- Artemis, Sabu -
The dark room seemed to almost glitter with the glints of the knives sticking out of the various surfaces.
"I expected better," Artemis taunted as she circled Sabu.
Sabu was holding back his full contract activation. It wasn't overconfidence stopping him, it was multiple worries stacking in his mind. He felt as though the fighting should have been over by now. He was gambling, something he hated doing.
The other three were going to follow Sabu into the building but got cut off by Apollo. Sabu was able to infer this given Artemis' whistle and the occasional flashes of light happening outside. He told himself that he was on his own for this fight.
The two circled each other. Their battle had been slow and methodical for the most part. No knives clashing, no aggressive run-ins, just two beings looking for their opening. This style of fighting was more favorable to Sabu. Artemis was faster, stronger, and certainly had more experience, so if she chose to rush in, she would win.
However, Artemis wasn't the type for direct confrontation. As she swiped her knife across Sabu's chest, leaving another shallow wound, thoughts of what comes after this battle poked at her. It was as if with every new wound she landed on her opponent, her mind took a brief moment to think about other things. It wasn't arrogance as much as it was a building tension she had felt since being chased by Death.
'Every time she lands a strike she slows down slightly,' Sabu realized. 'Find the window, kill, return to the others.'
Sabu's dangerous gamble was made possible by his trust in Yvere. He wasn't fond of the idea of mimicking Lucifer's level of riskiness, mostly because he wasn't sure that he could sustain as much damage and still live. Another shallow cut across his cheek was his sign to go for his attack.
Artemis's thoughts shifted abruptly as she saw Sabu's blade shoot toward her eye. She couldn't completely avoid the stab so she decided to at least trade blows as best she could. Her dagger was aimed at an artery on Sabu's wrist. Seeing Sabu shift his wrist before she lost vision in her right eye made her curse herself for not paying attention.
'If you can't kill, cripple,' Lucifer's voice said in Sabu's head.
"Very good, reborn," Artemis's tone was almost childish. "But do you really think you'll kill someone who's been hunting longer than your kind has been civilized?"
Losing to Death or Lucifer was a reasonable expectation for Artemis. She hadn't fooled herself into thinking she could win a head-on fight with either of those two. But some no-rank reborn?
"It only takes a day-old flame to burn down a thousand-year-old forest," Sabu retorted.
- Yvere, Heinrich, Elijah, Apollo -
Apollo didn't hesitate to run to his sister's aid. He hadn't been making much progress in his attempts to burn through the wooden dome that Persephone was creating. Every time he burnt through one layer, another would take its place. He justified his choice in his mind by telling himself that with Artemis' help they could finally finish their mission.
Apollo positioned himself on the rooftop of the building Sabu and Artemis were fighting in. His bow ignited in flames as he shot powerful bolts of fire down at the three.
Heinrich used his magic to catch every bolt Apollo shot. Bright explosions filled the area as the two stalemated. Both knew that Heinrich would run out of mana first if it came to that, and both were planning around Elijah.
'The tan-skinned one has the lightning magic,' Apollo noted in his mind. 'So long as I don't give him an opening to shoot, I can run out the blonde one's magic.'
'He's not going to give Elijah an opening to attack,' Heinrich worried. 'There's one chance, but it depends on how strong Elijah has gotten.'
"I have a plan!" Heinrich shouted as another bright flash filled the sky. "It's gonna cost you your arm though!"
"I don't-" Elijah was interrupted by another bright flash. "I DON'T CARE!"
Heinrich nodded and started to explain.
- Thanatos -
Thanatos dragged himself up. He shambled over to the nearest building and ducked inside. He leaned on a wall and gave an irritated glance to the other beings that were currently hiding in the building. He ignored their panicked questions and pulled out his echo.
"Death won," His voice sounded fatigued.
"Is the target still fighting?" The female voice asked over the echo.
"Probably not," Thanatos groaned. "The target didn't seem committed to the fight," He rubbed near his split-open eye. "But for some reason, it appears as if Death has some personal vendetta against the target. Can't confirm why."
"Interesting," The female voice responded. "For now, get out of there. The target was a gamble that's clearly not paying off."
One of the hiding citizens started to walk up to Thanatos. He turned and stared at them. The split of his eye caused them to flinch and back away. He sighed.
"Are we really just leaving the target?"
"And what do you suggest?" The female voice prodded. "Feel free to try and convince the target to keep going for Death. Or, if you're worried about your home, you could always try helping Death?" The voice sighed. "You know that Death's victory was a considered factor in this mission, so stop wasting both our time and get out of there before you get caught in the crossfire."
"I will," Thanatos answered and ended the call.
- Chronos, Peter, Lao, Dimitri -
As Chronos approached the wooden dome he heard rapidly approaching footsteps splashing water behind him. He turned around and swung his scythe, creating a large wave of blue fire as he did.
["Who are you?"] Chronos asked as the steam dissipated.
["Death's son,"] Peter lied as his forearms turned black.
Chronos's face scrunched. He didn't want to fight Death again or one of Death's children. He decided to try and negotiate.
["Maybe you'll be more reasonable than your father,"] He glanced at Lao and Dimitri. ["Let me go, and we can avoid unnecessary casualties."]
Peter decided to do something risky. He was confident that Chronos fully believed his lie, so now he needed to stall for time until Death could catch back up.
["How can I trust that you'll actually leave?"] Peter asked.
Chronos's irritation spread across his face. ["I'm a man of my word, unlike my children. Let me be clear about something,"] he took a step forward. ["you are not your father, boy. That man has an air about him that you don't quite match. So,"] he took another step. ["watch how you speak before I make the mistake of staying in this hole any longer."]
Peter racked his brain trying to think of a response that would keep Chronos here but not anger the god to the point of causing a fight. How could he stall this situation? What did he need to say? Should he say anything or just let Chronos leave? He decided to ask the one question that had kept popping up in his mind.
["How are you alive?"]
Chronos felt a pang in his chest. Memories of a time before his imprisonment played in his head. Stories he had heard of a god that would eventually be named Death hunting down other gods. The memories were hazy, he couldn't even picture the beings he was speaking with, but he could still remember one key part of the conversation.
["The hunter is ruthless,"] The scrambled voice in Chronos's memory said. ["Whatever god is on his list, they never get away."]
Thoughts of the recent battle with Death followed. Chronos still didn't know why Death wanted him dead so badly. All he knew, was that even if he got out of the Underworld, he would be on the run. That thought filled him with bitter, petty rage. He tightened his grip around his scythe, tilted his head, and looked down at Peter as he spoke.
["I guess there's no point in running..."]
Peter's eyes went wide as he signaled Lao and Dimitri to back up.