Serpents of the Apocalypse

"Shred them, Kebia." Sallius waved her hand and a gust of cold wind exploded through the air and the crystalline serpent of ice rushed forward like a striking viper, its body decimating the landscape and tearing it to shreds, cutting deep gashes I to the earth. Kebia was like a glacier crashing across the landscape as it charged for Hecate.

The death goddess flicked her fingers, her expression more concentrated now, as she made Edo appear between her and the serpent. The reanimated demon used his entire body to clasp his arms about the massive snake's snout, his feet sinking deep into the earth as he was forced back by the tremendous power of Kebia.

Hecate grinned. "You can't even hope to touch me! I've never once been wounded in combat!"

"Oh yeah?" Came a wrath filled voice from behind Hecate. Razzaiel, cinders and flames flowing from her eyes and hair, her talons glowing with heat, stood behind Hecate.

"What?!" Hecate attempted to move, but she wasn't experienced in hand to hand combat by any means and she didn't move fast enough as flaming talons raked across her body, leaving deep, smoking red gashes in her body and sending her flying off of the pillar and hitting hard against the sheet of ice below.

As Hecate lost focus, Edo's body seemed to go limp. A loud hiss came from Kebia as it plowed the reanimated demon over, obliterating his body beneath is massive body.

"Damn you..." Hecate hissed, getting back to her feet. Then Sallius noticed something.

"Your wounds don't seem to be healing. I take it you are one of the few unlucky gods born without immortality then?" She spoke.

"You shut your damn mouth!" Hecate screamed, "I am done playing, I don't like this game anymore!!" A shimmer of aura flashed over Hecate's body as she was about to go invisible, but then the hiss of searing flames came as a wave of fire flew at her. Hecate jumped back, her skin being seared as the skin of her arm turned black.

The death goddess turned her eyes up to Razzaiel, who stood atop the pillar. The glowing flames cast a shadow over her face so her features could not be seen, only the scarlet glow of her eyes and blazen hair could be seen as a cyclone of flames twisted around her figure.. and then the flames began to take the shape of a massive coiled serpent much like Sallius's.

"You'll pay for mocking our comrades." Razzaiel hissed. "Scorch her, Karna."

In unison the two massive serpents rushed at Hecate, the flames and ice colliding in a thunderous explosion of steam and destruction, the sound of Hecate's screams drowned out by the hissing flames and ice.

Imagine the pain of your body being frozen and burned at the same time all at once, accompanied with the pain of your soul being shattered, as Sallius's ice pulls out the soul and encased it in its crystalline form, then the flames burn away the ice, scorching the soul until it is nothing.

This pain is was the goddess of Hecate had to endure as she was obliterated completely.

The serpents that had now merged together ceased any motion at all, the only sound upon the battlefield to be heard was that of the crackling flames and shifting ice. Then, in a brilliant show if shimmering shards of ice that broke down into minuscule specks of light that glimmered in the moonlight, accompanied with scarlet embers that danced across the sky.

"Is she dead?" Razzaiel asked, the flames still engulfing her hair and emitting from her eyes.

"I'd assume so. No one has ever survived the Serpents of Apocalypse." Sallius spoke.

But they were wrong. The sisters had underestimated their opponent to an immense degree. They didn't consider how Hecate could possibly be able to manipulate so many broken souls.

A sudden burst of light filled the desert, casting an ominous rose purple glow over the desert sand.

"I don't think you understand how I work.." came Hecate's voice. "I may be the puppet master.." but it was deeper, "but who is to say that I am not also a puppet?"

At the center of the light rose a figure.. it was Gallatine, but his aura had changed, a mixture of red and purple that created a strange, dark rose color. Strings of aura, millions of them, flew from Gallatine's body and attached to the army of souls.

Sallius's eyes widened as she realized what Hecate's true ability was now. Hecate was an immortal god, all gods were, she didn't know why she was being so dumb assuming Hecate wasn't, after all she's a goddess of death. It just wasn't her body that was immortal.. it was her soul.

"What's going on..?" Razzaiel asked in awe.

"Hecate doesn't have a body of her own. It's as she said, she is both puppet and puppet master. She can transfer her soul from body to body, and her soul can't be shattered." Sallius explained.

"What?! But that's.."

"It is true. I am among one of the strongest of all the gods for the simple fact it is impossible to bring me down. No matter what you do, I can't die, you can break my physical form, but you'll never shatter my soul." Hecate laughed madly. It sent shivers down Sallius's spine, she's never heard Gallatine laugh like that, and it was strange to hear someone else speak with his voice. It was like an insult.

