"Just as strong as the legends say you are, huh?"
Despite my predicament, I couldn't help but smile.
In the distance, Selina frowned in puzzlement. "You…you are laughing?"
No, I was ripping off lines from an old anime that was adapted from a legendary visual novel, but she didn't have to know that. Instead, I merely grinned at Hades and jumped away before his scythe could reach me.
The ground where I was lying on was completely pulverized, but I made use of the debris as makeshift footholds, jumping from one to the other and ascending higher and higher. I managed to reach a balcony of the building we currently resided in, an expansive area that was once filled with an artificially created garden with expensive plants and flowers.
Hades emerged out of the hole in the ceiling and leaped toward me, brandishing his Annihilation in an intimidating manner as he bellowed.
"I never told you, did I?" I asked as I turned to face him. There was still quite some time before he reached the balcony, and I had a clear sight of him through the hole in the ceiling. His bulk was working against him right now, making it difficult for him to clear the huge distance in one bound. The debris, which I had used to propel myself to such a huge height, would simply crumble under his weight. "My most powerful techniques aren't my sword techniques. I'm more of a ranged fighter. Sagittarius."
A black bow materialized in my left hand and a flaming arrow in my right. I fitted Alnasl to the string and pulled it back as far as I could before I took aim at the charging spirit.
Hades didn't seem to care that I had a flaming arrow pointed right at his chest. Roaring, he continued coming straight at me.
"Alnasl."
I released the bowstring. The flaming arrow flew from my fingers and struck the rapidly approaching Hades squarely in his chest before exploding into a supernova of fiery light that seared all the way into the heavens and temporarily lighting up the night sky with a crimson blaze.
Hades howled as he was consumed by the inferno, his immolated body dropping like a rock and crashing onto the ground below. He vanished in an explosion of fiery debris, disappearing in a crater that continued to be consumed by ravenous flames.
"Hades actually got blasted back from that?"
I caught sight of Selina, who was now finding herself being pressured by a reinvigorated Anastasia. She was deflecting the latter's poisoned blades from her bodysuit and face, but she couldn't help but turn toward the raging inferno in my direction. Her eyes widened as she watched the smoldering silhouette of Hades bathed in crimson flames, breathing heavily as he knelt within the inferno. The Assassin turned her gaze back to me.
"Who exactly is that boy? Is he actually summoning spirit weapons?"
I ignored her awestruck dread and focused on my opponent, my brow wrinkling in a frown. Despite taking a direct hit from Alnasl and being incinerated, Hades was still quite very clearly alive. Shaking my head, I sighed in disbelief.
"Normal spirits would already be dead from that."
Hades raised his head and screamed at me. The entire surroundings shattered, the inferno enveloping him actually dissipating from the sheer force of his sonic assault, and even so high above, I was thrown off my feet when I was buffeted by his thunderous voice.
"Ugh!" I raised my hands as if to defend myself. Then I turned around and began bounding away. I could hear Hades coming after me, launching himself upward like a bullet and smashing through the ceiling, creating a second hole.
I skidded across to the other end of the balcony, realizing that I was cornered. Behind me, Hades cleaved trees and plants unfortunate enough to be in his path, rampaging through the luxurious garden and uprooting the meticulously tended shrubs in his berserk fury. Despite the ample cover the flora provided, Hades managed to reach me.
I suddenly spun around and jumped, dodging a fatal blow from Annihilation. Landing on my feet, I took several hops back, refusing to take my eyes off my opponent. Hades continued, undaunted, both his halberd and his body tearing trees out by their roots and hurling them across the open space.
"You move pretty well even with a huge body," I remarked bitterly when I saw that the terrain wasn't able to slow him down one bit.
Amidst my retreat, I raised both my hands and focused mana into them, completing another summoning spell.
"Chains of Andromeda!" I yelled. The heavy chains materialized above Hades, descending upon him and restraining him. I tightened the chains as much as I could, wrapping the heavy metal around his body and binding his limbs. I tossed the chains in four different directions, focusing my mana and manifesting four giant nails to anchor them into the ground. Hades struggled against his restraints, but the chains held firm, refusing to budge.
"Gemini!"
