"Welcome… to my endless dream!"
Akuro felt sweat on his palms. What were they supposed to do against an opponent like this?
Sedori held both hands out towards Akuro and Inari.
"Die."
Every weapon in the room pointed towards them and then flew through the air in their direction. Akuro wasn't worried whether or not he'd die, he was immortal after all, but he didn't think Inari was. He grit his teeth and focused all of his might into creating a wall of black aura to block the attack, but as it came it began to break through in only a few short moments. A blade shot through the wall straight for Inari, but Akuro jumped in front of her, the sword skewering his leg, forcing him to a kneeling position.
"Akuro!" Inari cried.
"I commend your efforts, but with your incomplete Aura Cloaks you have no chance of defeating me." Sedori spoke, then dashed forward, cutting through Akuro's wall with his golden sword before his foot crashed into his face, slamming him into the ground. Sedori then swung his sword for Inari's head, but she jumped away in time to dodge. Akuro forced himself to stay conscious, grabbing Sedori's leg. He pushed his head against his foot, forcing it up as he grit his teeth.
"I'm not.. done!" He hit his fist against Sedori's knee while pushing the ankle up, resulting in his leg snapping backwards at the joint. Akuro then planted his feet into the ground and pushed off with all of his strength, his head colliding with Sedori's sending him back through the air, rolling to a stop.
Black marks covered Akuro's wounds, healing him as Inari appeared behind Sedori where he came to a stop, her hand raised as aura gathered into her clenched fist and a single tail emerged from her cloak.
"Blessing of the First Tail, Strength!" Inari roared as her fist crashed down on Sedori, but a shield blocked the attack, only to be shattered under the immense force of Inari's fist, her punch following through, making impact in Sedori's face, making his neck snap and his body spiral.
Inari and Akuro stood, panting, watching Sedori's body as he slowly rose to his feet, his wounds healing over and his bones snapping back into place.
"Well, I can't say I was expecting that." He spoke as he tilted his head back and forth. Then he smirked. "This might be more fun than I expected." He raised a clenched fist as his wisps of energy flowed from his Aura Cloak. He then tilted his thumb out to the side, before turning it upside down.
Then the weapons in the chamber burst into motion again, but this time instead of flying for Inari and Akuro they spun in a whirlwind of steel around Sedori. He then began to slowly walk forward, forcing Inari and Akuro to jump back out of the range of the spiraling storm of weapons.
"Do you understand why you're weaker than me?" Sedori asked suddenly, stopping his advance. His Aura Cloak hummed with energy, the ephemeral samurai armor glimmering and illuminating the room, casting a ghostly glow. "It's not just experience. It's your resolve."
"Resolve?" Inari echoed.
"Yes. You have no true reason to fight, and that makes you weak." Sedori spoke, "Without something to fight for, your fighting spirit is not strong enough. Aura can increase exponentially due to emotions, and determination is among the strongest of emotions. Without it you will fail where you could have succeeded."
"We do have resolve!" Akuro roared, "We're still here, aren't we? We are still her, challenging you!"
"If that's true, then tell me this," Sedori turned to him, his eyes narrowing, "What is your reason to fight?"
Akuro glared defiantly back at Sedori, his grip on his scythe tightening. No matter how much he wanted to, he couldn't find an answer.
"Exactly. Your drive is not resolve, the only thing pushing you to fight is stubbornness and pride." Sedori said. "Do you even know why you were reincarnated?"
"To decide mankind's future." Inari answered.
"Wrong." Sedori spoke, "The gods don't care about any of you. Let me tell you the true fate of the Deities, and the reason I despise the gods that made us." Sedori shifted his sword, burrowing its blade into the ground and crossing his arms.
"To create life, the gods had to use parts of themselves." He began, "This cut the power of the gods nearly in half. And the reason they made us? To be their slaves. They needed workers to do their bidding, not just that but we were disposable tools to use in order to test the strength of their enemies or to spy on them. But in the end, the human race became too strong to control, and eventually they broke away from their fate of being the puppets of the gods. Mankind adapted and grew, learning to craft things of their own, and making alliances with the Dragons."
"Dragons?" Akuro asked in surprise.
"Yes. Before humans learned to use the power of aura, they made bonds with the Dragon race, fighting alongside them to combat the demons that walked the earth in flames. But, when the Titans awoke, the Dragon race was wiped out, and humans were left defenseless, until the gods blessed them with the power of aura. Why, do you think, the gods would do this? It's simple. It's because gods gain power every time something dies, and if the humans managed to kill a Titan or slay an army of demons while being killed themselves, then what would that mean?"
Akuro's eyes widened, realizing what Sedori was saying. "The gods use Deities to gain power…"
"Correct. And do you know the fate of every Deity before you, immortal or not?"
"Death…"
Sedori nodded. "Every time Deities are made, there is war and death. This returns life essence to the gods that they had originally used to create. So, in reality, the gods use you to gain power for themselves. You are little more than sacrifices."
