Ray stood calmly amidst the dark storm that threatened to swallow Zandor. His eyes were without a trace of fear and his aura was still calm. He slightly squinted his eyes at Seth's crazed remark, but he didn't dwell on it for long. For Seth to be this confident meant that there was something that the Dark God was relying on. But he couldn't find anything out of the ordinary. So he might as well focus on the task at hand.
"I will serve no one," Ray stated defiantly as his aura was unveiled. Without any reservations he activated his Fire Domain, reminding the universe of what he was – a Fire King. The beast that lay hidden was revealed. The chains that kept the monster within tamed were shaken off, and the power that was usually confined reminded Zandor that although the Brute King belonged here, he still was a massive threat.
A power so vast that what was revealed during the slaughter of the Assassins Organisation looked mediocre quickly pushed away the darkness that threatened to consume Ray. With his eyes blazing like the sun Ray displayed his brilliance to the world.
"Breath: Brimstone"
Although he was a god and fire was his law, the habit of mentioning his technique hadn't died yet.
*Boom*
The powerful flames burned even brighter, and their crimson smile took half of Zandor from Seth's hands. Everyone in Zandor who was stunned by the sudden darkness was now contending with the scorching heat that forced them to rush indoors and take off all their clothes. The great heat that consumed the planet threatened to destroy everything, but Ray's excellent Spirit kept his power controlled. With his Spirit focused on protecting the people of Zandor from his own power, he wouldn't be able to rely fully on his power as a Spiritualist.
But this didn't put him at a disadvantage. Ray, as mentioned earlier, was a battle freak. He wasn't a big fan of thinking too much and fought better when all he had to do was…fight. So not being able to rely on his Spirit wasn't an advantage for Seth neither was it a disadvantage.
Both men stood midair, scrutinizing one another, without either of them attempting to make the first move. Seth had lost a bit of his prior confidence upon seeing that Ray's power was about a match for his. His expression wasn't pleasant, but he wasn't greatly perturbed. If he was depending on himself alone, he wouldn't have confidently come here.
"I don't have time for this" Ray frowned and said before pushing forward. A loud boom followed his movement and the space he previously occupied was shattered temporarily. Once he moved Seth was also forced to move. The Dark God's drive wasn't as explosive as Ray's. For his power was an elusive one. With one swift motion Seth slipped through the shadows and intercepted Ray's charge. His hands opened up into claws and a dark light that swallowed more light than what he summoned upon Zandor surrounded his fingers. With a vicious light he went straight for Ray's heart.
Ray wasn't foolish enough to try and block Seth's strike. He had seen Mane use Darkness to evade blows and mount deadly counters. In a swift motion he tucked himself in and pulled his torso away from danger.
*Whoosh*
Seth's first attempt to kill Ray was easily thwarted. His claw attack flashed past Ray's head with little suspense, leaving the Fire King right underneath Seth and in prime position to attack. Ray's eyes blazed brightly as flames engulfed his entire frame. He spread his arms open like he was the savior of the world and he gathered power in them. Powerful crimson flames occupied his open hands swiftly, and the Brute King clapped them together, with Seth right in between the path of both hands.
Seth's eyes dimmed quickly as the darkness that occupied them spread into his soul. His figure was soon like a shadow, and he disappeared from his position so that he wasn't done in by Ray's counter. Then he reappeared a couple of hundreds of meters away from Ray.
*Bang*
A giant explosion followed when Ray's palms met each other. Like a detonated bomb the entire area around Ray was swept in a fiery storm, and it finally made sense why Seth chose to move so far away. Slowly the flames peeled off to reveal Ray's unruffled figure.
Seth watched Ray with great caution. The skill he just used was called Dark Marker. Within his domain there were 7 fixed points he could instantly transport himself to. It was similar to teleportation. But this time instead of breaking the boundaries of space and time, what happened was that Seth was replaced.
