackling as he arched his back and flexed, Gaia's body glowing with the power of the Elements as it completely healed and then began to grow taller and bigger, the goddess's toned body growing more muscular and bulking up. "Such immense power at my disposal!" Shi roared, before he stomped one foot on the ground, rattling the world with violent, vicious earthquakes which spread over the whole of Heaven, sending immense cracks opening into the planet. "The sweetness of revenge, coupled with all this power... Gaia makes for an excellent host."

"What the hell do we do, now...?" Ira snarled, pushing up to her feet and seizing Manticora's arm to help the zebra doing the same, even as the ground crumbled under them.

"We cannot hit Gaia..." Adrasthea hesitatingly said, the goddess of strategy biting her lower lip as she gripped into her spear so tightly that the pole creaked. "She is still there, we can't hit her!" She repeated, even though she knew that, somehow, they had to stop Shi before he could completely destroy the world.

"You must love the little bitch a lot." Shi cackled, before he grinned sharkishly as he shoved a hand out, sending a freezing mist twisting in a hurricane around Alcana and Adrasthea, sending thick, hard ice spreading up over their bodies, from the ground towards their waists, then up to their chests, trapping both females in a prison as hard as diamond and so cold to cloud the mind and stop the lungs from working, the air icing over even deep within them. "Bad news for you all, because I won't hesitate!"

Killer glared at the spreading ice, reaching out with his energies and melting it instantaneously, freeing the two goddesses as he stomped forwards and seized Gaia by the shoulders, forcing her backwards and shouting: "Gaia, react! Don't let him control you!"

Shi laughed in his face, the pitch black eyes glowing with cruel amusement as they looked into the liger's own, and Killer gritted his fangs in a mix of rage and despair: he craved to smash his fist into those eyes and squish them into paste as they made fun of him, but Gaia's features reminded him of the sweet, loving and gentle goddess that had been so kind to him, from the very first moment.

"Shouting won't do you any good, big boy." Shi teased, grinning amusedly before smashing a punch hard forwards into Killer's muscular abdomen. The huge male recoiled, both he didn't allow himself anything more than a grunt of pain as he flexed his abdominals... and Shi looked down in shock at his hand as the thick gauntlet of stone and magma cracked, pain pounding in his fingers.

"Gaia, please, I know you can do it. React!" Killer said, looking down into the eyes of the goddess, even as they continued to glow pitch black, before Shi snarled and shoved his other hand against Killer's chest, sending magma and fire washing over the huge male in a powerful hurricane.

Killer grinned widely as he easily absorbed the fire, taking over the force of the Element, and he growled teasingly: "It shows that you have been sealed in a hole for all this time. You'd know that you should never use fire against me, otherwise."

"Who the hell are you...?" Shi roared in frustration, ramming another punch into the huge male's chest but failing to budge Killer off as the huge male held in to Gaia's arms, calling again: "Gaia, please, give me a sign. You can do it."

Shin struggled against his vice-like grip, trying to shove him backwards, but then, to Killer's immense relief, the goddess's body stiffened, and the mouth of Gaia opened and closed soundlessly for a couple of times, before the pitch black glow in her eyes flickered in and out.

"Like that, Gaia, fight him!" Killer encouraged her, hugging her to his chest and squeezing her lovingly in his arms... until her beautiful eyes returned normal, looking up at him with affection.

"Lord... Killer." She said, weakly and yet with immense force and affection. "I will not be able to hold Shi at bay for much longer."

"How can I help you in kicking him out?" Killer urgently asked, as Alexis walked up to his side.

"Lady Alexis might be able to use her powers to... fight within me... and force Shi out." Gaia replied quietly, before quickly adding: "But, Lord Killer, if Shi controls me, the danger is too great. The only solution might be destroying me... I don't want my powers used to break this or other worlds."

"Shut up, Gaia. I'm not going to kill you just to get him out." Killer replied firmly, before kissing her lips lovingly, squeezing her against his chest. It was a quick kiss, hurried and bittersweet, as they both knew that the time available was little, but she eagerly wrestled his tongue with hers, hungrily seeking the contact and the affection he offered. "You just have to give us some time, ok...? You are strong, Gaia, you can do it. Hold the bastard at bay, give us some time to recover and find the way to eradicate him... and we'll destroy him together."

