Chasing a God

Gehain ran in great strides, leaping miles with a single bound as he evaded the Demon King chasing after him. The frenzied creature was frothing at the mouth with wide eyes and gnashing teeth while wrapped in a space-distorting cloak of darkness. They had left all signs of Ischuros far behind. The farmer god kept his teary eyes locked in front, not daring to check the progress of his pursuer. 'Why? Why did I just stand there and watch?' droplets fled his puffing cheeks while the wind kicked up by his powerful strides buffeted his unblinking eyes.

"Bring me back my meal, little god!" The Demon King snarled through spittle flecked lips, his reddened eyes giving tell to the madness lurking underneath. The air around him spun against itself, tearing under the immense pressure of the darkness that cloaked the one who dealt with Death. Space was left tattered in the wake of the high-speed comet of pure destruction the Demon King became, only slowly repairing itself under the compulsion of existence.

Gehain refused to turn his head, speeding forward with earth-shattering leaps and powerful galloping, barely keeping himself ahead of the flying rocket of darkness that was Asmodeus, King of Nothing. He held Rygald's remains protectively in both arms against his chest, head ducked low. "You will devour him no more!" Gehain's rumbling baritone reverberated through the earth and skies, resounding like thunder. He kicked off the ground, dashing ahead in a whirl of dust and wind, leaving behind a meter deep crater where his heel impacted. 'If I can just keep up my stride, I can outpace him.' The desperate, hairy god tried to convince himself, even as the dark, dashing terror behind him radiated an aura of unmatched power.

The Demon King snarled and thrust three palms from his left side forward like a karate strike, one after another. Following the strikes, three different powers erupted from his palms consecutively, locking onto Gehain as their target. The first, a fiery red, explosive energy rushed ahead, spreading like a tidal wave, before impacting Gehain's broad back and detonating in a gorgeous bloom of white, red, and orange. The god of fertilization, farming, and physical strength was thrown from his churning feet into a high arc. As he propelled earth-wards like a meteor, Gehain curled around Rygald's skeleton in a fetal pose, and green plants sprang up from below, grasping at Gehain's falling form. Even as he struggled against the Divine Enemy he tried to protect his friend's remains.

The second energy, green like the color of Rygald's former skin, permeated the air like smoke, spreading at a precipitous rate. Everywhere it touched, life withered and malformed, becoming something between life and death, desiccated and miserable. The smoky, foggy energy spread beneath the downward rocketing Gehain annihilating or mutating his plants. The plant unlife whipped and snapped at the falling god, and he clenched his jaw, squeezing his eyelids shut in anticipation of the worst as he closed in on the necrotic energy.

The last palm strike released a dark, heavy power. It was in form similar to energy, but the depths of its darkness indicated an unnatural composition dissimilar to anything yet known in the universe. As the deathly green fog accompanied by his helpfully provided plants wrapped itself in tendrils around Gehain, the dark power spiraled through the air like a discus, rippling air trailing behind as it locked in place above the god being dragged down to the toxic dirt. The strength of its consumptive nature suspended Gehain between the influence of two powers, one dragging him down, the other sucking him up. All the while, the farmer god refused to unleash the bones of his comrade, blood seeping between his clenched teeth as he struggled against the forces holding him in place.

"Demon King!" Gehain bellowed, droplets of saliva mixed with blood spraying from his wrathful lips. Despair threatened to overwhelm him at the sight of the Demon King using his good friends personal power of undeath. "Don't you dare!" Captive and powerless, all he had left now were hollow threats. The Demon King descended to where the god was bound, a smile tempting his lips amidst his generally displeased expression.

"You are most troublesome." Asmodeus griped, even as his eyes shone with slight appreciation. "But you did give me a merry chase, so..." The Demon King licked his lips as he once more beheld the blackened bones of the god of undead. "...I'll give you a chance." The wrath that previously consumed him was completely forgotten in the face of his voracious appetite.