"How do we beat that..?" Sallius asked herself softly.

"Like we always do.." Razzaiel growled, her flames beginning to grow and churn madly, "WE WILL OBLITERATE EVERYTHING, LEAVE NOTHING FOR HER TO TRANSFER HER SOUL INTO!!"

The massive shifting shape of Karna's body formed, its magma and flame form decimating and scorching anything it slithered over.

"You really think your powers will work on your dear old friend? I mean, wasn't there a reason Gallatine was the strongest of the Archdemons as one point?" Hecate spoke, then a sword formed in Gallatine's hand and he swung it through the air, a wave of aura blasting through Karna's body, and the instant the wave hit the serpent, the flames disappeared instantly. "He can negate any aura attack with his own."

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Anubis's pressure had now grown exponentially beyond what it should've. Sedori simply didn't understand how his power had increased so high, they hadn't hit him with very powerful attacks.. it made no sense.

He watched as Onoma, his body healed over now, froze Anubis in time and rushed the god, his fist crashing into Anubis's face. The god didn't even flinch from their attacks anymore, and the time bending didn't seem to work either. Anubis clasped Onoma's wrist, bent it and shattered his arm in half before flipping him through the air and vaulting him into a massive boulder, decimating his bones.

The souls began to swarm on Onoma, stabbing and ripping him apart while he was down.

"Onoma!" Sedori cried, but in that same instance Anubis crashed his shoulder into Sedori's jaw, knocking his body up. Anubis then grabbed Sedori's head, spun and slammed him to the ground, completely crushing his skull and sending shockwaves through the ground before he kicked Sedori over onto his back and planting his foot on the demon's chest.

"You are so pathetic. The fact that demons and deities honestly had the audacity to challenge the gods." Anubis hissed, smoke rolling from his jaws. His deep red, burgundy aura caused the air around him to shift and distort. "Consider this your divine punishment."

Anubis held his Khopesh to Sedori's throat. He could feel the power that emanated from the weapon.. even though it wasn't even touching him, it felt like it was cutting through his throat. Why was Anubis's power so immense now..? It just made no sense..

Then both he and Anubis froze, an intense pressure freezing them completely, their bodies growing tense.

"The hell?" Anubis growled, raising his head and facing the direction of the pressure's origin. "So the brat is still alive."

A red glow flashed across the sky as the souls that now piled on Onoma suddenly burst, flying through the air, revealing what was below. Onoma rose to his feet, the ground cracking around him as his pressure caused the sand to fly, sending it away in all directions. Crimson aura flew from his body in all directions, the pressure of his presence making him seem larger than he was. He strode towards Anubis, his head tilted as red energy glided from his body and his eyes like after images. It was like crimson flames were flowing violently around his body. The blades at his back spun around the disc like a clock on the fritz.

"You really think you have a-" Anubis began in a cocky tone, then Onoma disappeared, instantly reappearing in front of Anubis, his fist crashing into the god's lower jaw. Then Onoma disappeared again, dodging Anubis's counter, and reappearing above him, his foot crashing down on Anubis's head, and then he vanished again. Then he suddenly appeared below Anubis, swinging his axe in an uppercut, sending Anubis flying into the air. What happened then was hard to understand, as Onoma began to flash from point to point around Anubis midair, every time he appeared he landed a blow on the god from a different angle. From Sedori's view it looked like a hundred different Onoma's were attacking Anubis all at once from different angles.

Then Onoma stopped, appearing above Anubis, axe raised above his head. As Anubis's body was struck with the weapon, the god streaked down out of the sky like a crashing jet, crashing into the earth so hard it caused the land to shatter apart and split, creating a massive wave of rubble that carved a deep crater into the earth, a shockwave blasting the sand into the sky.

Onoma began to lower from the sky, hovering over his destruction. Sedori watched in awe. He couldn't understand how a boy who had just recently learned to use his Aura Cloak could be so strong.. if he kept this up, could it be possible that Onoma was the one meant to take down Akuro?

But he'd spoken to soon, and as he watched Anubis rise from the ground, his body shifting and warping, power exuding from him in shockwaves of pressure, Sedori finally understood Anubis's ace in the hole.

He didn't only absorb aura attacks...

Physical attacks also made Anubis stronger.. meaning Onoma's onslaught of attacks.. only made their situation that much worse.