Chapter 38: Desire To Win

"What should we do? Leave it to them?" 

Roxanne asked Raphael. 

"Realistically speaking, they have the best shot at killing him and they seem certain…" 

Zyna and Xeroi retreated to their side in an instant. 

"Let's move. This fight is about to get even more destructive." 

Zyna said. 

"The citizens should've been evacuated by now. That means they can use their Lord abilities to the max." 

Xeroi added. Raphael nodded at his siblings and they all started retreating at full speed. 

A blue glow engulfed Kelz and Zagon. Their eyes sharpened as they faced the enemy in front of them. Giovanni took a fighting stance and released a low breath. He took a step forward and vanished the next second. Kelz and Zagon thrust out their palms in unison. 

*BOOM!* 

The earth burst open as Giovanni's kick clashed with their palms. He was blown back by a shockwave. The two ran after him, gathering light around their fists. They punched out and two giant blue light fists rushed at him. Giovanni slid on the ground trying to stop himself. The fists fell down on him. He thrust his palm overhead. A shockwave hit the fists and propelled them back. Zagon and Kelz popped up at his flanks while his arms were overhead. They punched out and a shockwave hit his sides. He was sandwiched between the two forces. 

"Ugh!" 

With a groan, he swung his hands down. Blue light flashed and cut through the invisible force. He jumped in the air and evaded kicks from the two. He gathered Essence at his feet and shot down. Kelz and Zagon flew back. The ground lifted in waves before breaking apart. Dust clouds covered the area. A blue light flashed and Kelz was cut across the torso. Zagon clapped his hands and strong winds blew away the clouds. He blinked and a foot was inches away from his face. Kelz punched out and hit Giovanni before he could hit Zagon. He was blasted away. Zagon chased after him as he bounced off the ground. 

Zagon aimed a kick at Giovanni's head. While aiming the kick, he noticed Giovanni pointing his hand at him. 

"Heh." 

Giovanni grinned and flicked his finger. A sharp force hit Zagon over the heart. His kick missed and he stumbled back. Kelz shot past him with a flying kick. Giovanni was kicked in the chest and stomped into the ground. A crater opened up underneath him. Giovanni opened his mouth and light started gathering in it. 

"?!" 

Kelz saw this and retreated. Giovanni immediately sprang to his feet and laughed. 

"You actually thought I was gonna shoot a beam?!" 

"…Considering everything else you did, I wouldn't call it a stretch." 

"I guess right." 

Giovanni vanished and popped up in front of Zagon. 

"HA!" 

He released a shout and a blue beam fired from his mouth and blasted Zagon away. 

"Cough! Cough!" 

He started coughing as blood drained from his mouth. 

"That hurt like a motherfucker! I'm never doing that again!" 

"Good to know." 

Kelz appeared above him and clapped. Two giant blue hands slammed together with Giovanii in the middle. 

"You can do that?!" 

Giovanni shouted with excitement as he stumbled back and forth. 

"You're not the only genius here." 

Zagon popped behind him wielding two swords made of Essence. He slashed Giovanni across his chest, forming a X wound. 

"We can make up things as we go along too!" 

He thrust the swords at the center of the X. Giovanni vanished before it could hit. 

"So we're making this a competition?" 

He appeared a few hundred meters away. 

"I like that!" 

He swung his hand to the side and an orb of blue light appeared behind him. The orb doubled and doubled and doubled. The night lit up as hundreds of orbs appeared behind Giovanni. 

"The fuck?!" 

The twins couldn't believe their eyes. 

"Let's turn this party up!" 

The orbs started firing beams like machine guns. A storm of beams rushed at the two Lords. They thrust their hands in front of them and a wall of blue light appeared in front of them. 

*Boom**Boom**Boom**Boom**Boom* 

Numerous explosions erupted, destroying everything. Even flying outside the district and destroying buildings without discrimination. 

"What the fuck is this?! How can he do this shit?!" 

Zagon cried while trying to maintain his shield. 

"I mean, he should've exhausted the Essence inside him by now!" 

"He might be absorbing the Essence in the surroundings!" 

"What?! You mean like Blessing?! That's impossible!" 

"Father did tell us the Lord's abilities can be emulated only on a smaller scale! Maybe it's something like that!" 

"That's bullshit! He's a human!" 

"I've been wondering for a while, but what if he's getting help from our Gods?!" 

"Why would the Gods do that?!" 

Their conversation became more strained as the number of orbs behind Giovanni began to grow in number and size. 

"Lord Octivinus said he wanted to watch an entertaining battle! What if he helped him so—" 

(I'm gonna need to stop you right there.) 

A familiar and divine voice echoed in their head. 

"Your Holiness!" 

(Normally I would stay silent and observe but I can't allow you to tarnish my name.) 

Octivinus' voice had a slight annoyance in it. 