Gaia hesitated, shivering in his arms and stiffening with a groan, eyes going wide as her back arched... before she let out a breathless, broken sigh as she went limp, panting hard. "This was... him. Trying... to take.. over. I will try, Killer. But I don't know for how long I can restrain him."

"We'll do all we can to act as soon as possible." Killer replied firmly, and Gaia smiled lovingly, murmuring: "Thank you, Killer. I love you."

Killer smiled, and he was about to respond, when Gaia arched her back again and gritted her fangs, making a chocking sound as she groaned loudly and struggled to spat out, word after word: "Get away from here, everyone. It'll be easier to keep things under control... if... there are targets around."

Killer hugged her tightly one last time, closing his eyes silently, before letting her go as her eyes rapidly glazed over again, darkness filling them until they were pitch black as Shi straightened with a snarl, barking: "So you are the Amon Ra! One more reason to destroy you!"

Killer backstepped and went into a ready position as the possessed goddess charged forwards, roaring with Shi's voice. He waited calmly, then leaned forwards and seized the goddess's hands in his own huge, strong ones, grappling with Shi and forcing him to a sudden stop as he ordered: "Everyone, get away!"

Alexis and the others flew away with mighty flaps of their huge wings, while Killer wrestled the possessed body of Gaia backwards, without hitting her. Shi's voice flickered in and out of existence, and after a moment, the goddess fell back and sat down on the ground, whispering in the voice of Gaia: "Lord Killer... no... fighting."

Killer moved back a few steps, looked down at her with searing pain in his heart, the huge male feeling tears ready to surge to his eyes even as he fought them back. I've never been stronger. I have endless strength, infinite possibilities, immeasurable power... and yet Gaia is possessed and an enemy, Vicky lost her eye, Diana was gutted in front of my eyes and everyone is covered in wounds while Heaven is falling apart. He felt like screaming in despair to the sky. He felt an almost tangible need to hurt himself, to punish himself for his failures. All this power, and I couldn't stop this.

"I'll be back soon, Gaia." He promised, before turning and shooting into the sky with a mighty flap of his immense dark wings, shutting his eyes with a snarl of frustration and pain... before he reopened them as he felt something huge rushing past him.

The massive horses of fire galloped past him, pulling the massive war chariot carrying Seth and Taranis, as the god of war pulled out a massive dark spear from a holster in the side of the chariot which was filled with other long javelins, while Seth readied his heavy, deadly whip. They charged against Gaia as the goddess curled up on the ground, taking her head in her hands as she fought her internal struggle... and Killer stared at the scene in shock for a brief instant, before launching himself in front of the chariot, roaring: "No, stop!"

"Get out of my way, she must be stopped before the rips Heaven apart!" Taranis snarled, and Seth only pulled on the reins enough to make the huge horses pull slightly to the side, barely avoiding collision with the huge male liger as Killer threw himself to the side, before once more shooting in front of the two gods.

"We can't attack her, Gaia is still there. I talked to her. It's the parasite that we want, not Gaia!" Killer shouted, holding up his hands and trying to slow down the massive chariot with his telekinesis, even as the huge, powerful horses shoved against his force with tremendous strength, causing him to recoil slowly but steadily.

"It doesn't matter where she is or isn't. She's possessed, and Shi can use her power to annihilate Heaven and your world both. Get the fuck out of the way, she must be destroyed if that's what it takes." Taranis coldly ordered, aiming a spear at the huge male and glaring at Killer with distaste. "Get out of the way right now."

"No." Killer replied, his eyes glowing with rage and power as his voice became an icy command. "I'm not allowing anyone to hurt Gaia. You shouldn't even propose such a cowardly solution."

"The only cowardly solution is allowing Shi to rampage over the world just because you don't want one of your bitches hurt." Taranis spat, before he nudged Seth, and the dark jackal pulled back his muscular arm, eyes glowing with badly hidden glee as he slashed out with his heavy, cruel whip, hitting the massive horses and sending them rearing up with loud neighs, before they charged forwards with even greater fury and speed, each blow of their massive hooves onto the sky sending lightning bolts crackling towards the earth down below.