The twin swords appeared in my hands again. I threw them at Hades' exposed chest and shoulders, but they spun away after being deflected by the giant's rock-hard skin. Gritting my teeth, I summoned a second pair of Gemini twin swords and charged them with mana. Scraping my foot against the ground, I threw the both of them with all my might.
"Castor! Pollux!"
All four Gemini twin swords spun around and struck the trapped Hades before exploding into black and white infernos that engulfed the black goliath.
Hades let out an enraged scream of pain as the black and white flames licked his skin.
"W…what?!"
Unable to contain her surprise, Selina spun around to witness the setback her contracted spirit had just experienced. Anastasia seized the opportunity to close in and stab her with her daggers, but Selina almost casually deflected them by striking the former's forearm and then kicking her in the gut. Fortunately, Anastasia whirled around gracefully to avoid her enemy's foot and lashed out with her other dagger, forcing Selina to block it with her sword.
Damn…so close! If Anastasia had cut her, even just a little, we would have won the battle there and then!
There was no time for me to gloat, however. Hades was still alive. I had to finish this right now if I could. Sprinting forward, I summoned Gemini again.
"Vermillion Phoenix!" I shouted.
The chibi Vermillion Phoenix materialize right above my shoulder, the miniature version of my Celestial Guardian flapping his fiery wings and following me. Satisfied that he knew what I wanted, I leaped high up into the sky.
The chibi Vermillion Phoenix ghosted over both my Gemini swords and enchanted them with his flames. The black and white blades glowed red-hot for a moment and then they transformed, much like Hades' Pluto transforming into Annihilation. The blades grew and elongated, lengthening past my head and then took on the shape of wings. Endowed with the fiery aspect of Vermilion Phoenix, even as I raised both swords high up, against the night sky it seemed almost as if I had produced a pair of fiery phoenix wings that held me aloft for a brief moment.
Anastasia later told me that I looked like an angel of fire. Nah. That was my dad's title. I had no intention of taking it from him.
After being suspended in the night sky for just a second, I then allowed gravity to pull me back down into its embrace so that I could unleash my attack with maximum impact.
I slashed Hades with the full weight of my Vermillion Phoenix enhanced twin fiery feather swords.
A tremendous explosion rocked the area, throwing me back. Crashing onto the ground, I managed to flip myself over somehow and land on a kneeling position. Coughing, I wiped blood from my face and continued channeling more mana into my hands as I prepared for the next summoning spell.
Hades emerged, his entire body blazing furiously. He had been immolated by Vermillion Phoenix's flames and incinerated thoroughly, yet even the divine fire wasn't able to slay him. Worse, the Chains of Andromeda had been destroyed during the blast and he had broken free from whatever metal that had held him down previously.
And now he was free to exact vengeance upon me.
However, I was not done yet. My fingers twitched as I completed my next summoning spell.
"Virgo! Iron Maiden!"
The woman-shaped coffin materialized around the advancing Hades, entombing him. Spikes dug into his body, locking him in place.
However, the coffin blew up almost immediately. I raised both of my hands to defend myself even as the immense shockwaves buffeted me. Amidst the hellish flames, I could see Hades stalking toward me silently, his halberd raised like the grim reaper's scythe.
Hades dashed forward and swung his Annihilation. Miraculously, I wasn't cleaved into two, but I was thrown off and sent flying through several concrete walls of the neighboring building. Parts of the structure collapsed upon me.
"It's done," Selina smirked as Hades turned away, and then focused her attention on Anastasia, who warded her sword away with her daggers. "You're next, sweetie."
"It's not over yet," I panted, hauling and throwing the rubble off me. Rising to my feet unsteadily, I summoned Lyra. The golden harp hummed melodiously in my hands as I heaved myself forward to approach the raging spirit.
"You're a stubborn one, aren't you?" Selina sighed as her Hades turned back to face me.
The wrathful spirit lifted Annihilation over his head and raced toward me, bounding across the gap between the two buildings. However, hundreds of invisible garrote wires streamed out of the harp, cutting everything in its path, including steel, brick and concrete. Hades was no different, blood spurting from all over his body as the near invisible wires sliced into his black flesh and cut to the bone.
