Inari had three minutes left. She was running out of time. Moorza watched as she motioned her hand in a downward motion, the ball of white flames hissing like a viper as it was sent descending down on the god.
For a moment, it almost looked like the attack would hit its mark, but then the hissing increased the flames began to shrink down at a fast rate.
'There it is!' Inari thought, vanishing. She reappeared beside Moorza, swinging upwards with her sword to strike his Soul Orb, which was exposed now, absorbing the white sun. As she drew close, Moorza quickly bashed his elbow into her jaw, knocking her back, before he attempted to skewer her with a sword, but she vanished again before he could.
Then a cold sense of dread ran over Moorza. He spun, seeing a mirror appear on the other side of him while another appeared above him. Akuro dashed at him from one side while Darius appeared from above, descending like a hawk.
"Don't forget about us!" Darius announced, his hand reaching for the Soul Orb, to which Moorza danced aside, letting the remaining flames fly at Darius who simply rose a mirror and reflected them back at Moorza. To avoid the flames, Moorza had to use his orb again, and as he did black aura shot up from the earth, surrounding him before sinking inwards.
Ivy-like vines of black aura, curling and coiling, reached in towards Moorza's Soul Orb, but he simply stood, the aura being absorbed as it made contact. Aura attacks had no affect on the orb, only physical attacks could work. And that's when Akuro leapt out from within his own shadows, appearing point blank before Moorza, his scythe's blade swinging in a wide arc, the edge drawing near the orb. As it came closer, time seemed to slow as Akuro's eyes were locked into his target and the God Slayer's blade sang, whistling through the air.
Akuro felt that this was it. It was checkmate. They had won, there was no way Moorza could avoid this attack, right? The tip of the blade was already less than an inch away from the Soul Orb's smooth surface. But then the ground suddenly jutted upwards, causing Akuro's legs to buckle and for his trajectory to be knocked off course. The edge of the scythe was knocked upward and barely skimmed across the crystal clear, smooth surface of the Orb's top.
A moment later all of the black aura was violently sucked into the orb and then shifted to Moorza's body, the orb sinking into his chest before he spun on his heel, rearing back his fist before vaulting it into Akuro's face, his scaled knuckles crashing against Akuro's jaw, shattering it and then sending his body back before four chakrams flew through the air, descending from the sky and embedding themselves into Akuro's chest, pinning him to the ground before it exploded upwards, launching him into the air.
With a powerful rush of his wings, Moorza sprung skyward and flew towards Akuro, talons outstretched and a blade in his other hand, but as he drew close and Akuro met the apex of his rise before beginning to descend, Inari flashed into sight, Moorza flying straight, face first, into her sword, the blade embedding itself in the god's skull before Inari kicked Moorza down, where he crashed to the earth. She then vanished and reappeared below, where she caught Akuro in her arms, his weight bringing her to her knees as she could feel her aura being pulled into him. She had to quickly set him down to avoid all of her aura being absorbed.
Akuro sat up, shaking his head as his wounds healed. As he rose to his feet, the chains nailed to his arms jangled as he moved.
"Thanks.." Akuro said. He felt awkward and uncomfortable saying that, especially after assuming she was too weak to be of any help.
"Yeah. Don't mention it, just stop leaving me out." Inari said. "I'm strong too, you know."
"Yeah.." Akuro said with an awkward grunt, putting a hand on the back of his head. "Sorry about that."
"Did Akuro Zaizen, the Omnipotent Death and the king of hell, just apologize?" Inari mocked. "I am shocked."
Akuro rolled his eyes. Then a shimmering mirror flashed into sight on Akuro's other side, from it stepped out Darius.
"Yo. Inari. Been a while, how've you been? Good? Me? I've been great. Just dealing with this annoying fuck." He joked, nodding at Moorza, who was now getting back to his feet.
"Fuck." Akuro cursed. "I was so damn close.. my blade skimmed his Soul Orb! I was so damn close.."
"It's fine." Inari said. "We can just try again." She held up her sword, her aura beginning to dance as white flames engulfed the orbs in a line. It was like she had a scarf of white flames about her.
