Ransak froze in the middle of his slaughter as an unknown power gripped him.
Karkas seeing his brother's unusual behavior sped up as fast as he could to defend him, swatting away a couple of confused Athenians ready to swing at his still form.
Standing in front to protect against projectiles, Karkas turned to see what was wrong,- "Brother, what's wrong?"
Unable to respond, Ransak gritted his teeth and clenched his fist as his body burned on the inside. Pupils dilated, sweating heavily, trying to breathe through his teeth in a desperate attempt to get more air as his body seized up, Karkas catching him before he could fall.
"Brother! Brother Ransak, what's going on?" Karkas asked worriedly.
Looking up at the other Deviant soldiers who paused their advance, Karkas growled.- "What are you bastards looking at, go take that temple, NOW!"
As they began moving by, giving clear room to the two elites, a dark red aura started to slowly appear and disappear in waves off of Ransak.
Feeling his strength return slowly Ransak managed to push himself back up, off of Karkas as he stumbled back a bit, holding a fist up to keep a concerned Karkas back, still unable to unclench his hands due to the extreme amount of pain he was feeling.
"Ransak?"
"Stay back!" Ransak seethed through his teeth, behind his long wild black hair that covered his contorted face filled with pain and anger as he looked to the ground, watching the sweat drip down.
---
Thena at this time, having received orders from her god, threw off her white cloak, revealing her long light brown hair and golden eternal armor, matching her mask. Grabbing her golden halberd she flew off to confront this new threat, ignoring the cries and pleas of the lords and ladies who took refuge at the top of the acropolis, praying at the temple for help.
Many of them thought she was Athena herself when she took flight, much to her displeasure. Even given the name Thena once the treaty was cast to show her father's and people's sincerity, without consulting her. This in turn benefited Athena who would receive the faith of the people thanks to her actions.
Athens, a city built as thanks for her deeds, was technically for her though everyone, in the end, contributed it to Athena, mistaking the two just as the Olympians wished when they made them their apostles.
Flying out, she flew over the wall surveying the scene below, glaring at the many Deviants she saw while searching for her target.
Spotting a big red Deviant on the stairs emitting a sinister dark red Aura, she attacked without hesitation, believing she found the right one.
---
When the unknown power finished reshaping Ransak's body to its needs, it burst forth, empowering him like never before as he flexed his entire body, his muscles spasming as they increased a bit more with each wave of power. Throwing his head back with a roar, he unleashes a torrent of dark red aura into the air, before finally settling back down.
Karkas looked on in awe as a happy Ransak checked himself out, clenching and unclenching his hands, feeling the newfound power flowing through him.
Ransak grinned,- "Karkas, my brother, I think something amazing just happened." he said just as he heard a sickening crunch sound with a splash of familiar liquid hitting his face.
Looking up to see what happened, his eyes widened in disbelieve as he spotted a golden ax with a spear tip lodged in between the severed parts of Karkas's head.
"Brother!" He desperately shouted in disbelief and anger.
As the ax pulled out, Ransak rushed forward catching the crumbling form of his best friend. Something that he would have found difficult in the past, he now easily caught as he slowly set him down before looking up to glare at the scumbag who did it.
"I'm going to kill you, I'm going to rip your heart out and eat in front of you, you Eternal cowardly piece of shit!" Ransak roared as his dark red aura flared out.
Thena scoffed,- "So you're the one, you got lucky this big guy hid you thanks to his size and the angle of the stairs, you're the one I was looking for."
This only served to infuriate him more as his pupils vanished, he went into full berserk frenzy mode, losing all rationality as he lunged at her, partially destroying the stairs behind him while giving a mad battle cry filled with fury.
She calmly flew back up the stairs just above everyone, watching him pursue, slaughtering all in his path, allies, and foes alike, none were spared from his rage.
Both sides becoming fearful of the mad man retreated back trying their best to avoid him.
_______________________________________________________
Kro watching the screens saw Zakka pop up on one,- "Report."
"Lord General, I've been working on making more drones, but the Olympian's battle is fierce, many of them are being destroyed."
"I know, just keep up the good work, we need as many as you can make, this is your only job now," said Kro.
"Understood," Zakka said signing off.
