*Crack*
*Crack*
The Chaos generated was destructive and untamable. Several strands of the most violent energy known to man and gods struck the ground and turned whatever it touched to ash. Yet in the centre stood Mane, controller of Harch and bringer of Chaos. The bright eyes of the Supreme were the only beacons of light that could be discerned from the dark storm churning, but Shiva didn't perceive those bright orbs as his hope. For the first time the light was more fearful than the darkness. And Shiva wasn't nothing more than to get away from it.
But things were never that simple. Shiva wasn't faster than Mane. And Mane was a Spatial User as well. With the power of the void most of his abilities were heightened by several times and the restrictions to his Spatial Ability were greatly suppressed. He was able to travel several kilometers in less than half a second by using spatial cracks and portals. So Shiva's retreat meant little. In less than a few seconds, Mane was just a hundred meters away from Shiva. The god of destruction realised that he wasn't getting anywhere. He could see that he wasn't going to outrun Mane and that caused great fear to overwhelm him. His arrogance from being immortal was long gone. All that remained was a desperate heart to escape the pit he had dug for himself.
"That Loki bastard! Why did he send me here if the Supreme was this strong?!" Shiva raged. In his desperation, the first person he blamed wasn't Mane. The first person he looked to pass the blame onto wasn't the one who had out him in this situation in the first place. For his heart raged against Loki. For to him, Loki was the one who had started all this. As for the fact that his greed was what led him down this path in the first place, he ignored it. Why would he blame himself for his current predicament?
"Sh*t!" Shiva swore and finally stopped in his tracks. Since his attempts to escape were proving to be useless, he had to fight. And though the thought of facing the current Supreme was daunting, it was better than leaving his back open to the young man.
With a slight shift Shiva pushed himself off the ground towards Mane. His eyes were filled with the desperate desire to stay alive and that did give him some strength. Adrenaline coursed through his god veins as his hands summoned the power of destruction that had brought many to their knees. With a loud hurrah his struck, his fist tearing apart the winds and waves and splitting the seas in half.
*Boom*
Like a tumultuous storm a wave of black ash roared towards Mane with evil intent. Shiva's power was not to be trifled with. And his desperation to stay alive drove him to push past his barriers. And that meant that the strike he had just conjured was much greater than anything he had produced so far. The mountains shook and crumbled, the valleys were filled up with the debris from the fallen mountains and the seas lost much of their volume to the earth. The turmoil that swept over the World of the Three Great Races grew by much, and the people of this world experienced true terror.
Several kilometers away, Crystal's eyes were fixed upon the large cloud of ash in the distance. Her fists trembled at her side, indicating the helplessness she felt at not being able to help. And even worse, she had no idea what was happening.
"Young Master," she grit her teeth in discomfort. She was supposed to protect him, yet she was the one being protected. She pulled Mane's overcoat closer and drew more warmth from the large jacket. It smelt like her master, and she was comforted by its smell – albeit only slightly.
"I must trust him," Crystal convinced herself to stay out of this. Her power had returned but using it was risky. Besides, she wouldn't be of much help even if she were to join the fight.
"I will trust him," Crystal stated, feeling the power of Chaos that filled a small portion of the battlefield much farther away. Since she was a Spiritualist she could sense its sting and its call was something she found much pleasing. She didn't know where it came from, or how such dense Chaos could appear in this Chaos deprived planet, but she hoped that it would aid her Lord in his quest; his quest to kill a god.
"Too…weak" Mane lifted Harch high in the air and swung down with great strength. Like a piece of paper the destructive storm that Shiva had summoned was effortlessly split into two, and the land was divided even further.
Like a greedy baby Mane's body absorbed the destruction Shiva wrought like a sponge. For Devour was now part of him and did what it ought to do without any prompting.
Shiva's eyes were wide open in despair for the power he had gathered with all his energy had been so easily dealt with. And he froze for a moment. He did recover soon enough. For he was a god after all. His mental fortitude was no trifling thing. But his recovery came a bit later than it should have.
For Mane got to the god of destruction with minimal effort, easily swallowing the destructive energy in his way. With a great bellow Mane swung Harch towards Shiva's neck, the biting wind that accompanied his swing so strong that the earth was forced to go down even further.