Seth swung his whip outwards again, striking Killer in the arm and chest, as the steel segments of the long whip's multiple tails tore into his flesh and ripped gashes across his form, while a discharge of lightning crackled into his body, making Killer groan in agony, his back arching painfully.

"I... said... no one." Killer snarled, straightening even as his body spasmed violently, his free hand reaching for the long whip and tearing it out of his own flesh, even as the chariot charged straight at him, Taranis grinning as he lowered his massive spear to stab it through him.

Alexis shot back towards him, but the huge male imperceptibly moved his head, signaling her not to get involved, and she slowed down, hovering a short distance away. He could see her over Taranis's shoulder, and the sight of her was more than enough help already: he tore the multiple tails of the cruel whip out of his arm, and he roared in fury as he ignored the electricity burning through his body as he dragged on the weapon with all his fearsome strength.

Seth tried to resist, but he was dragged out of his feet and slammed face-first into the front of the chariot, before Killer let go of the long whip and held up his hands in a ready position as Taranis stabbed his massive spear forwards.

Killer swung to the side at the last moment, slipping to the side of the cruel, massive blade as he turned around and seized the pole of the huge spear, using it as an axis to throw himself into a handstand, before he flipped backwards to land on the back of one of the two immense horses of flame.

He grunted as he landed on top of the supernatural beast, but as expected the fire failed to hurt him, even as he used his muscular, powerful legs to squeeze the stallion's flanks, keeping his position on top of the animal even as the monstrous mount reared and neighed angrily, snorting blades of fire and dark smoke from his nostrils as it tried to unsaddle the liger.

For a brief moment, Killer allowed himself to enjoy the experience: he had never been able to ride a feral horse, huge as he was. Even the most powerful and largest war horses in the stables of Kesteven had always been too weak and small for him to ride. But the Horses of War, well, they were an astonishing experience. Larger than dragons, made of solid, burning fire, the stallion had incredible power. It could gallop right through any kind of barrier or resistance, crush the enemies under its massive hooves, and smash them apart with the power of its massive musculature.

Killer grinned widely as he squeezed hard on the flanks of the beast, feeling the horse's muscles flexing and bulging as the two matched their might in a brief but ferocious battle, before the huge male seized into the mane of the stallion with a hand, leaning out to the side to seize the other horse as well, and pulled back with all his strength, physically lifting the front legs of both horses up into the air as he dragged them upwards and forced them to slow down abruptly as they neighed loudly in a mix of pain and shock.

Taranis looked at the display of raw strength with a mix of disbelief and rage, his slight gape turning into a snarl of rage as he stabbed his spear forwards, only to see Killer grinning at him over the shoulder, before the liger swung down the flank of one horse, dropping down between the two beasts and then twisting in front of one, so he could wrap his mighty arms around the horse's neck. Killer roared as he squeezed around the thick, muscular neck, the huge male using his own tremendous force to brake the horse down to a violent stop, as the other stallion arrested as well, slamming his hooves nervously through the air and snorting angrily... but the chariot nonetheless came to a crash stop, Taranis stumbling and cursing under his breath even as he angrily stabbed his spear down against Killer.

The liger sidestepped the blow, using the massive horse as a shield, and as the spear shot by, he caught the neck of the pole in one hand, snarling as he bent the long weapon backwards like it was a cheap plastic toy.

Taranis stared at this in shock, looking down in awe to see the weapon, made of dark metallic alloy, bent backwards so that the sharp tip pointed at him.

"Impossible..." Taranis muttered under his breath, ignoring the curses of Seth as the jackal god leapt back to his feet, bleeding from his mouth from the impact against the parapet of the chariot and slashing out angrily with his whip, sending lightning bolts crackling through the sky.

Alexis watched on with a grimace of distaste, but she did nothing, obeying to Killer's command and letting him seize the whip once more, the huge male ripping the cruel weapon out of Seth's hands and climbing on the top of the chariot with a snarl.

"Listen, and listen well, both of you." Killer hissed venomously, throwing the heavy scourge down on the floor of the chariot. "I promised I would free Gaia from the parasite. And I will free her. She promised me she'll do her best to keep Shi at bay to give me time to find a solution. And I absolutely trust her. I know she will. That's why no one will attack Gaia at this stage." He paused, then glared into the eyes of both gods, one after the other, before repeating coldly: "No one."

