Akuro could not see, hear, smell, or sense anything, it was almost as if he were dead again. It was like that empty black void that he'd first met Raijin in.
"Interesting." Akuro said. "So you can simulate death, and while your opponent has all their senses shut down, you kill them. I applaud your efforts… but…"
Inari watched as Akuro's body froze and the two Archdemons still standing slowly approached him. Zealous wore a grin, victory in his grasp. But then Akuro spoke.
"I applaud your efforts… but…" he said, "I'm not the only one in this body." Akuro's appearance began to change, black scales appearing across his body and two curved black horns sprouting from his head. His eyes turned crimson and his pupils became thin slits. He grinned, showing fangs in his mouth.
"This aura… I see now how you survived being executed. Brimgarn took refuge in your vessel." Zealous scowled. "How annoying.."
"Zealous…" Akuro spoke, but his voice was distorted and deep, as if two voices came out at once. "It's been a while.. I believe I have a favor to return to you…"
Zealous turned to Kessana, shouting, "Quickly, do it-" but he was too late. Akuro zipped out of sight, reappearing behind Kessana, his hand coming down on her shoulder, the fingers held out stiff in a swift chop that removed her arm entirely before he spun midair, his heel slamming into her side sending her body flying through the coliseum.
A wave of black daggers soared towards Akuro, but he jumped above them towards their origin. The daggers followed him as he dashed towards Zealous, who tried to back off but was too slow, and as Akuro passed him, the daggers followed. Akuro sent black talons to intersect the trajectory of the daggers right before they returned to Zealous, causing them to explode at point blank. Zealous's body was launched back from the blast, Akuro's fist colliding with his back, the force of the impact creating a shockwave as a hole was blasted into body before he was sent up into the air. Akuro appeared above him, then leapt downwards at him, rushing towards the ground, his foot against Zealous's head.
*CR-RAC-CK*
As they landed, Zealous's skull was completely shattered between the earth below and Akuro's foot, the ground below them erupting from the impact.
Akuro's aura cloak then began to slowly fade into thin wisps of black and the pressure density dropped, the rocks in the air slowly gliding to rest on the ground.
"I think," Akuro sighed, removing his foot from Zealous's bloody head. "That I've made my point." He turned to the other Archdemons, all of which were slowly rising to their feet. "I am your king now! Accept it or die. Your choice simple."
Zealous shifted, his head repairing itself slowly. He reached a hand out slowly towards Akuro. "I… will not.. permit you-"
Akuro stomped on Zealous's chest, crushing his rib cage and creating a crater in the earth.
"I'm getting bored of this game." Akuro hissed, his eyes cold and spiteful. "Get on your knees." He said, looking to the other Archdemons, but they only glared back at him. Akuro's pupils turned to slits once again. "I said… bow." He hissed, and then an immense force pressed down on all of the other six Archdemons, forcing them to drop to their knees so fast that some of them had their legs snapped, small cracks or depressions forming in the ground below them.
Akuro smirked. "That's better." He turned back to Zealous as the demon's hand slowly rose to grab Akuro's ankle. His grip tightened and there was a loud *SNAP* as Akuro's ankle was crushed, but even so, he wore a bored expression the whole time, unfazed.
"Do you really think that would hurt me after all this?" Akuro asked, waving at the metal embedded into his body. "Again. I am your king now, so accept it…" Akuro's eyes flashed menacingly as he applied more force below his foot, Zealous's chest bursting in bone and blood. "Scum."
•
•
•
Raijin stood at a large set of double doors, staring up at the seal in between them, a large black skull with red gems for eyes. The room he was in was a large black chamber, the door being the only thing in it, aside from the lamps of red fire cast an ominous blood red glow across the room.
Raijin held up a strange bone key in his hand. He tossed it up and caught it again a few times as if deciding whether or not to do what he was about to do. He then inserted the key into the mouth of the skull seal, which the jaws of closed around the key, the sharp teeth cleaving off Raijin's arm as well, though he seemed unaffected as he just watched the skull fade in red smoke as the door slowly swung open, the heavy stone grinding against the ground below causing the room to fill with the sound of stone on stone.
As his arm healed itself, Raijin entered the door, which took him down a small cave that continued on for some time, twisting and turning as it went, winding up and down. The doors had closed behind him and vanished, leaving only a bare wall, meaning there was no going back. He was in hell, and he wasn't going to leave anytime soon, not until he killed Akuro.
As he walked along the path, he came across a multitude of demons, some awake, some slumbering, some bashing their heads into the rough stone walls until their skulls cracked. It truly was hell, the demons appeared to be weak, but they were also suffering, never healing wounds across their bodies, misshapen limbs, cannibalism, torture, insanity, these are all the elements of hell.
Raijin was disgusted, and he made sure to kill every demon he came across. He couldn't help but hate everything around him, it was all so disgusting and disturbing, he wanted it all gone, erased. And so he would. When he came to the end of the tunnel, it took him to a massive opening in the largest cave he'd ever seen; this city of hell, Xinoll, half the size of New York, but still quite large.
