The End of a World

The echoes of swords colliding, rippled across the field, along with the random spurts and cracks, from fissures popping up, as a result of tectonic plates, slowing down and crashing into one another. The planet's destruction was in progress, but nothing could shake the General's focus, as he tried to get the upper hand against the Dark King."Terra Arts, Revolving Dome!" He yelled as quakes reverberated throughout their vicinity, then large walls rose and encircled them, before covering the sky in a complete dome of magma. Twice the size of a baseball field.It began swirling in a circle, with the viscosity of lava flowing down a volcano. Even under the relentless tremors of earthquakes around the planet, the dome still maintained itself, with tremendous heat and pressure.Rael looked all around him. Noticing he had blocked all of his exits with the support of the planet's iko. It wouldn't be easy for him to escape. "Making your own coffin old man?" He still managed to mock as he gathered energy and desperately searched for a way out.However, Roku ignored him and continued his task, preparing his stage. "Forbidden Art, Wrath of the Terracotta." Rael watched as blood trailed out of the General's mouth, along with an unbothered smile. "No, this casket, was built with you in mind."He began backing away, as Rael glanced around and noticed thousands of Azurian soldiers, made out of magma, rising out of the walls, ceiling, and ground. Each of them roared war cries, echoing in an explosive rhythm, and then without hesitation, they all charged the king at full speed.He cut down as many as he could but was completely outnumbered in moments. Some pounding down on him and the remaining exploding on touch.Roku continued his assault and raised his hand, high above his head. The walls seemingly started to pulse as if they were alive, pumping more lava out of the ground and running it through its veins to the center of the ceiling. Which morphed into a sky cannon, seconds from erupting.Blood dripped down, his nose, yet he fought on, yelling at the top of his lungs. "Forbidden Art, Terra Liberation!"A laser beam of burning lava burst out of the cannon, absolutely destroying the entire domain, yet the walls still held up and contained the blast. With the disappearance of the king's iko below, Roku finally felt a bit of relief knowing there was no way he could move with the terracotta holding him down.He let up, as the dome walls began to fall apart. He felt his chest, feeling many organs, beginning to fail. Tears, forced him to look up at the ash-coloured sky, remembering Two and his family.However, Rael's voice shook him back to reality. "Unfortunately that wasn't enough."As the smoke cleared, The General was shocked to see the king, still standing amongst frozen and broken Terracotta soldiers. Each climbing over each other and trying to reach him. The ground he was standing on, was carved out of its surroundings and pressed far below ground level.The biggest shock to him though, was Rael's appearance. "A Lost One..." He murmured to himself, as he coughed more blood.Rael took a deep breath, simmering in all of the dark energy, smothering him. "Not many people have driven me this far... Congrats, now I'm mad."Dark energy reinforced the elemental phenomenon revolving around the king, as he crouched down, with one hand on his sheathed sword. The skull on his face, painted for war in blood, began to crack. "Hod Erebos!"Black lightning, ripped through the remnants of the ceiling, and raced toward him, then surged into his sword. A thin film of ice condensed air pressure, all over his sword, concentrating an all-black coat of lava, as he quickly unsheathed it and leaped with frightening speed, off the pillar holding him up from the abyss.Roku braced himself, preparing his defense, however in the split second that he blinked, Rael had teleported, less than a meter in front of him and beheaded him. All before he could react, as he passed by gracefully.The General watched his world tilt upside down, as Rael sheathed his sword back and allowed his skull to break off completely. "Forgive me, Ak-"Rael obliterated the remains of his body before they could hit the ground. Staying true to his name. "I'm honoured for the fight, but I disliked how much, you put me through. You may live on in my memory."His side effects began to creep up on him, making it hard for him to breathe and remain standing. Regardless, he would have to find the strength. He cursed as he turned around, seeing Calypso, floating right behind him, with her streaking, streaks of silver and a flaming white-hot sphere of fire, floating in front of her palm."Did you miss me?" She asked as she launched her gift, with deadly speed.Akio vs Atlas and Mado..."So, you've chosen to lose yourself?" the Elder asked, watching the king's disturbing transformation. He shook his head in disgust. "Savages till the end." He concluded, before launching the sphere at them. "Terra Art, Celestial Descent."The sphere began to descend at a rapid pace. Atlas glanced at Mado, hoping he might still have his wits about him, as a bead of sweat rolled down his cheek.Quickly, he thrust his hands in front of him, producing a condensed sphere of lava, then erupted it, trying to push back Akio's attack. However, instead, he noticed his feet, digging into the dirt. Panic struck his mind, as his life started to flash before his eyes.Suddenly a beam of black fire and lightning, crashed into the sphere, stopping its acceleration. The emperor looked over to the king, seeing him still in his lost form, but choosing survival over death. Relieved, he turned back and yelled, following Mado's roar.The two pushed back with all of their might, resulting in the collision of forces in a draw, with a magnificent explosion. Magma rained everywhere, as tension built up between the two parties."My, my, I didn't think you had that much fight, left in you." The Elder broke the silence while stroking his beard, his eyes went wide, as he turned around to block the king, teleporting in with a sneak attack. With ease, he blocked a few more, then punched him back down into the ground.Atlas was next, using the distraction to crash into him as they both locked hands and spiralled downwards. Akio