He paused, fearlessly looking back as Taranis and Seth both snarled at him with hate, before Killer leaned forwards in Taranis's face, and growled: "And you'll better never call her a bitch again. Otherwise I will find out your wife, or whoever you hold dear, and I will make her my bitch. Is that clear...?"

"How dare you..." Taranis snarled, leaning forwards with fury as his hand ran to the handle of his large sword. But Alexis flew nearer to them, hovering a short distance away, her eyes burning with rage and fearsome psychic power, and Taranis for once seemed to have had enough of a battle. The fight against Sikanjal had left him scarred both physically and psychologically, and he did not want another fight against tremendous mental powers so soon after that clash.

The God of War did not draw out his sword, even if Seth looked at him expectantly, clearly ready to act like his master. Killer only sustained the god's gaze, grinning slightly, with a confidence that Taranis found unbearable, arrogant and offensive.

"Lord Killer, I did not want you in Heaven. I did not want you to be allowed here. I am more and more convinced that the idea of bringing you here was an error." Taranis coldly stated, and Killer snorted, shrugging slightly as he replied easily: "I did not ask to come, if that makes you feel better. But without me and Alexis here today, I believe Sikanjal would have wiped the floor with your ass."

"Your insolence will not go unpunished, young god." Taranis replied venomously, leaning forwards as energy crackled in the air around him, his eyes glowing with rage and power. "We could settle the issues like men, if you didn't hide behind your girls."

"I look forwards to that. Just choose a place where I can punch your face and kick your ass without having to worry about leveling towns if I don't restrain my strength." Killer easily replied, turning slightly to the side to hold a hand outwards, towards Orion, indicating, without any particular detail in mind, the devastation which had turned the whole First Sky in a cracked, burned, ruined wasteland. "And I'll tell you that much: I'll let you continue to hide behind your lackeys." Killer teasingly asked, looking down to Seth with a grin as Taranis recoiled slightly, unable to reply. It was, after all, an uncomfortable and unavoidable truth. Alexis had only watched along from a distance, while Taranis had, more or less directly, assaulted Killer more than once, always with the help of others, from Seth to the quarry workers back at Eaglenest. The god of war could not possibly reply to that stinging remark.

Killer only grinned coldly at the silence of the god, adding simply: "They told me you fear me, God of War. I hear that you are afraid that I will take your place, like you took it from Ares and from Seth here..." Killer looked down at the jackal with a smirk. "I see it is true. You do fear me. The tragedy for you is that I do not fear you."

Taranis made a grimace as Killer looked back into his eyes, the huge male liger grinning slightly. "We will see in a week, young god. I have the perfect place at my disposal, if you have the guts to be my guest."

"Anytime." Killer replied easily, his eyes glowing with eager battlelust before he made a turning gesture with one finger and commanded: "Now, though, turn this chariot around, and leave Gaia be. She needs to be left alone... the less people she sees around her, the more confident she is that she can keep Shi at bay and control the situation. So we are both going away. Right now."

Taranis snarled slightly, but he only ripped the bent, useless spear out of Killer's hand before making a sharp head gesture to Seth, the jackal nodding silently and pulling on the reins to guide the stallions in a turn. The horses, however, refused to move as Killer stood between them, and the god of war looked down in frustration and rage at his own mythical mounts, as the liger grinned amusedly and then patted both beasts calmly, whispering them to go ahead as he floated upwards, out of the way.

Killer crossed his mighty arms on his chest, looking silently over the massive chariot as it turned slowly around, Taranis standing tall upon: the god slowly turned around, never allowing the contact with Killer's eyes to break... and as the chariot began to charge in the opposite direction, the horses galloping towards a swirling portal which tore Reality open in the middle of the sky, Taranis said: "One week, young god. I'll send my invitation along... and you'll better be ready."

"I'm always ready." Killer replied easily, and the god snorted contemptuously before he and the powerful war chariot vanished through the portal, which quickly closed.

"Dumbass." Killer muttered, before smiling as Alexis came closer, leaning into his side and kissing his throat lovingly, her strong arms wrapping around his waist as she nuzzled him and playfully teased: "So, the reign of the current God of War ends next week."