Gehain turned his bulging, tear-filled eyeballs towards the advancing furry-legged fiend, who strode his way cockily. "What- do you want- bastard?" Gehain coughed up a mouthful of blood as he glared at the Demon King with a mixture of hatred and terror.

"Drop the bones and you can go. Run as far as you like. I don't care in the slightest." Demon King Asmodeus put on his patented persuasive smile. "I just want to eat." He drooled through this low growl of a statement, looming over the trembling, captive god of farming.

Gehain looked silently at his friend's rotted corpse, struggling in his heart. 'I'll die. I don't want to die.' He struggled to stay firm in his resolve, to honor the last remaining dignity of the undead god, Rygald. However, the thought wouldn't leave his head no matter how hard he pushed it away, and its persistent appearance chipped away at Gehain's courage bit by bit. His heart was pounding in terror and torn by grief, and a feeling like suffocation welled up in his chest and throat, so overwhelmed by sorrow was he. "Ghaaagh!" Gehain unleashed a piercing cry of anguish to the dark, cloudy skies before dropping Rygald's bones.

The second the bones left Gehain's grip, the black plane above and the tendrils below vanished. Without another word or gesture, Gehain fled the scene as fast and as far as he could. "Good boy." The Demon King cackled, then scooped up his treasure by the skull. "Now, become me, god called Rygald." His long tongue flicked through his jagged teeth and over his scaled lips and he opened his maw with a broad grin. Inside his throat a swirling pit of endless darkness opened up, as if to swallow the universe. The scaly hand clutching all that remained of the god Rygald drew ever closer to the awaiting jaws of unending consumption.

However, right before the Demon King tossed his meal down his anticipative gullet, he screeched and tossed the bones to the dirt with a clatter. "You son of a bitch! Mind my place, huh!? You really almost tricked me. F****!" Asmodeus seethed and pitched a fit, kicking up mounds of dirt and rocks with his powerful hooves. "I won't stand for it!" His face wrinkled in lines that should never be present on any kind of face, whether draconic or humanoid. He leapt to the skies and soared back in the direction of Triac, high above the atmosphere.

Triac stood stolid and unmoved, awaiting the incensed Demon King with folded arms and twinkling eyes. "Something wrong?" He asked in a deadpan manner.

"Mother****er" The Demon King snarled, and a stroke of lightning pierced the void of space to strike near where he stood.

"Careful whom you curse, and where." Triac warned with relish.

A puff of smoke escaped the Demon King's muzzle as he huffed in discontent. "You placed an immutable destiny on my meal before I could finish. That's a dirty trick, Creator!"

Triac smiled dispassionately, but his eyes glimmered brightly like a thousand resplendent stars. "That destiny was given him long before he came into your clutches, foul thing. The fact that you noticed so late... Well I guess you must be slipping." With that, Triac vanished from the spot, leaving the Demon King to seethe alone.

Eyes narrowed to a knife's edge, the Demon King muttered after the departed Triac. "That's not the last you'll hear from me. I'm free to roam now, and I know where you live." Turning his attention back to the planet he subjugated, the Demon King's eyes widened. The tower was torn asunder, two of his new subordinate gods were on the brink of death, and the entire city of Ischuros was scarred by signs of battle. The area surrounding the academy grounds now resembled a wasteland, even the bodies of the soldiers left behind by Urmu were reduced to mere dust.

Asmodeus jaw slowly dipped lower and lower as he scanned the chaotic sight; deep fissures lined the streets of the city, ash and soot were drifting in the wind, coating everything, and in a section of streets near the palace multiple buildings were reduced to rubble. Suddenly from Asmodeus' throat leapt a "Heh."

His left eyelid scrunched into itself as the right one flew open, his draconic lips twisting into a malformed smile. "Hehhehhehahahaha! It's incredible! I love it!" The mad Demon King laughed manically as he delighted in the destruction set before him. "I must have more! With more conflict comes more powers, and more powers bring more names." The King of Nothing licked his lips with anticipation. "But most importantly it will be entertaining as hell." With a flash of fire, the Demon King vanished from the heavens, returning to his sub-surface headquarters.