New Era

Akuro was caught off guard, though his aura absorbed the blast for the most part, a good portion of it still got through, throwing him back until he crashed into a tree.

'The hell?' He thought in shock, 'I should've absorbed the blast, how did he do that?!' Akuro had no time to process this as Onoma rushed forward, not willing to let up.

Akuro had no time to dodge and decided to raise a wall of his own aura to block Onoma's axe, but that was just the first part of Onoma's attack as red aura extended down his arm down to a sharp point. He thrust his arm into Akuro's shield, the red aura clashing with the dark. But Onoma's aura wasn't normal, Akuro could tell he was absorbing it, but for some reason it had no affect on Onoma's attacks, as if his reserves of energy were endless.

And then his attack broke through Akuro's barrier, Onoma's arm piercing through Akuro's chest, blood spraying through the air and dying the tree he was up against red.

"Sorry. You're a threat to my plans, so you must die." Onoma said with an almost bored tone. Then, to his surprise, Akuro grabbed Onoma's arm, holding it in place, then swung the scythe at his head. Onoma stopped the scythe, grabbing it and holding it inches away from him. Then he realized his mistake. He was trapped, if he tried to wrench his arm free or escape, Akuro would cut him down, and now that he was trapped, Akuro glared up at him with cold, dead eyes and a devilish smile.

"You're dead." Akuro hissed as a massive pool of aura swirled and condensed around them, becoming black storm of shadows. Onoma's seemingly endless amounts of aura only added to the amount Akuro was drawing in, until all of it condensed down to one small point of pitch black aura between them.

"Dark Implosion!" Akuro hissed as the small point of pressure then burst outward, expanding at a rapid pace and swallowing anything it came into contact with, obliterating his surroundings into nothing.

A moment later the aura fully dispersed, running its course of destruction. Akuro was left standing alone in a massive crater that was over twenty yards in diameter and over forty feet deep. In that moment visions of a man jogging down a trail, unconcerned about anything, being then swallowed up by a massive burst of shadows, as well as countless animals and insects meeting the same fate, but among none of these visions was Onoma's death.

'Damnit. He got away. Oh well, hopefully I made it clear enough that I want to be left alone and he doesn't come after me again.' Sirens could be heard faintly in the distance. 'Oi, I might've overdone it...' he thought, looking at the destruction around him. He then leapt out of the crater and headed towards the bustling city, away from the sound of blaring sirens.

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After walking around for a good hour or so, Akuro came upon a small house that seemed to be luxurious. He needed a place that was wealthy, but not too wealthy. He didn't want to draw any attention to himself, anymore than he already had anyway.

Akuro walked of the fancy steps to the plain white door and knocked, waiting for someone to answer. The door then swung open to reveal a pretty young girl a bit older than him with long black hair and hazel eyes.

"Um, yes?" She asked.

Akuro held out his hand and put on a warm smile. "Hello, my name is Akuro, and yours?"

"Umm, who are you exactly?" The girl asked, suspicious of him.

"I just told you, my name is Akuro."

"Yeah but, why are you here?"

Akuro sighed, becoming impatient, then let his aura surround her. The girl froze, an expression of confusion still on her face. 'It seems I can edit the memories of anyone with low amounts of aura, anyone like a god or a Deity I think I'd be unable to do this.' He thought as he changed around the girl's memories. He made her believe that he was her old childhood friend that she hadn't seen for a long time.

"Oh, Akuro!" The girl said when he was done. Apparently her name was Emma, he'd found this out while going through her memories. "Come in, my parents are at work so nobody's home right now."

Akuro followed Emma into the luxurious house. The house was spacious and the front door led directly into a hallway that led to the living room and, further down, the kitchen. Splitting off from the hallway was a flight of stairs going up to a second floor. "I see, and what are their jobs now?"

"They both work for some big company. It has pretty good pay, actually." She said and then she started talking about how she had lived over the years and how she'd been and the boys she'd met, but Akuro wasn't listening.

He sat on a leather couch in their spacious living room and pondered about the previous events. 'Onoma seems to have the ability to manipulate time, but that doesn't explain his excessive amount of aura. Does he just naturally have that? Are people born with more or less aura? Or maybe...'

Akuro remembered how Onoma had reversed his own wounds after he was hit the first time.

'Maybe that's it, he can reverse time on his own body, removing any negative conditions, including the usage of aura. So that's how he did it, and that's also how he had enough aura to then stop time and get away from my Dark Implosion. But why didn't he just freeze me in time and kill me? He could've done multiple times. Maybe he can't attack someone while their frozen for whatever reason?'

Akuro heard a click as Emma sat down and turned on the TV. The news channel was on.

"So, how's life been for you, Akuro?" Emma asked, pulling him back into the present.

"Umm, interesting, to say the least." He said.

"Interesting? How so?"

"Just a lot of stuff going on all at once, you know."

Then something caught both Akuro and Emma's attention on TV. "Just a short while ago a massive crater appeared in Tompkins Square Park, no one knows how it appeared, and officials are theorizing it was possibly an asteroid"

'Oh boy, it's already on the news... good thing I got outta there in time.' Akuro thought.

"An asteroid? But wouldn't there have be an earthquake from the impact? Or a big rock and not just a crater?" Emma said.

"You are wondering about that and not even affected by the fact there is a big crater basically in your backyard?" Akuro joked.

"Eh, it's New York." Emma laughed. Akuro's stomach growled then. "Are you hungry?" She asked.

"Ah, yeah, I'm starving actually."

"Alright, I know an amazing cafe we can go to!"