"I never wanted to take his place, and you know it." Killer replied softly, before arching his eyebrows and staying silent for a long, awkward moment as she looked up with a smug grin, her eyes challenging his sincerity.

"Okay, okay. Perhaps I liked to think of myself as a great master of War and shit, and I might or might not have dreamed at times to be the god of war. But they were juvenile fantasies, okay...? I never planned taking Taranis's place even when I learned he actually existed. What the hell do kids dream to be, anyway, these days...?" Killer defensively exclaimed, snorting a bit as he thought of something else to add, before smiling as Alexis kissed his cheek and then slid slightly back, to whisper in his ear: "They dream to be you."

Killer snorted amusedly, pushing his head against hers as he wrapped a powerful arm around her waist, squeezing her closer as he added: "If he keeps being an ass, though, he might convince me to actually do it."

"You totally should do it." Killer replied matter-of-factly, the muscular female grinning at him teasingly, before they both looked down at Gaia one last time. The goddess was sitting down on a rock, her head held tightly in her hands, and energy crackled around her in tremendous discharges as she fought a harsh battle inside of herself, trying to keep Shi at bay.

"I should have allowed Taranis to charge at her. I think Gaia would have burned him into ashes, if pissed off enough. I might have saved him, not Gaia." Killer said after a moment, but he didn't manage to smile, and Alexis only nodded slightly. It was heartbreaking to see her in that state... and Killer hated the idea of leaving her behind, in the middle of the wastelands, abandoning her to the solitude at best, and to demonic assaults at worst, since even more demons had began once more to emerge from the Middle Sea, swarming into the devastated First Sky. He wished he could at least bring her away, to leave her in a safe place... but the truth was that there was no safe place. Shi could use Gaia's immense power to turn any "safe place" into a hell much worse than Hell. It was out of the question to bring her to Eaglenest, or any other fortress. And the snow leopardess had been clear, anyway: she needed to be alone, away from people and temptations, to have better chances to keep things in check.

"I'll be back, as promised." Killer whispered, before he traded a gaze with Alexis and they both flew over the mainland, towards the black mass of demons and angels which still battled in the middle of the ruined Meadows. The angels had been crushed into a narrow corridor, formed by demons assaulting from three out of four sides: the angels fought shoulder to shoulder not to be completely annihilated, and the tigers of the XXX Legion, plus the Arkangels and the Seraphims made up the outer layer of resistance.

The fourth side was the breach that Diana had fought to open, and was to serve as a way out of the inferno, allowing the angels to get away from the battle, overcoming the borders of the area polluted with demonic corruption so that they could use portals to get away.

"Why are they still there...?" Killer angrily asked, before his eyes widened as he spotted four enormous squares of warriors wearing thick, glowing golden armor. Their ranks were perfect and untouched by the battle... and they stood in front of the Breach, blocking the way out. As they got closer, Killer spotted Typhon standing in front of that army of Paladins, and then he saw Metatrons hovering above, using their powers to form a barrier which kept out both enemy and friends, in addition to making it impossible to open a Portal in the area.

"I can't believe this... please, tell me that I'm not seeing what I'm seeing." Killer muttered, but Alexis could not do that. It was the bitter, horrible truth: Typhon had an army that wasn't fighting, but was validly condemning the rest of Heaven's forces to a useless annihilation.

Killer and Alexis shot down from the sky, flying as fast as they could to reach the barrier, even as they sent fire and ice and energy washing over the demonic armada, burning swathes of destruction through the ranks. When they landed, Killer stumbled forwards a bit, and Alexis looked at him with concern, but he shook his head slowly, saying simply: "Just tired, don't worry... it just... is starting to get a bit too much."

The muscular female nodded silently, feeling her own reserves of energies seriously drained, even as they walked up to the barrier: the transparent energy irradiated incredible heat, but both gods had strong affinity with fire and where not particularly bothered by it... their rage came from how Typhon silently looked down at them from the other side, not opening a passage for them, not reacting in any way.

"What the hell are you doing there...?" Killer roared, slamming his hand over the barrier and sending ripples all over it as his golden energy crackled out in bolts.

"It's useless, he won't listen." Vesta spat, landing at his side with a grimace, her sickleswords dripping with fresh blood. "He won't even listen to me and Gabriel. He ignores everything that is going on. He ignored even Lemuel. Self-absorbed cunt!"

