"Do not underestimate him, Akuro." Brimgarn's voice growled in Akuro's mind.
'I don't intend to.' Akuro responded.
"You sure? Because from my perspective you seem to be blinded by rage. Take a look at your Aura Cloak, it's losing its solidity because you are losing control." Brimgarn pointed out.
"He's not wrong, Akuro. Just look. Your aura is chaotic and losing its shape." Mato said.
Akuro clenched his jaw and bit his lip, the taste of blood touching his tongue. 'Just shut up already!'
Both Mato and Brimgarn went silent then, Akuro's mind a sound of static. "I don't need your opinions. I don't need anyone's! I will follow my own path.. my own way!" He roared aloud, not just to Mato and Brimgarn, but also to Moorza.
"Just because you throw a fit doesn't mean it will change anything. The outcome here is the same. You will die." Moorza spoke, his eyes glaring down spitefully at Akuro and Darius.
"How exactly do you plan on killing us?" Darius asked, turning to Moorza. "We are immortal, and from what I've seen you don't have any weapons that can seal or shatter our souls."
"Oh, soon, in due time you will perish." Moorza responded. "It is written in the stars."
"Wow, how original of you to say." Darius said. "Akuro, ready?"
Akuro nodded, taking a deep breath to calm his rage. It didn't have a large affect, but his Aura Cloak became slightly more solid.
Akuro then knelt down and put his hand against the pale ground, shadows encroaching across the ground like ivy. Moorza studied Akuro with interest and confusion, as it did not seem he was directing the attack at him. Then he realized. As he turned to Darius and threw out his Chakrams, it was too late. Five mirrors formed on all sides of Moorza, from them burst waves of black aura that then engulfed Moorza in a massive ball of shadow, like a black hole, swallowing the god and enshrouding him in darkness.
"Nice!" Darius cheered. "It worked!"
Akuro grit his teeth in frustration as he willed his aura to consume all of Moorza, so that he could then shatter the God's soul, but it was strange. Even though he could feel the aura Moorza gave off, it was as if it were an illusion. He could not absorb any of it, nor could he even sense a soul inside Moorza, it was as though he were no more than a walking corpse, animated by aura not of its own.
Darius took note of the fact that Akuro seemed to be struggling.
"What's wrong? Can't you absorb his aura and shatter his soul?" He asked.
"I'm trying!" Akuro yelled. "But it's like he doesn't have a soul!"
"What? That's not even possible, is it?" Darius asked, turning to the massive ball of shadow in the sky. "Damnit! This isn't good.."
The ground suddenly began to tremble and from the earth rose four pillars surrounding Moorza and the two Deities. The storm of black aura suddenly shifted as a hissing sound emitted from it, and a moment later it began to shrink down rapidly until it vanished completely. Moorza then stood there, atop his pillar, an orb held in one hand giving off a faint light. It had absorbed all of Akuro's aura.
"It was a good attempt. Amusing really." Moorza spoke. "But it is not nearly enough."
Akuro stood back up to his feet, breathing heavily. He'd used most of his aura already, the fight being longer than what he was used to. Not just that but he had no one to absorb aura from. If he could absorb aura from Moorza, then he would be able to fight longer. That's when something hit Akuro, clicking in his mind, and as it did, his eyes narrowed down to his target in tunnel vision.
"Darius." Akuro spoke.
"Hm?" Darius asked, turning to Akuro.
"I think I know where his soul is."
Darius watched Akuro for a moment, confused, then followed his gaze.
"The orb.."
Moorza held his dragon orb in the palm of his left hand, then put it against his chest, the orb phasing through his body and sinking into him. When the orb sank into his body, his other sword reappearing in his hand, his aura seemed to grow exponentially. The swords grew larger, as did the chakrams. His horns grew larger and his scales became harder and more sharp. The silver flakes in his wings began to give off a brilliant light as his wings grew.
Akuro then recalled that he ha absorbed the aura of both Nezzra and Nerrik and when he did it seemed to flow into his chest area. Of course. He was a half god half dragon, meaning he doesn't hold his soul in his body, he holds it in the orb. That is why he give off aura, but it could not be absorbed nor could his soul be shattered.
"We need to find a way to somehow get to it." Akuro spoke.
"Doubt it will be easy. I imagine it loses its solid state when it goes inside him, meaning we can't touch it." Darius pointed out.
"We will have to hit it with everything we've got when he uses it." Akuro said.
"Enough with the chatter." Moorza spoke. "Whether or not you know where my soul resides does not matter. You will not be victorious here."
Moorza rose both hands into the air. Suddenly the air inside the surrounding four pillars became heavy, as though gravity were increased tenfold. Akuro and Darius's legs buckled as they fell to the ground hard. Blinding silver light emitted from the tops of each of the pillars. From two of them a strange sort of wire or string began to form, the strings slowly growing and reaching towards the Deities.
But then a loud ring, like the sound of a church bell, ran through the air and a moment later a burst of white flames blocked out the sky and engulfed the pillars. The pillars then began to crumble away, breaking and falling apart, the strings and aura fading.