As a Dark God, Seth was able to become darkness itself. Because of this whenever he warred against another in his domain, his body was the same as darkness. So what Dark Marker did was to create seven points with accurate dimensions of Seth's frame. They were like incomplete clones but without a soul. So all Seth did was to take out his soul and fill it in one of these markers. As a Sensor he shouldn't be capable of this. But since he had an artefact that was able to carry his soul for such a purpose, he was capable of this. And this made him even harder to kill.
"It seems that we are evenly matched," Seth stated with a small smile on his face. As he spoke he reconfigured the positions of his Dark Markers. He sacrificed one of the clones, reducing them to six in order to do this. That was the sacrifice that had to be made to change something that was already fixed. Once one of his clones disappeared, one of the remaining six appeared right next to Ray.
"Indeed," Ray replied with a nod. His eyes were still on fire, and for a moment he recalled his spirit and cast a Lease on himself.
"Invictum," Ray chanted right before Seth's figure disappeared and reappeared next to him. The eyes of the sly god were filled with craftiness. There was a small smirk at the corner of his lips. Having no one in this universe who could understand your element was quite nice. It made every one of your attacks unpredictable.
Seth was already poised to attack before he appeared next to Ray. His fingers were straightened into a spear that was engulfed in a dark aura that took the same shape. With great authority he pushed forward with his strike. His sinister eyes sought the liver of Ray and as his strike inched closer to the Fire King, his expression grew brighter.
Suddenly a fire clad hand swooped in and caught Seth by the wrist. Seth looked up to see nothing but calm in Ray's expression. Beyond all those tongues of fire was a calm that wouldn't be raffled by even the greatest storm.
"You are interesting, Dark God Seth" Ray's deep voice brought a hint of unease into the eyes of the Dark God. It shouldn't have been that easy to grab his hand, neither should it have been possible for Ray to contain his power so calmly. For his attack was one that evaded the physics of this realm! Just like Mane's darkness skill he should have phased right through Ray's attempt to grab him. But for some reason he did not.
"Stunned?" Ray asked with a smile.
Invictum was a Lease Butler Fin had taught him a few months ago. Ray had been worried about the Dark God's power. Even Mane who was not a Full Mastery Darkness User was capable of causing a Battle God like him major headaches with his techniques, how much more Seth who was the real deal? Sensing his worry, Butler Fin passed this Lease over to Ray. Even as a Spiritual Emperor it took Ray four good months to comprehend the Lease, showing just how difficult it was to master. And why wouldn't it take so long when Invictum was an Emperor Level Lease. It was so strong that Ray had to give up one of his Emperor Leases for this one, for his slots were full.
With Invictum Ray was able to forcefully cancel the effects of any skill, no matter what element it was. And it was because of this that he was able to dispel Seth's dark aura so easily. But he wasn't going to tell Seth that. He had to give up his Spirit soon for his fire was causing chaos on Zandor. Forests were set on fire and mountains were blasting apart. He couldn't use Invictum for long.
"Pardon me," Ray smiled brightly and tugged Seth towards him, much to the Dark God's horror. With one arm holding onto the Dark God and another holding on to raging ball of fire, Ray was in prime position to attack. Without his connection to his element, Seth couldn't use Dark Marker and he couldn't phase through this attack either. Without any suspense Ray's fire smashed into Seth's chest and a huge explosion resounded.
When the fire died out there was no one else but Ray left standing. But he had an ugly expression on his face. In his hand was a melted piece of Seth's armor, but there was no trace of the Dark God's body.
"It took you long enough," Seth panted slightly as he caught his breath. That was close and he knew it. A pitch black sword was held in his hand and a strong aura, much similar to Seth's, was wafting calmly from the sword.
The sword hummed slightly in response to Seth's comment, and the Dark God found himself smiling. He seemed to understand what the sword said. Seth smiled in Ray's direction, relishing seeing his fellow God with a face full of frustration. Then he said to the sword he held,
"With both our powers we should be able to get him to kneel now. Don't you agree, Dark Sword?"