Killer made a grimace at that, then gripped into the barrier with a snarl, growling furiously: "I'll make sure he listens, then." The huge male pulled outwards with his tremendous strength, his claws piercing through the barrier of energy and his fingers tearing gashes through it as his huge muscles bulged with power. It was not the first time he dealt with the Metatrons, and as in the past, he proved to be too strong for them to repeal, as he ripped a large hole into the barrier, roaring as he sent a large part of the wall of energy shattering into shards.

Alexis and Vesta walked coldly in, followed by many badly wounded angels with poured through the breach and dragged themselves a few steps into the safe area before collapsing to the ground with groans of agony.

More and more angels flooded through the breach, letting out shouts of relief as they tried to get away from the slaughter, before massive Paladin warriors in full golden armor came walking towards the crowd, forcing many backwards with their massive axes.

Two Paladins walked towards killer himself as he walked forwards, but as the two massive warriors crossed their axes in front of him, the liger seized them by the necks and slammed their heads hard together, knocking both senseless, the golden helmets crumpling inwards as they let out groans of pain.

Several angels cheered him on at that, letting out shouts of approbation as they tried to make their own way through the ranks of the elite soldiers blocking their paths.

"What is this madness?" Killer snarled, walking up to Typhon and pointing with a hand at the four divisions of Paladins standing at attention in front of him. "Four divisions of elite warriors here doing nothing, and you forced us to fight a battle on a fixed defensive line, without a mobile reserve we could use to repeal enemy penetrations! What are you, completely idiot, or an enemy?"

"Had we had this reserve available, the Wall would still be standing." Vesta venomously added, glaring up at Typhon with hate. "You only arrive now, when the battle is lost, and your only contribution is making sure that all those who survived this far die here uselessly...?"

"The Paladins are the Guards of the Heavenly Council. They are needed to ensure the security of our senate, and to protect internal order and security within Heaven. They will not be committed for this battle." Typhon replied, unfazed by their protests and only looking coldly from one to the other, as Vesta snarled in rage.

"Of course they won't be committed to this battle. Now it is too late, it wouldn't bring to anything." Killer coldly replied, before shouting angrily: "But there are still a lot of people out there. They have given all they had. We have suffered seventy percent casualties, and even who is still standing is almost always badly injured. This battle is over, we need to break contact and allow the troops to pull their breath somewhere safe."

"Impossible." Typhon said, shaking his head once, slowly, from side to side, his tone definitive. "Retreat is not contemplated. Heaven won't allow the demons to advance any deeper into its territory. Heaven will not accept the risks of letting the demons advance any further... nor is it acceptable that the Home of Lord God would ever be humiliated and forced to a retreat."

"You are insane!" Vesta exclaimed after a brief moment of shock and disgust. "Every moment that passes, we lose more soldiers. There is no hope of stopping them here in the Meadows, you hear me? No fucking hope!"

Killer stepped forwards, repressing a snarl that was desperately trying to come to his features, his hate of Typhon growing even further in front of his stupid, prideful myopia. But the last thing he needed was another brawl, and he tried to use diplomacy as he said, as calmly as he could manage: "Look, I do not like to retreat myself. But I've fought wars all my life, and at times you have to give up some ground in order to survive and fight another day. Win, another day. We cannot carry on this fight here. It will be the end of Heaven's army. Once nothing is left, the humiliation will just be greater, and definitive."

"Heaven will never be defeated by Hell. It is unconceivable." Typhon stubbornly replied, before looking up as Gabriel flew in through the breach in the barrier, landing near Killer and going down to a knee.

"Finally, you are here!" Vesta exclaimed, looking to Gabriel with relief. "Tell him yourself. It's no use fighting here!"

"It is true, Lord Typhon. We ask the permission for a retreat. We can hold and protect the fortresses of Orion, of the Hall of Heroes and of Restford, if we pull out now. If we let any more time pass, the army will be completely annihilated. I pray you, chancellor, we need to get the army out of here." Gabriel implored, bowing his head respectfully and holding his large sword out to the god in a promise of enduring loyalty. Typhon, however, was not moved by the display of servitude and wisdom, only standing coldly in front of the Arkangel and repeating: "It is the order of the Council, and my order, that the army continues to fight here and pushes the enemy back into the Middle Sea."