(I indeed wanted to watch an entertaining battle with my wife, but that person's intervention is an anomaly. In fact, his entire existence is an anomaly. He's something that can only be considered a glitch in the system.) 

"Meaning?" 

Kelz spoke with caution. 

(He's strong not because of any divine intervention. He's just that powerful.) 

"Fuck…" 

Zagon cursed. 

(Anyway, if you two want to win you need to evolve even further. After all, a normal Lord can't beat him.) 

"You mean?" 

(Become Gods. Right here, right now. You should know what I mean.) 

"Wait, isn't that a legend?" 

(Whether it stays a legend is up to you two.) 

The two silently looked at each other and nodded. They deactivated their shields and the beams rained down on them. 

"Hm?" 

Giovanni saw this and lifted his hand. The beams stopped before dispersing. The orbs disappeared soon after. The area was covered by smoke. 

"I can't sense their Essence?…They're either dead or..." 

A big grin crept on his face. 

"Or they're gonna do something incredible." 

Blue lights appeared in the smoke. The lights shaped like a pair of eyes. Another pair appeared beside it. Giovanni's smile dropped when another two pairs of eyes appeared above them. However, these eyes were hundreds of times bigger. These eyes weren't of humans, but beasts. 

"CAAAAAAW!!!!" 

"RAAAAAAH!!!!" 

Two deafening screeches reverberated and shook the entire island. Giovanni was hit by shockwave after shockwave and had to fight to keep himself grounded. The earth and the heavens trembled in the face of these screeches. The smoke cleared as the shockwaves continued to spread out. Giovanni's eyes widened. 

"The fuck I am looking at?" 

Before him was the scene of a giant bird made of blue flames. Beside the bird was a giant winged-serpent also made of blue flames. The bird floated above Kelz while the serpent coiled around Zagon. The four of them glared at Giovanni. 

"The Phoenix and the Serpent? The gods of this place?" 

Giovanni mumbled. The bird and serpent turned into streams of flames and flowed into the twins' bodies. Their Celestial Stones emitted a blinding light until it seemed as if they were releasing blue flames. Blue tribal markings appeared on their skin, forming a Phoenix or serpent over their hearts. Their hair grew wild and resembled blue flames burning majestically. They had turned— 

"They had an anime transformation?!" 

…Basically what Giovanni said. 

"I read about this in Feng's documents! Unlike their subjects, Lords don't use Blessings because they're always in an awakened state! However, there are legends of a special type of Blessing that allows a Lord to reach a state of Godhood!" 

Giovanni's grin was from ear to ear. 

"The Imperial Blessing!" 

He burst out laughing. 

"I don't need to fight you to know you two are on another level." 

He lowered his center of gravity and gathered essence around his feet and hands. 

"Let's get—" 

"We've already started." 

Zagon's voice suddenly came from behind him. 

"You're just too slow to realize yet." 

*BOOM!* 

The spot Giovanni stood exploded with blue flames. He screamed as he was caught in a pillar of flames. When the flames disappeared he fell to his knees. 

"To endure this long against us is a great feat." 

Zagon spoke while looking down at him. 

"However, we have officially a stage beyond your understanding." 

"…You know, I think you would learn by now that I'm the last person you should get cocky with." 

Hundreds of blue orbs surrounded the two of them. A snap resounded and they vanished without a trace the next instant. Giovanni looked towards Kelz who had her hand stretched out. 

"While it's true your Essence Manipulation skills are unprecedented, they are now inferior to ours." 

She pointed her finger at him. Light gathered at her fingertip. The light flew at Giovanni, growing terrifyingly in size. He was hit by the light and devoured by a devastating explosion. When the explosion faded, he stood there with his skin charred black, his clothes burnt away, and his hair burning. He coughed and smoke came out of his mouth. 

"I'm amazed." 

Zagon appeared beside Kelz as if fading in. 

"He actually blocked that and survived." 

Behind Giovanni was a thin stretch of land in the center of a gully. Him blocking the attack caused this. Giovanni was breathing heavily with blurred vision and ringing ears. 

"I'm…alive? I thought…I was a goner." 

The pain he was feeling caused a delay in his speech. 

"I need to think of a way to survive….Wait, survive?" 

His eyes slowly widened. 

"Why is the first thing on my mind is to survive?" 

"Isn't that human instinct?" 

Kelz said. 

"Everyone wants to survive. It's always their top priority." 

"Not me. My top priority is something else." 

"And what's that?" 

Zagon asked. A grin crept on Giovanni's face. This grin seemed to belong to the devil himself. The sight of it set off alarms in the twins' heads. 

"My sole priority is to win…" 

Blood started flowing from his eyes like tears. Yet, Giovanni's gaze remained focused. All it saw was victory in its grasp. 

"No matter the cost, I will win."