As gravity returned to normal and Akuro and Darius could stand again, Moorza's eyes turned to something in the distance. As the white flames died away, Akuro forced himself up off of the ground and followed Moorza's gaze to see a figure standing a ways off in a white Aura Cloak with the mask of a Kitsune.
It took Akuro a moment, but then he realized who it was. "Inari?!" He called. "What are you doing here? Get away! He is too strong-"
"Shut up!" Inari yelled. "Im tired of you acting like you need to protect me. Im tired of you treating me like a child! I am a Deity too! I can stand on my own two feet!"
"Inari, listen to me-"
"You don't belong here, girl." Moorza spoke. "And you have already begun to annoy me. Now die, little gnat."
The ground began to churn like a raging ocean around Inari, but she leapt high into the air where white flames engulfed her feet and she floated in the sky. She had six orbs floating around her.
"You ready Makane?" She asked. "Let's go! Seventh tail, Omniscience!"
A seventh orb appeared, larger than the ones before, and Inari closed her eyes as a white spot of light formed at the center of her mask. She could see everything and knew everything about Moorza now, as well as her surroundings. Though, for some reason it was limited to this small realm.
"Now!" Inari yelled, taking a deep breath. She had never gone this far before. "Eight tail, Omnipresence!" Another large orb formed and suddenly her image became blurry. Akuro felt as though he were drunken when he looked at her, seeing multiple images of her.
Then she vanished, instantly appearing behind Moorza, drawing her short sword and thrusting it at Moorza, who turned to block with his wing but in an instant Inari was gone again and appeared directly in front of him, the blade becoming copied with multiple versions of it flashing forward, a total of five blades, all plunging into Moorza's chest and in the next instant Inari flashed above him and a wave of white flames crashed into Moorza, engulfing him and throwing him off of his pillar and down, crashing to the ground.
Inari then stood in Moorza's place, looking down at the god in hate and rage.
"I must say, I did not expect that…" Moorza spoke, indifferently, as he stood, seemingly unaffected as he brushed himself off. "That Omnipresence may be annoying. The fact that you can be any and everywhere at once is a problem indeed."
"I'm not done." Inari said. A pale white light formed above her head as another orb formed, larger than all the others. "Ninth tail of Omnipotence. Now all nine tails have been activated. This, you damned god, is my Almighty Kirigon!"
"Almighty Kirigon, hm? Impressive. It gives you all three of the omnis. But that doesn't mean you will defeat me, girl."
Inari's eyes narrowed. She held her short award at her side, and as she did white light enveloped the blade until it began to hum, vibrating with energy. The Inari vanished.
Moorza, attempting to read her movements, spun and slashed his swords in a circular motion, a full three-sixty, but only managed to slash at an after image that quickly faded. Before he could make another move, Inari flashed into existence above him, landing in his shoulder and grabbing his chin while slicing open his throat and cutting cleanly through, pulling as she severed his head from his body and jumping back. Then she knelt low to the ground and grabbed Moorza's left wing, then pulled as hard as she could and threw him, tearing his wing slightly and sending him exploding through the air like a bullet.
Inari vanished and appeared ahead of Moorza in the direction his bleeding body was flying. She held up her sword as white flames began to glow from it, but then the earth shifted and massive walls of quartz rose on all sides of her, quickly enclosing her and then falling inwards, crushing and swallowing anything inside. But Inari had disappeared again, teleporting directly above Moorza, who's head had begun to heal. She spun in the air before her heel came down on Moorza's chest, crashing him into the earth causing the ground to shift in a rippling motion like the waves on the surface of still water after a rock falls below its surface.
"When did Inari become so strong?" Darius asked in awe.
"Honestly…" Akuro spoke as he watched her, almost in a trance. "I don't know." He felt a tang of guilt for never paying attention to Inari, for pushing her away, when in reality she was a valuable ally.
"Inari," came Makane's voice in her mind. "You need to hurry and find a way to kill him. We don't have much time left, Kirigon form can only last about five minutes with your level of control."
Inari clenched her jaw in frustration. She knew what Moorza's weakness was already, due to her Omniscience, but she still didn't have a way to strike his Soul Orb. He had to draw it out himself. But how could she get him to do that?
Inari's image faded out and reappeared a couple yards away from Moorza as he slowly got to his feet, after images following his body as he moved, steam rising from his body as his wounds healed.
"You done?" Moorza growled. "Do you feel accomplished now that you've done something, no matter how minuscule? Well, you should know, your actions are pointless. Look at me," Moorza motioned to his body. "You've done nothing. In reality, your actions never held any true affect, no matter how much 'power' you believe you have, you are limited by your own existence, the mortality of your soul. You are just as worthless as you were before, girl."
Inari felt a fire rise up, boiling in her stomach. She was tired of feeling worthless. She was done with it.
"If that's what you think…" Inari spoke. "Then you are mistaken." She held her hand above her head and suddenly a massive ball of white flames that sent waves of heat across the area, melting the pearl white ground and causing it to sink in while the air was distorted by heat waves. Above Inari floated a sun of white flames.
"These flames are impossible to put out, and anything they burn can never heal. If you are turned to ash by these flames, no matter whether your soul is intact or you are immortal or not, you will never heal." Inari explained. "Now perish from this world."