"Chancellor, this is not possible." Gabriel replied calmly, trying to force the proud god to accept the reality, but Typhon only shouted angrily: "It is my order, I said! Lord God, our King and Father Elelyon, designated me to represent his will in his absence, do you remember that? My word is the word of Lord God. And that word is resisting. Here."

"This is absurd." Killer snarled, before turning to Alexis. "I want to talk to William."

The muscular female grinned, replying easily: "He already hears you. I'm broadcasting this to the whole army out of the barrier." The muscular female glared at Typhon at this, as she used her mind powers to amplify and transmit their voices to the others, letting the whole army know who was deciding their destiny, and how... and suddenly, William's voice sounded clear over the field, coming from the other end of the battlefield, rebroadcasted by Alexis's psychic powers.

"I'm listening, Lord Killer."

"My brother, please begin to fall back. The XXX Legion will form the rearguard. I count on you to keep the enemy at bay while the army retreats. Just a little while longer. I'll do the rest." Killer said, his voice clear and powerful, his eyes coldly fixed in Typhon's ones.

Gabriel, still on his knee a couple of steps to the left, whispered calmly: "Bring them to safety, Lord Killer."

"Alexis?" Killer called, and the muscular female grinned widely before turning to the barrier, looking up at the Metatrons high above as she replied gamely: "You bet on it!"

Her eyes glowed cold sapphire, burning with power as she sent out a fearsome blast of psychokinetic wrath, smashing the Metatrons forwards like they were dolls, ramming them face-first into their own barrier... before the wall of energy cracked and shattered in a cascade of tiny, shiny fragments.

"This is betrayal!" Typhon howled, walking forwards and drawing out a massive cleaver sword, as the Paladins behind him formed thick phalanx formations, advancing slowly and professionally as a sole body, while the army rushed forwards with howls of mixed rage, desperation and relief, the angels running through the collapsing barrier and gathering around Killer, Vesta and Alexis as the huge male focused his immense energies on teleporting everyone away.

It was a huge number of people to transport away, and he had to make sure no demon and no Paladin would filter in, but the huge male thought he still had enough juice to pull the feat out, despite all he had already done during the battle... And Killer grinned widely as Typhon rushed forwards only to see the angels beginning to vanish from the spot, the god looking up at the male liger with hate and fury... before Killer vanished as well.

In the brief moment of darkness that followed, while the shapes of the Meadows area were replaced quickly by those of Eaglenest, Killer found himself face to face with Gabriel.

Somehow, there was no doubt this time around: under the thick helm, dented and scratched and stained with blood from the long battle, the Arkangel was smiling.

Thank you, Lord Killer. You saved them all. I leave Heaven in your hands. Please, save Paradise, and make sure that it returns what it used to be.

Killer opened his mouth in shock, and tried to ask why Gabriel was saying that... but he only heard a last thank you from the Arkangel before the darkness vanished from around him, and he found himself in the vast courtyard of Eaglenest, surrounded by wounded, exhausted angels which collapsed to the ground, groaning when not screaming in pain from their many wounds.

Alexis smiled to him, standing at his right side, while Vesta was at his left... and as he looked over the yard, he spotted William, and Alcana, and Adrasthea, with Lemuel, Ira and Manticora.

He smiled to them all, and then winced as he felt his energies dangerously low, and his mind filled with voices. Thousands of prayers and benedictions and thanks, coming from the minds of the angels all around him and from Orion and from many other places.

The adrenaline flow in his veins started to drain, and his low energies made it hard to control the voices and muffle them out... they filled his mind entirely, and tiredness descended upon him.

His eyes felt incredibly heavy, and they were closing quickly.

He barely realized that he was falling, until he found himself sitting in the grass, Alexis's arms wrapped around his as she let her head drop tiredly over his shoulder, and he whispered: "This time I really, really need some rest..."

Alexis kissed his shoulder lovingly, and he was pretty sure she had whispered him good night, when he tried to say the same while he allowed himself to drop down on his back, his eyes closing as he laid down in the soft grass.

And then, finally, all was silence and darkness.