*Crack*
Shiva hastily shifted his feet and moved out of the way. He wasn't fast enough to get out of the way entirely, but he was able to avoid the giant axe cleaving his neck into two.
*Boom*
Harch struck the already depressed ground with great power, and the earth groaned in pain once more. The land, as far as the eye could see and the feet could travel, was leveled with that one swing, and Shiva was sent flying although he wasn't hit directly.
Mane was like the midnight light. He moved so speedily that even the lightning in the sky struggled to keep up. And before Shiva's disoriented mind could discern its next course of action, Man was already before him.
"Argh!" Shiva screamed desperately and threw a powerful yet poorly aimed blow at Mane. And as one would expect, Mane evaded the blow quite easily.
*Whoosh*
The young Supreme tossed Harch into the sky – into the clouds dominated by the element of his birth to be nourished. His hands reached to his side and pulled out his daggers. With a silent slink they were out of their sheaths and ready to taste blood once more. Several strands of Chaos itself nourished their blades and increased their potency, and the weapons that shared in Harch's connection with the Chaotic Flame shone brightly. Tongues of black fire extended from their hilts and stretched past their necks until they had fully engulfed their blades.
"I…say…earlier," Mane stuttered as his hands weaved through the air and his daggers flashed past Shiva's chest.
*Puchi*
"Today…I…kill…god"
Two deep cuts were opened up on Shiva's chest before he could even lift up his arms to block the strikes. The flames of Chaos that coated the blades bore into his skin and severed his connection with his Godhead, preventing any chance of Shiva's healing factor from kicking in. And the pain that the god of destruction had long forgotten breached his soul and clutched his heart.
*Argh!"
Shiva screamed in agony as the flames roasted his chest. But Mane was just starting. This was the god who dared to harm his subordinate and sought to shame her. He wouldn't let Shiva die so easily. With a wave of his hands the flames were extinguished. And then began a barrage of slashes.
*Slash*
*Wrack*
*Slash*
*Puchi*
For several seconds Mane did nothing but cut up the god of destruction. Shiva was unrecognizable by now. His eyes were dull and hopeless, and his entire body was covered in blood. His arms lay limply at his side, and a closer look revealed that they were barely hanging onto his body. For Mane took his arms first before going after the rest of his body. And then the young Supreme took his legs. For there was nothing beyond Shiva's knees. The young Supreme had deemed the god of destruction's limbs as unnecessary and taken them off.
*Boom*
Mane delivered a devastating blow into Shiva's shredded chest, and the god of destruction fell onto the earth once again. But his sorrow had yet to end. Mane descended from the sky like the Monkey King's pillar and used Shiva as a landing site, crushing every bone in the god's body to dust.
*Boom*
*Crack*
"Cough"
Blood flowed freely from the openings on Shiva's body – both the ones he had been born with and the ones Mane had gifted him.
"Kill me" Shiva pleaded. Death was better than being roasted with the flames of Chaos over and over again.
"I…will," Mane responded and stabbed both of Shiva's shoulders with his daggers.
*Puchi*
Mane left his daggers where they had drawn blood, allowing their flames to torture Shiva some more, and the god of destruction screamed one more time.
"ARGH!!!"
Shiva's screams were far reaching, traveling to even the most hidden parts of this planet. Mane clutched the neck of the fallen god and lifted him up. He stared into Shiva's eyes, forcing the god of destruction to engrave those lightning filled eyes into his mind. By now the turbulence in the sky had grown. Lightning Hs grown so pronounced that nothing else could be seen in the sky. And Mane knew it was time.
Still holding on to Shiva like a Christmas prized chicken, Mane took the skies. He broke free from the confines of gravity and made his home with the clouds above. He breathed in the lightning filled air and allowed the element of his birth to fill his lungs. He stretched out his hand and called for his trusty Soul Weapon. This was only their first collaboration, but it had been so fruitful. And Mane would allow it to have the last say.
*Shink*
Harch occupied Mane's hand eagerly. When Mane grabbed on to it, all the noise died down, and his cold voice shook every ear on the planet.
"I...AM…MANE…HARBINGER"
"I…AM…SUPREME!"
*Boom*
With a casual swing of Harch the sky split into two and lightning rained down upon the earth, striking Shiva directly.
"ARGH!"