Won't Die So Easily

Shiva's smile grew wider as he landed more and more hits. Freya was panicking, and even when she attacked, her moves were sloppy and barely inflicted damage. She couldn't possibly keep up with Shiva at the pace he was going. It was a gamble on Shiva's part, but it was more than effective. He used all of his excess mana to strengthen his own body, completely overwhelming Freya. Even her healing couldn't keep up with the fast pace, and the stress she endured from feeling overpowered and overwhelmed only intensified. If Shiva could continue his attack, no matter what she did, she would be defeated.

"You dare hit a woman?!-" Freya managed to squeeze out a single sentence before she got hit square in the face. Her body wasn't even able to fly away before she got hit again.

Shiva planned to end the fight with a single attack. A singular punch with every bit of mana infused at the point of impact would be enough to destroy her whole body. Freya looked up, clenching her stomach in pain from the numerous strikes throughout the battle. She suddenly began to cough up blood, feeling her body weaken with every passing second. The black flame was still burning, growing hotter and bigger for every second that passed. Freya realized that it was too late. Even if she used her holy energy to remove the flame, she wouldn't have any defenses left and would die anyway. It was only after that realization that a phrase popped into her head. She didn't remember ever having heard it before, but it felt natural, more like a command than anything. "If you're ever to be killed, make sure to inflict as much damage as possible."

Suddenly, a massive amount of energy was released. The energy had a complete pure white color. It expanded and filled the zone they were in. Both the flames that were stuck to her body like glue and the fire that had originally encased them were completely removed. Shiva felt an immense amount of pain as the energy surrounded them fully. Shiva could feel how his skin started burning, how his body slowly became weaker. He screamed for two reasons – loud and animal-like in pain, but also the kind of scream animals make before they begin fighting to show dominance. Despite his scream, Freya couldn't even hear it. She wasn't fully conscious herself either. Her eyes had rolled back, and she was fighting through pure survival instinct. Shiva released even more of his mana before running towards her.

Shiva hit her with all he had, leaving no single fraction of mana anywhere else except for his arm. Because of that, most of his body had burnt up. His face was on the verge of falling apart, the skin which covered his arms and torso was drooping, and the pain was unbearable. Yet, there was still some motivating factor that made it possible for him to continue fighting. Whatever it took, he just didn't want to have to do it again. The punch landed square in her face with so much power that most of her upper body got destroyed with it. She wouldn't have been able to dodge that attack either way, and she managed to do a significant amount of damage on him, but she still fell short in experience and utilization, leaving her ultimately defeated.

As soon as the hit landed, all the holy energy in the air dispersed, leaving nothing but a big black cloud that covered it all. The sound from the impact echoed throughout the hole, and another crater had been created under his feet as a result. Ragaja, who was watching from a far distance, saw the final outcome of the battle. Shiva was barely able to stand, with most of his body on the verge of breaking completely. Bits of his skin, flesh, muscle, and blood covered the crater where he stood. The only thing that remained of Freya was her lower body until it slowly disappeared, having returned to Velios. Shiva could still not see properly, even minutes after the fight had ended. Shiva was breathing heavily, and it seemed that, no matter how much, he still needed more air. Most of his internal organs were already destroyed, and he himself was on the verge of death. The only reason he was alive at all was because he was a slight bit faster than the energy that was consuming him.

Shiva's body then suddenly began falling to the ground. Ragaja didn't know what he was supposed to do. He knew what Shiva was and he knew that he had caused a bunch of destruction to his country, but he still had a natural urge of wanting to help him for his own reason. His body was now moving on its own, running towards Shiva. When he eventually arrived, he noticed that Velios was already there, having caught Shiva's body as it rested on his shoulder. "Oh, Ragaja, did you watch the fight?" Velios spoke calmly and softly, as if he had already forgotten what had happened. Ragaja wasn't sure if he could answer. His face was full of doubt, and he still didn't know what to do or if he did the right thing. He regretted that he had punched Velios, he regretted that he had said those things, and he regretted that he let it all get so easily to his head, but Velios had long since forgiven him. It was just a matter of time until he fully realized that himself.

"I'm going to need that..." Velios muttered the words to himself as he pushed Shiva's body to a standing position. Shiva wasn't even sure of what was happening around him. He could feel his body suddenly falling, and then it was caught. He couldn't hear a thing, and what he saw was just a blurry mess. Even so, he could distinguish Velios by a faint smell. It wasn't anything special, but demons are famous for having a high level of senses, and his sense of smell seemed to be the only one he could rely on at the moment. "V-Velio-" Shiva's head was sliced off in a quick motion. Shiva hadn't even noticed or felt anything himself as his head remained in place. It didn't dawn on him that anything had happened before Velios had grabbed his hair and solely lifted his head, carrying it away. "What did you do?" Ragaja was left shocked. He couldn't see what Velios had done. The only thing he essentially could see was that Velios had pulled off Shiva's head without putting any effort into it. Shiva's body eventually fell to the ground.

"Oi, Velios, what are you doing?" Shiva's voice was weak, but he could still speak, despite having only his head remaining. Ragaja was left utterly speechless at the sight of a mere head being able to talk. "Don't worry. I don't plan to do anything wicked or psychopathic this time. I'm just going to see if I can heal you with only your head remaining. Or would you rather die?" Velios still held onto him by the hair as the head was essentially flying in the air, having no attached body to speak of. "I-I think I'll go with the former..." His voice was still weak, but Shiva showed no signs of actually dying. He just looked a lot more tired than usual. "I've already drained a bunch of my mana, so I don't know if I'll be able to, but I'll try." Velios lifted Shiva's head slightly into the air before channeling a ton of his mana into Shiva. The mana was powerful, making nearby pebbles and Shiva's hair fly. Ragaja watched in horror as Shiva's body began to grow back from the neck down, starting with his spine and then continuing with the rest of the bones, nerves, blood cells, blood streams, and vital organs until he eventually looked like a new version of himself. He even looked cleaner than before.

"I don't get it... how do you have so much mana?" Shiva was confused as he let the healing play out. He was grateful that he hadn't died, but he had already received the explanation that he would have been able to be revived either way. "I might have much mana, but after this, I'll be completely exhausted. I don't think I'd be able to summon even Freya, let alone all of the dragons. You're quite mana-heavy." Velios healed him up completely, letting his body fall to the ground as it fully healed. "It's not my fault that I need a bunch of mana!" Shiva turned around and was now slightly mad at Velios, even though it was a joke. "Come on, I healed you up so that we could fight. Come here now..." Shiva suddenly froze up before turning around to look at Velios' sly smile. "Never!" Shiva began trying to run away. Only after he was caught did he realize what he had done. Normally, he wouldn't have any say, and he knew the rules and what happened when he broke them. It was at that moment he realized that he was in trouble.

"Wait...! Wait! I'm sorry! I didn't... No...!" Shiva was being dragged by his collar. "I'll give you a choice for this one. We'll still fight, but I'll let you choose whether I use purely physical attacks or purely magic attacks. I will not defend my body with mana in any way either way. I'll also be fighting blindfolded, I'll give you the option to completely remove one of my limbs, and I'll let you choose another handicap. And let's make it... that you win if you land even a single hit? You won't have to fight me for too long that way. Does that sound fair enough to you?" Velios had a genuine smile on his face as he was in a good mood. Shiva's expression was that of fear. There was no way that Velios actually meant what he said. Shiva could just force him not to use one of his legs, and he could easily land an attack. But, was there really not a single catch? Is Velios the type of person to give such easy challenges, especially to someone that tried to run away? The answer to the former is yes, and the answer to the latter is no.