"Wait, but why wouldn't they just let mankind be wiped out instead of giving them power? Or why don't they just come down and wipe us out themselves?" Inari asked.
"Simple. Think about it, do you just eat all the fruit in your garden at once, or do you eat one or two at a time and let the others grow and prosper so you have more in the future?"
"But wouldn't it take more of their power to make more humans?" Darius asked, this being the first thing he'd said in a long while. He lay by the wall he'd been before, breathing heavily and holding his hand over his own shoulder, blood covering his clothes.
"No. It only took their aura to creat the first humans, any who are born after do not take away from the gods, but when they die their life essence is absorbed, turned into their power. The human race is little more than livestock."
Akuro felt rage rising up in him, a knot forming in his chest. Memories of Alina and Hope flooded his mind, Alina's limp hand held in his, Hope's blood pooling below her..
"Livestock…? You're saying that our lives mean nothing to them?" Akuro said quietly, his voice gradually raising to an angry yell, "Our pain, our suffering, our hardships, they all mean nothing!?"
"To the gods, yes. They designed this world specifically for blood. Our pain is their entertainment." Sedori answered calmly.
Akuro's body began to shake with rage and he clenched his fists. "I… am going to kill… every… last one of them!" He roared, and then he felt something flow through him, like something snapping into place that had been missing for so long. The ground cracked at his feet and his cloak grew darker, his horns extending out further, followed by another smaller pair as large black wings grew from his back. Plates of black armor covered his shoulders and his chest. His pupils changed as well, becoming thin slits.
"Well, well. I didn't expect this reaction, but I can't say that I don't like it. It should be more entertaining." Sedori said.
Akuro stepped towards Sedori, taking another and another, slowly moving forward.
"Akuro..?" Inari asked, her tone one of concern.
Sedori frowned. "Except that it would seem you are no longer in control."
Inari stepped towards Akuro, putting a hand on his shoulder, but then Akuro snapped, massive talons of black aura crashing into her, hurling her through the air behind him. Sedori waved his hand and a dozed swords skewered Akuro's frame, but he didn't seem to care. His dead eyes locked on Sedori before he snapped out of sight. Sedori had no problem tracking the Deities' movements before, but he couldn't follow Akuro's speed any longer. He looked around for a moment, then felt an immense killing intent from behind him. He spun, raising two shields to block as Akuro rushed him, his scythe, which was almost doubled in size due to Akuro's Aura Cloak, shattering both shields in an instant. Sedori leaned back to avoid the scythe, but Akuro's foot slammed into his stomach, crushing him into the ground. Blood spurted from Sedori's mouth, the impact from Akuro's kick creating a gaping hole in his stomach and shattering the earth below, creating a large crater.
Akuro then grabbed Sedori's head with his aura talons, crushing his skull before hurtling him into a wall which was shattered from the impact, then Akuro leapt on Sedori while he was down, black talons piercing through his body and into the wall. Large cracks appeared all along the wall and to the roof, causing the entire room to shake.
'The hell… is this kid..?' Sedori thought as Akuro continued to brutalize his body, not giving him time to control any of his weapons.
Akuro grabbed Sedori but the leg, then threw him through the air, his body slamming into the roof before crashing to the ground.
Sedori's wounds began to heal over and he slowly rose to his feet, looking up at the rampaging Deity standing before him. He winced as his bones snapped into place, then he held out his hand, his sword flying to it. His aura then enveloped the sword and he stood, preparing himself for the next attack.
Akuro dashed forward, leaving an imprint in the ground from where was standing. Sedori swung his sword out when Akuro got too close to avoid the attack, but to his astonishment, Akuro had planted the handle of his scythe into the ground, propelling his body into the air as he spun, swinging the scythe down on Sedori's back, crashing him into the ground, the weapon's blade puncturing his heart.
Sedori tried to get up, but he'd been pinned, unable to move. Twenty blades soared through the air, impaling Akuro's body, but they had no effect. As Akuro stood over him, Sedori had a flash back to the old war, a memory of a similar scenario, the only difference being that the one who stood over him… was the demon king, Azazel.
"Akuro, stop!" Inari called, walking towards him.
Akuro turned to her, then propelled in her direction, and just as he got in range, Darius appeared in his path, blocking him.
Darius was enveloped in an emerald Aura Cloak taking the shape of a hood and armor. The armor consisted of a triangular, spiked shoulder pad and a thick chest plate while gauntlets covered his arms and leg guards covered his shins.
Darius's hands were locked with Akuro's as they pushed against one another, both trying to overpower the other, much like the time they had first met.
"Snap out of it, asshole!" Darius roared, planting his foot into Akuro's chest and sending him skidding across the room.
"Darius?" Inari asked in surprise. "I thought you were..?"
"I figured out how to use my aura cloak," he explained. "Let me handle Akuro."
"By yourself? Are you crazy?"
"Yeah, I am. He is my rival." Darius smirked. "And my best friend, so don't worry, I'll smack the shit out of him."