Clicking another button Kro contacted Taras,- "Our time nears, keep an eye on the Olympians battle, and wait for my command."
"Yes, lord general, I've been watching, I've also noticed Ransak has had something done to him by Ares," Taras said.
"I know, but this is good for us, Ransak will at the very least weaken the Eternal for us and then I'll easily be able to capture her, where then it'll be your responsibility to figure out what makes them tick."
"Yes, lord general, you can count on me," said a grinning Taras, happy at the prospect of being able to dissect and study one.
Sledge then sauntered over on his canes, sighing,- "Karkas is dead, I did not see that coming, the fool should not have turned his back to the enemy."
"Indeed," Kro said while thinking about what his fiery friend in his office was up to.
Looking at Sledge, he had a twisted thought,- "Sledge, could you do something for me,"
Perking up, Sledge grinned,- "Anything my lord, just name it."
"Hold out your arm, I wish to inject you with something," Kro said hiding nothing.
Sledge held out his arm, no questions asked, trusting the General with his life.
"Alright this is going to hurt, but I need you to bear with it and act like everything is okay as you head to my office where you'll keep an eye on our guest and wait for me, this is very important, do you understand?" Asked Kro.
Sledge nodded,- "You can trust me, I'll see it done."
"Good, remember to stay strong, don't show any weakness, no matter how painful it becomes," said Kro as he injected the solution into Sledge who grimaced.
"Now hurry to my office, I promise everything will be fine," said Kro watching Sledge give a salute, putting on his best face as he proceeded to do his mission.
Once Sledge turned the corner, Kro dropped his friendly face,- "I don't believe nothing can kill you, making me send someone to feed you every so often, see how that tastes, I've been working on it especially for you," muttered Kro to himself.
The white-haired devil foolishly thinks he has full control over him, but who was he, he was General Kro, the soon-to-be Deviant savior. Leading his people back out into the world, and nobody was going to stop him, not the Olympians, not the Eternals, not those stupid priests back home, and certainly not some blood-sucking devil.
Kro hated having to sacrifice some of his men to feed the monster, but it was essential in helping to deal with the Olympians if he was as unkillable as he claimed. As essential as he maybe though, Kro knew this was the best opportunity to catch him off guard, one he wasn't going to pass up, he would worry about the rest later, and while it would be good to have a nearly unkillable ally against the Olympians, it was still in his best interest to eliminate him and free himself of his control.
He's been begrudgingly sending the most useless Deviants to sate the man's hunger, and though he hated to admit it, Sledge was one of his most useless despite his unquestionable loyalty, so he had to do it.
He promised himself to seek revenge for all of them in due time after he won the war, taking comfort in the fact that he at least gave Sledge a chance to help him and the Deviants one last time.
_________________________________________________________
Thena, knowing she can't just let him keep killing everyone, sighed as she prepared to complete her latest order.
Flying forward, she aimed her spear tip ready to impale him as he finished slashing through another poor soul.
With his heightened fighting instincts, Ransak turned just in time to deflect her attack, grabbing her leg as she tried to fly by, pulling a surprised Thena back into the stairs cracking them.
Seeing him with both hands up, striking down, she blocked with her pole, kicking his exposed midsection, sending him flying out, all the way back down to the bottom of the stairs.
Hearing his roar, she sighed again as she got back to her feet and flew up, still bothered by the fact she was fighting in servitude and not of her own volition.
With Ransak not around, the Deviants still on a mission began firing again while heading back up, with some taking shots at her.
"And to think I was just going to ignore you, so be it," Said Thena feeling nothing but contempt for them as her eyes glowed a menacing yellow light, right before shooting her eye beams at them while she flew by, killing many on her way towards the fallen warrior at the bottom, still emanating that dark red aura.
Ransak getting back to his feet after falling down, instantly attacked those nearby, his ignorant fellow Deviants died filled with confusion as to why their own leader killed them.
Gripped with fear, the rest of the Deviants started to flee, giving him a wide berth, unsure if they should continue heading up the stairs to complete the mission or not, many deciding not as Ransak slaughtered his way back up.
Some Deviants having enough even began to fire at him to defend themselves only to quickly be cut down.
Seeing the state of things through the monitor, Kro finally intervened and had them all pull back and wait for further instructions, leaving Ransak alone to fight against the Eternal.