"Cheap techniques like those won't work against Hades!" Selina shouted furiously as she kicked Anastasia away and returned to spectating the battle between her spirit and me. Wow, I must be hurting her spirit really bad if she got this rattled.
That meant I should continue whatever I was doing.
Unfortunately, Hades wasn't making it easy for me. Purplish black mana billowed outward and blew out from his body, ripping the wires apart in a huge searing blast. I was thrown back from the overwhelming force, but I managed to do a back-flip and land on my feet again.
"Out of tricks, boy?" Selina sneered derisively with a laugh as Hades approached me. "Your little harp can't do anything…"
"Harp?" I was pointing Vega at Hades while fitting the glowing arrow to the bow form of Lyra. Golden mana swirled around Vega, giving the impression of a violent whirlwind. My surroundings were breaking apart just from the presence of such immense amounts of mana. "I already told you, didn't I? My most powerful techniques are my ranged ones."
I released Vega. The golden arrow slammed into the berserk spirit and hurtled him all the way back. He flew several hundred meters away before exploding in a fireworks display of golden light.
I gritted my teeth as I fought to stand amidst the resulting shockwaves. Staggering back, I watched the awesome spectacle of destruction with grim satisfaction. However, my intuition told me that Hades wasn't down yet.
"I wouldn't be surprised if he survived that attack as well. That bastard seems to be immortal."
"You got that only half-right," Selina informed me. I glanced at her for a moment, and then froze when I sensed something impossible behind me.
"What…?" My eyes widened in shock. I didn't even have the chance to turn around before something slashed me from behind. If I hadn't instinctively jumped forward, that attack would have cleaved me neatly in half. Stumbling forward, I felt something heavy slam into my back, sending me flying across the city. I crashed heavily into the ground several meters away, somewhere near the crowing Selina.
"I'll have to admit, your attacks are really impressive." Selina placed one hand on her hip and raised her other hand to count with her fingers. "They took away like…three of Hades' lives? It's amazing that you're able to kill Hades three times by yourself. Too bad Hades has thirteen lives."
She began to laugh.
"You have to kill Hades thirteen times before he dies permanently – and even that wouldn't be permanent because as long as I maintain the contract with him, I'll be able to resurrect him sooner or later. It'll cost me a lot of time and resources, and I'll have to pay a heavy price, but for a spirit like Hades, it's more than worth it."
Selina chuckled as she gazed down on my prone form.
"But look at you. It only has been three lives and you're almost dead. Face it. You'll never be able to defeat Hades."
I wheezed in agony, struggling to get to my knees at the very least. Clutching my back, I coughed out a mouthful of blood.
"But I have to hand it to you! Throughout the entire time I have established a contract with Hades, I have never met anyone capable of killing Hades three times by himself. Even back then, when you worked together with Cecilia Stuart and that other girl, the three of you only took two of his lives or so. By allying against him. But now…you actually took three of his lives by yourself! You've truly gotten so much stronger! You've exceeded my expectations! I knew it was right to let you live that time!" Selina threw her head back and laughed. Whether it was in delight or scorn, I could not tell. "A pity…you would have made a great Assassin, but I'm aware that you'll refuse. If I leave you alone, you'll threaten the Assassins Guild eventually. Sorry, but I'll eliminate you before that happens."
I could only watch as Hades approached me silently, hellish flames wreathing his body. He was a black silhouette engulfed within the inferno I had set ablaze upon his body, yet he didn't even seem affected by the immolation. It was as if he was becoming immune to the devastating effects of fire itself.
"I see…" I smiled to myself. "Truly the Grim Reaper indeed."
The flames that continued to burn Hades' burly muscles flickered out, revealing totally unharmed skin. At present, he looked as if nothing had happened to him, with no sign of injury whatsoever. He had emerged from his battle with me, completely unscathed.
So, Selina wasn't lying when she said that he had thirteen lives. Not that it would make any difference.
Hades raised his Annihilation and slashed me with such force that I was sent flying again. Crashing into the ground several meters away, I coughed out another fountain of blood as I clutched my wounds. Gritting my teeth, I forced myself to my feet again, glaring at Hades. Despite the blood streaming down my face, I grinned.
"You are insane," Selina concluded before her berserk spirit brought his Annihilation down on me.