- Lucifer, Hades, and Persephone -
Lucifer had expected to help the two Underworld gods somewhat. What he didn't expect was how much time he would spend weaving through their assault on the beings that had started the attack. Hades had released a swarm of different fiery animals to strike on land and air. Meanwhile, Persephone was growing and controlling gray tree roots to whip against and shoot impaling spikes at enemies. The two were in a rhythm with each other that almost looked like dancing.
Lucifer decided he should focus more on stopping civilian casualties. It wasn't that he thought Hades and Persephone would create unnecessary casualties but more that he knew they weren't focused on "saving" right now. Unfortunately for the three, the citizens that weren't trying to run away from the conflict were awestruck by the sight of the three's battle. Lucifer ended up saving more than a few beings that had been just standing still during the chaos.
While the fighting was clearly going in favor of the three, there was something that picked at the back of Lucifer's mind. The words he had heard back in the palace after his storm-off.
''Two heads one swipe?'' Lucifer picked up a screaming citizen and dropped them off in a safer area.
The thought wouldn't leave Lucifer's head. He wondered if the comment was about Hades and Persephone or him and Death. Neither made sense to him, given what it would take for a being to be so confident that any one god could handle that task.
'Could it be?' Lucifer shuddered. 'No, of course not. Even IF it was, he wouldn't dare take that risk, at least not here.'
The fighting persisted longer than Lucifer had anticipated. It seemed as if the beings that had initially started this conflict were trying to drag it out. Lucifer realized this and immediately flew over to Hades and Persephone.
"THEY'RE STALLING!" He shouted from a safe distance.
"WHAT?!" Hades and Persephone shouted as they turned to face Lucifer.
Lucifer's eyes scanned the ground quickly as he shouted back, "THEY'RE STALLING FOR TIME! WE NEED TO BACK OFF FOR NOW!"
Hades and Persephone turned away from Lucifer. They were too caught up in their anger to listen to him. Lucifer cursed to himself that he hadn't thought of this sooner. Now that the two were in full force with their counterattack there would be no talking them down until every enemy was defeated.
- Poseidon and Chronos -
["The other one failed to mention before running off,"] Chronos said. ["What exactly has happened since I've been imprisoned?"]
Poseidon was clearly keeping his distance as the two made their way to where Lucifer and Death were. ["A large war, between lessers and gods."]
["Lessers?"] Chronos questioned.
["A term that was invented after your...imprisonment"] Poseidon answered.
Chronos laughed, ["I assume that war was quite the slaughter."]
["Uh, yes,"] Poseidon lied. ["Those lower beings d-didn't stand a chance."]
Every time Chronos's eyes shifted to look at Poseidon there was a tension in the air. With every passing second, Poseidon wished they were at the target location sooner. He hated that Thanatos had run off, leaving the escort to him. It took everything in him to not fly off when his father's scythe hit a bump on the ground and bounced slightly.
["Why the hunter?"] Chronos asked.
["What?"] Poseidon stammered. ["Oh! Uh, he's a threat to the organization."]
Chronos stopped moving. ["If this 'organization' has the resources to know about me and free me, then they should have other options for removing Death. It seems the hunter is a very important target, which makes me wonder why such an important target would be left to a god like me?"]
Poseidon took a deep breath and spoke with as much confidence as he could muster, ["Death is one of many important targets. The organization thought it would be good if they could recruit you as a new powerful ally while also handling Death. It's simply a case of two heads one swipe."]
["Mmm,"] Chronos hummed.
- Death and Lucifer's team -
Death entered his hunter form and started giving orders to Lucifer's team. "Focus on defense for now. Those three are more than enough to handle this I'm sure."
"How did ya know about the beings that had died?" Peter questioned Death.
"What?" Death didn't understand why he was being asked this now.
"How did ya know?" Peter continued. "Can ya see mana like demons can?"
"Why does that matter right now?" Death was slowly losing his patience.
Peter got closer to Death. "Sol. Whatever this power of yer's is, it should have come up durin' Sol. Were ya just overconfident and thought ya didn't need to mention anythin' or did ya have another reason for not tellin' us?"
"Look!" Death shouted, causing Peter to take a step back. "Look," He softened his tone. "I have the limited ability to see life force. It's very straining on me and has a number of other restrictions that I'm not going to get into right now. I'll explain more after this."
'Sure ya will,' Peter thought.
- Thanatos -
Thanatos had snuck back into the palace. He was waiting by the portal when two beings came through. One in a green cloak and the other a purple one.
"Took you two long enough," Thanatos sneered.
"We're on time," the purple-cloaked one jabbed. "Here."
Thanatos was handed Poseidon's trident and an orb that seemed to contain a small thundercloud.
"Good, now-"
The green-cloaked one started walking, "Let's get this hunt over with."
The purple-cloaked one sighed. "Of course."
Thanatos shook his head and followed behind the two as more beings spilled out of the portal.
- Ash and Sophia -
(Sometime in the future)
Ash stopped the laga and jumped off. "I'm not saying this out of kindness: if it looks like I'm going to lose, just leave. I don't want the help and even if I did you aren't qualified to do so."
"I plan to watch until the end," Sophia said. "If you lose, then we both die. It's not as if I have anything to return to."
A charred corpse shot past the two. Ash's eyes kept on the corpse briefly before looking straight ahead. The figure that had thrown the corpse had a body similar to that of Mezir. The being's body was a dark tan with his arms and legs being dark black with cracks of fire running along them. The being's face was covered by a partially broken mask that seemed to be made of bone. They had long, wild crimson-red hair that seemed to smolder as it waved in the wind.
"TLACH! COME OUT, YOU TRAITOR!" The being shouted.
"I'm afraid I'll be your opponent for today!" Ash yelled.
The being tilted their head and spoke in a bitter tone, "And who are you?"
"Ash," Ash responded. "You?" she joked.
"Tonatiuh!" Tonatiuh shouted in a mad tone. "I am a warrior of the sun and one of the-"
"Almighty flames that serve the greater purpose," Ash finished Tonatiuh's sentence.
Tonatiuh didn't ask how Ash knew the second part. He slammed his foot on the ground, creating pillars of fire all around the two. Luckily for Sophia, she had gotten a safe distance away while the two were talking.
"That's a fun trick," Ash said, stomping her foot and doubling the pillars.
The two ran at each other with fireballs in their hands. Tonatiuh's eyes screamed with anger while Ash's smile couldn't be wider.