Thena seeing the Deviants retreating stopped firing eye beams at them as she resumed her initial goal. Spotting him attacking everything that moved by him as he climbed back up the stairs towards her, she dove down picking up speed as her target neared.
Eyes glowing yellow, she fired eye beams straight at him, which he tried to defend against with his sword that held up better than it should have thanks to his dark red aura coating him and everything he had on.
Still moving forward while firing, only stopping when she was close enough to slash down with her halberd.
Destroying the bottom portion of the stairs as he defended against it, his sword edge now sporting a visible chip.
Not giving him time to counter-attack she fired her eye beams again point-blank, straight into his face, sending him flying away, bouncing along the ground.
Seeing his dark red aura gone, laying there with his smoking head, Thena turned to leave thinking it was over only to stop when she heard something move.
Looking back, she gawked at the man who stumbled back to his feet, his burnt, disfigured face turning her stomach.
"Right, Ares, but at this point, you would be better off dead," Thena said speaking her mind.
Ransak spread his arms out, roaring angrily in response, his dark red aura erupting forth once again, thicker than ever as he charged at her.
Taking a stance, she waited for him, meeting his incoming swing with her own, his roar with her own.
A mighty clash between sword and halberd, a standstill, one she was prepared for as she held strong with her grip firmly in the middle, pushing just enough so he had to push back before rotating around while swinging the opposite end of her weapon, hitting his back as he fell forward, sending him right back to the ground.
Firing her eye beams at the falling figure who rolled forward narrowly avoiding the attack.
"Tch," clicking her tongue in frustration, she rushed him, taking a swing with her halberd as he just finished spinning around to face her again only to have to block once more while still madly roaring every chance he got as she kicked him in the stomach pushing him back.
___
Kro watching was equally frustrated, cursing Ransak for losing his mind and not fighting good enough to injure her.
___
Staying right on top of him, she took a big horizontal swing with hands position right at the bottom, ready to bisect him right through the sword if she had to.
Ransak dodged backward, limbo style, avoiding the swing entirely as he rolled back to his feet before lunging at Thena who just finished reeling in her weapon, forcing her to defend.
Finally able to attack, the berserker Ransak didn't let any of it go to waste as he unleashed all his built-up fury upon her.
Swing after swing, he swung and kept swinging, slashing endlessly at her as she backed up blocking each one as best she could, each new swing, wilder than the last as his momentum grew.
When she tried to take to the air, he grabbed her weapon and pulled her back down, roaring into her face, saliva hitting her mask which she was thankful to have.
His breath, on the other hand, was something that she couldn't avoid as easily, her eyes lit up ready to fire only for him to duck as the beams flew out overhead. Using her weapon as leverage, he held on as he swung under and up with his heel kicking her chin.
Experienced a momentary lapse of cognition, she stumbled back as he ran over, tackling her to the ground.
Seeing her eyes light back up upon mounting her, he dodges a few beams as he grabs the bottom of her face, forcing it away.
Thena, still rocked from earlier wasn't thinking clearly as she struggled against him, it wasn't until his sword came for her neck did her hands light up, blasting him away.
Getting up to her feet, panting, she tried to calm herself, catching her breath as she glared at the mad warrior who was already on his way back.
Angry at herself for having so much trouble against someone practically out of his mind. Wielding her weapon like a javelin, she threw it at the approaching man which he easily dodged, and then with her hands, she fired two beams towards his sides forcing him to stay just between as her eyes glowed bright, firing straight down the middle of her trap.
Ignoring his angry roars of defiance as he used his sword covered in the dark red aura to defend, slowly pushing his way forward against the beam. Thena smirked under her mask as she reached out telepathically, taking control of her fallen weapon and attacking his unguarded backside, she ended it.
The golden halberd piercing straight through his back, angrily surprising the man as he dropped his guard allowing the eye beams through, burning off the rest of his head as the dark red aura left him.
Calling her weapon to her, she flew over double-checking to make sure it was over before she headed back to the temple, hoping to forget about it and put it behind her. Disappointed with how things went, having let the setback get to her, to the point where she overexerted herself to end things quickly. She could only sigh again while trying not to think about what might happen if Ares wins against Athena.