used the momentum to break one of his hands-free and slammed the emperor into the ground, then threw him, while kicking a few boulders towards his direction, to keep him down."You're making this too easy." He said, covering his hands in magma, just as Mado appeared once more at the worst possible time. The Elder's fist connected with the skull covering his face and cracked it up.The king recoiled back a few meters, slightly withstanding the strike, as dark smoke, began to escape the mask. He roared back in pain.'He's getting stronger.' Akio thought to himself. Then stepped hard, while he hammering his fist down in the air, simultaneously sinking Mado, deep into the planet. Leaving him to be attacked constantly, by the wrath of the planet.He winced as Atlas appeared behind him, trying to jam a ball of green fire into his back. However, the Elder had already anticipated him and sidestepped. Allowing him to pass by, with a parting gift in the form of his own ball of condensed lava, lodged into his gut.Akio smiled, seeing the emperor refuse to give up, as he rose out of the smoke and debris, hundreds of meters away with his strength still rising, as anger and desperation took over. At the same time, he felt tremors from down below, from the king, making his way back up into the sky.The Elder watched him erupt out and land, panting and nearly out of breath. He noticed the left half of his skull still remained, with his clothes in tatters. Showcasing battle scars woven throughout his life, brandished all over his body.However Akio's grin got wider seeing the look on his face. Regardless, he braced himself, as his opponents yelled war cries, charging at him. "It's almost time. Just a bit more-"Black lightning cut him off, almost too quick for him to react as Atlas fired barrages of fire, at his location. He jumped back, as the smoke from the explosions, blocked his vision. Mado teleported in first, punching him, in the face, just as he landed. The Elder was stunned but didn't move more than a few centimetres, smiling. "Not bad."With quick reflexes, he slapped the king's fist to the side and socked him back into the distance. The emperor was next, however, his move was read with ease, as with his next few follow-ups, until he threw a roundhouse kick and managed to break Akio's arm, while he was trying to defend himself.He let out a wince of pain by mistake, which the emperor quickly noticed. The strain of holding Rennaya's strength and the damage he was taking, were starting to take a toll on his body.Atlas took the opportunity, lunging at him for the kill. However, a golem grabbed him from behind and suplexed him, with incredible force, while the elder followed up by blasting the both of them away with a quick beam of lava.He started to heave, it was getting harder for him to breathe. His body was beginning to give up and ask him to go to sleep. He shook his head, refusing to give up, as Mado appeared once more and was immediately sent back, as Atlas followed up.However, they kept coming back, over and over, making progress little by little on an immovable mountain, as the Elder, held on, coughing blood, and taking in more damage.Then he snapped. Tired of their onslaught.The next time the king appeared before him, he was greeted with a sphere of lava in his belly, detonating at a point-blank range. Sending flying uncontrollably, however, Akio managed to catch up to him. Striking him, each time he was about to descend."You, who was born in darkness, don't you realize that you are being tested the most?" He yelled at him.Mado raged, trying to recover himself. He had almost regained back all of his sanity, but his anger kept clouding his vision.Just as he thought, he had freed himself from Akio's combo, he was caught, with another strike to his back, as Akio reappeared with a blur, sending him back down to the ground. The Eder then followed up by landing with his entire might placed in his fist, knocking the king out temporarily.He jumped back looking for the emperor and smirked as he appeared just where he wanted him to be. He caught him by the neck, as Atlas struggled to free himself. "You will never rule in peace. You were never chosen. Accept your fate, you abhorrent imitation."His eyes went wide, as he watched the Elder pull back his other hand, while making fist, superheating to an intense heat, with a glove of lava. He yelled out as he struck him with ferocity. "Forbidden Art, Warriors Fist."The impact was bone-shattering, erasing the entire landscape, behind the emperor and depleting a major part of his lifespan's reserves. Every part of his body broke without fail, as he crashed, into a crumbling mountain.Akio looked down, seeing his body begin to crack and break apart. "I guess it's time, now. Rennaya is ready. I am ready." He spoke to himself, as Atlas appeared in the sky, in his basic form, but heavily injured. He noticed Mado, slowly getting up, but completely out of energy and the skull broken to pieces in his crash site.As the emperor's voice fazed in and out for him, he smirked, but was able to make out what he was saying. "Think about this! You'll be putting your people in danger! Your grandchild too! What will you gain from this senseless sacrifice!"A tear escaped his eye, but he shook his head, smiling with relief. "Ahh Atlas. My people will be fine, besides, your frustration is more than enough."He clasped his hands together in prayer formation. Sending the last of his energy into Rennaya's core.Atlas, gave up, seeing as it was too late, and started to flee, jetting away towards the sky. Mado noticed his takeoff, then glanced at Akio, who just smiled at him."None of you will be leaving here," the Elder stated, as he took a deep breath. "Forbidden Art, Underworld Rising."The king looked to the sky and immediately took off, choosing to fight another day. However, below him, hundreds of fissures, broke open, flooding the land with a sea of lava. Then hundreds of thousands of hands, rose out of the burning sea and grabbed hold of his left leg and Atlas's right before he could teleport.Dragging them both back down. They spun around and looked back at him, as he gave them, one last innocent smile. "Forbidden Art, Planetary Detonation!" He yelled as Rennaya's core imploded.