"Oh, sounds... awesome.." Akuro said with a forced smile. 'This chick is gonna be one of those, huh?'

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Akuro sat a table outside of a Starbucks coffee shop. He had been right about Emma, she was bubbly, obnoxious and annoying, but thanks to her he had food and even coffee, so he dealt with her all the same. After eating, Akuro sat and observed his surroundings. He had died at the age of seventeen and in the 2028, and over the few short years he had been dead nothing about the world seemed to of changed. 'Well it's only been four years, I don't know why I would expect much to change.' He thought. He also found it strange that, for him, it wasn't long ago since he'd awoken from his spiritual slumber, only about three days, and yet on earth it had been four years. He briefly thought of his mother and his sister, but quickly pushed those memories aside.

Akuro was wondering whether or not there was a GameStop or an anime shop near them when Emma suddenly got up looking at her phone. "I'm sorry... I have to, something just happened. I'll talk with you later.." then she quickly ran off, her face pale.

'What was that all about?'he wondered, then remembered there were a total of four other Deities and it was entirely possible they were going around causing problems. He wondered if that had any connection to Emma's strange behaviors.

"Seems you found yourself a crazy one, aye?" Came an all too familiar and irritating voice. Akuro turned to see Darius approaching his table and taking the seat that Emma had left vacant. "How you enjoying your second life?"

"What do you want?" Akuro asked bluntly.

"Chill, I just wanna talk, I'm not in the fighting business like that brute, Onoma. I just wanna chat with you." Darius said, his hands up.

"About what?"

"About Raijin." Darius said.

Akuro's eyes narrowed. "What now, does he really intend to try and kill me even after my reincarnation?"

"Mmm, yes and no. He came to me shortly after we all got our weapons and offered me a deal."

"A deal?"

Darius nodded, then reached into his pocket and pulled out a knife that looked like it had been shattered and glued together multiple times over. "He gave me this dagger, which has the ability to shatter the soul of anyone it draws blood from, and in return he told me I had to kill you with it."

"That thing? Kill me? It doesn't look like it could cut through butter." Akuro said.

"It's sharper than you think, it's a magical weapon after all."

"So then, do you actually intend to kill me?" Akuro asked, allowing his pressure to extend to Darius.

"Cool your jets, man. The power I wished for is not as strong as I at first thought it would be, and not only that but I'm not much of a fighter. Plus, I saw your fight with Onoma earlier and I know you made that big ass crater, there's no way in hell I'd stand a chance against you." Darius placed the dagger on the table between him and Akuro. "So no, I don't intend to kill you, actually, I want to make a truce, and to show I mean what I say, I'll tell you my powers, but trust goes both ways, I show you my cards," he placed a finger on the dagger, "you show me yours."

"How do I know everything you're saying isn't a lie?" Akuro asked, fully aware of the fact that Darius was not one to be trusted easily.

"What do you mean? I just told you about Raijin's scheme, did I not? I even showed you the weapon, it's on the table man, I've basically already shown you half of my hand." Darius said, waving his hands. "Look, I have no reason to lie to you, I mean the gods fear your power, why would I side with them over you?"

"I never said you would side with them, I'd assume you are siding with yourself and only doing this because you gain from it." Akuro pointed out.

"Ouch, that hurts, for you to assume I am so selfish. Although I guess you could say I am siding with you because your strong and your strength benefits me if I'm on your side, but does that really count as being selfish?" Darius shook his head, "You do realize the other Deities will come for you, right? I mean, every time there are souls chosen to be Deities there is war. You won't be able to just sit idly by, the others will come for you eventually, it's only natural considering your strength."

"As I've said, if anyone stands in my way, I will kill them." Akuro stated.

"Yeah, and it seems they can't kill you, I mean I saw that wound you received from Onoma, but it just healed within an instant. I'm guessing that means you're immortal, am I wrong?"

"Are trying to gather intel on me or something?"

"Man, you've really got trust issues. No, I'm not. I'll say it again, I'm here to make a truce. Onoma is a problem that not only stands in my way but also yours. He poses a threat to me especially since he is immortal and I'm not. Not only that but the crazy chick that was kissing God's ass earlier and saying she wanted to 'purge humanity of sins' is nowhere to be found, which is a cause for worry if you ask me."

Akuro leaned forward in his chair. "How do you know all this?"

"It's because of my powers. I wished for the powers of the Norse god Loki, which doesn't come with much power but it lets me become invisible and see things others cannot. Honestly the power is weaker than I'd hoped for but it's good for gathering intel."

"The power of the trickster, huh?"

"Come on, you still don't trust my word? I literally just told you my powers. Plus, think about it, if you have me on your side I can gather information on the other Deities for you. All you have to do is trust me, and tell me your power as well, then I can work with you." Darius spoke, his hands doing motions as if he were trying to paint an image of what he was saying in the air as he spoke.

'If he telling the truth his abilities could come in handy. Especially if Onoma intends to attack me again. Oi, I'm just not sure if I should trust him...' Akuro glanced down at the dagger.

"There is something big coming, I can sense it." Darius said, "With the way the gods were behaving as well as the immense power I sensed from the other Deities, I feel that something big is gonna happen soon. Something that will shake the earth to its core. And in preparation of it, I'm making as many allies as I can. So then, do you accept my offer?"

Akuro looked back up at Darius. 'Screw it, we'll see how it goes.' "Fine. I'll trust you, for now. Just be aware, if I find out you are up to anything fishy," Akuro's eyes became pale white and strong pressure emitted from him, though it was not visible. "All bets are off."