"Hmm, a city of sin. The sight of this disgusts me… I will end it all." Raijin said, staring down at the city. Xinoll comprised of thousands of small stone houses that were strangely shaped and sized, some were small, some were large, some were thin but tall, some were short but wide. It was as if someone took every building and construction design in existence and threw them all in a blender, resulting in Xinoll. The streets were filled with millions of demons, all appearing to be separated into groups like gangs. The small preyed on the weak and blood flowed, screams of agony could be heard across the whole of the cave.
Raijin raised his hand into the air, the markings across his arm began to glow and as it did his eyes turned gold, lighting arcing around his body. He spoke in strange tongue for a moment, then returned to normal speech, saying;
"I call to the Thunder and the lightning that cracks across the skies, to the power that transcends all things on the land below, I summon the ultimate incarnation of the storm… I summon Nizzra, the Storm Hydra."
As he spoke these words, a net of arcing electricity dropped down on the entire expanse of Xinoll, throwing everything into gold light and destructive chaos, and as it did, the lightning began to condense into a physical shape. Then in the city, stood a hundred foot tall monstrosity, a gold and white scaled dragon with four heads. The beasts heads writhed and coiled, a gold glow emitting from their conjoined chests, then from the each of the hydra's jaws burst streams of gold lighting the obliterated everything in their path.
•
•
•
"Do you not understand your situation?" Akuro asked, waving his hands at the Archdemons. "I am stronger than all of you combined! How does that not earn me the title of king?"
"You are not one of us!" Kessana growled.
"Ah, fuck it, I don't care anymore…" Xell groaned, letting Akuro's pressure overtake him as his body fell to the ground completely. He reached into his clothes and pulled out his pipe, putting it to his lips, a wisp of flame sparking as he lit it, smoke puffing out of his mouth.
"Traitor…" Kessana hissed.
"Bitch, shut up, he is way stronger than us, just give it up." Both of the sisters said at once.
"Hey, profanity, girls." Xell said, blowing a puff of smoke.
"Sorry, Xell."
"All of you… traitors!" Kessana growled through clenched teeth.
"We ain't gonna die just because you have a crush on Zealous, woman." Xell said.
"Why you.."
"Enough already!" Akuro said, becoming irritated. "Just accept me as your king already so I can kill the gods. That's all I want, then you can do whatever you want."
Zealous let out a laugh at that moment.
"What's so funny?"
"Kill the gods? You have no clue what you are saying, boy."
Akuro let out a sigh. "I've shown you my power, and yet you still doubt me. What more do I have to do? Do I have to actually kill one of you to get the point across? Fine then." He raised his hand, and as he was about to snap his fingers, Kessana suddenly broke.
"Stop! Please! We concede! You are king! We accept!" She cried.
Akuro smirked, lowering his hand. He bent down so he was face to face with Zealous. "You hear that? I'm king." He removed his foot, blood dripping from it as he did, Zealous's wounds healing over.
"Well, for the first order, as king, I command you all to organize an army with you as the generals." Akuro said. "I want all the demons split into seven groups, each group led by you."
"Seven? Can you make it six..?" The sisters asked. Akuro looked over at them, then sighed.
"Fine, you two will command the main group, which will be the largest. That will be the offensive troop. Xell, you are in charge of the support group, I want you to organize a smaller group of demons that can do stealth and distance combat. As for you," Akuro nodded at Kessana, "you are in charge of defense."
"You've just been appointed king and are already organizing for war?" Zealous asked, getting to his feet. "Are you serious?"
"I told you my intentions already, I do not intend to change them." Akuro said coldly. "The gods will die for what they've done, and that's all there is to it."
"You mind explaining why you hate them?"
Akuro's eyes turned to Zealous, cold and hateful. "That is of no concern to you."
"Humph. Fine, what order are you giving the rest of us then?"
"Well, first off, Tetsuno, I want you and Mettrag to organize two groups of demons that are expendable and can be decent in close up combat, you two will be the front lines. And you," Akuro turned back to Zealous, "I want you to organize a smaller group of the strongest demons you can find. You will be in charge of the the strongest troop."
"Fine, it seems like a poorly organized and quickly thrown together plan, but whatever. You are 'king' now, after all." Zealous hissed.
"Do not mock me, unless you want to die." Akuro said calmly.
Inari watched Akuro, her emotions jumbled and confused. Akuro was cold, heartless, and brutal, he reminded her of a tyrant. What had he become? There was nothing left of what she thought she had seen in him that day. Did she really want to be allied with a man like him? What if he divided to kill her one day? What if he decided to end everything, destroy everything she cared about, end the world, what then? Would she be able to stop him? Would she be able to kill him?
She thought back to the smile she'd seen on his face back in New York… where was that Akuro? Was he ever real, and if he was, is he gone? Is it even possible to pull him back? And if she does bring him back… she looked up at Akuro, the power that seemed to flow freely from him. She would be holding him back, in the end, those emotions would make him weak… maybe that's why he is the way his is now…
Inari wondered then, she wondered, what if Akuro had killed his emotions?