"I'll use my mirrors so we can get a direct hit with your flames. Then I'll send Akuro in when he uses his orb. I'll try and get Akuro as close as possible, that way he can point blank hit it without a chance of failure." Darius spoke.
Akuro nodded, summoning his God Slayer. Inari leaned forward, holding her blade at her side in one hand while the other was held up, ready to strike or block.
"Ready?" Darius asked.
"Let's do it!" Inari said.
Akuro braced himself, waiting for the strange sensation that came with falling through a dimensional mirror. It was much the same as being on a roller coaster, when your stomach rises up. It also makes your body feel fuzzy and strange. He turned his eyes to watch as Darius waved his hand and a mirror appeared before Inari, in which she then sent a wave of stark white flames through. Akuro looked to Moorza as the opposite mirror formed above his head and the flames were about to come rushing down on him, but in an instant he waved his hand, the orb held in his palm, and shouted "ENOUGH!!"
Suddenly the flames vanished and the mirrors shattered to nothing. Akuro felt dizzy as his Aura Cloak faded out and he returned to his normal human state. He glanced over at Inari and Darius and realized they had the same thing happen to them. Akuro attempted to activate his aura and summon his Aura Cloak, but no matter how hard he tried he could not. It was as though he were sealed by the curse of the God Slayer again!
Akuro also could feel his sense weaken, and as he looked back up at Moorza, he realized his eyes could no longer follow the god's movements. The god suddenly shifted out of sight and seemed to teleport to them, standing before the Deities. He waved his wings back, sending a gust of wind that knocked all three of them back onto the ground.
"Do you see now?" Moorza spoke, looking down on them with contempt, a look that Akuro hated above all others. "You assumed, just because you could kill a few mid rank gods and just because you became the king of hell, you assumed that you were the strongest. In reality, you are nothing. You are no more than a cheap knock off of the original."
"Original?" Inari echoed.
"Azazel. You copy everything about him, his aura, his darkness, he cold demeanor, but what you lack.. is his power. You are nowhere close to that demon. You are just a cheap imitation, yet you act like you rule the world." The god held out his hands, his talons curling inward. "But now you see for yourself what real power is! You can see now how futile your actions have been up to this point! You are an insect to me, and I shall smash you beneath my feet. This is my realm, you have no power here."
Akuro was about to speak, but before the words could roll off his tongue, the ground began to tremble violently as the pearl floor shifted and churned and the four pillars from before suddenly burst from the floor, rising up into the air around them. A field of pressure once again enveloped them, bringing Akuro and the others to their knees. A soft ring resounded across the area inside the pillars, slowly growing louder and louder until it felt like their ears were being ruptured. Silver light flickered atop each of the pillars, slowly expanding before the silver lines from before began to flow out from them. Three strange silver wires like strings extended down from the top of three of the pillars. They then reached towards each of the Deities, the strings attaching to them. First was Darius, and when the string made contact he let out a loud cry of agony, as a second later his body seemed to become almost astral. It had its solid form still, but at the same time it was like it had a copy or after image following it, like a spirit clinging to his body and imitating his movements. Akuro's eyes widened. It was Darius's soul, it had been manifested into this realm, meaning it could be shattered. Next came Inari, who let out a scream of pain as her souls was manifested by the string, then she hunched over, whimpering.
Akuro tried to force himself to his feet, but his legs refused to move. He was unable to stand, even though he tried with all his might. He was painfully reminded of how he was unable to move, pinned to the ground in agony, as his father shot and killed Hope… This feeling was very similar to that time. He felt helpless, something he never wanted to feel again. Not ever. But yet, here he was, on his knees and powerless.
The string then made contact with his back. At first it was an intensely cold feeling, like ice being touched against his back, but then it changed to a hot burning feeling, as if his skin was being seared off and blades were being dragged over every inch of his body. He grimaced in pain, though he never let out a cry. He was used to pain, after all he'd been through. This much was just annoying to him, it wasn't that bad compared to being repetitively burned in lava, or having your eyes gouged out time and time again.
The thing that bothered him the most was the cold feeling that ran through the inside of his body, that ran through his heart and his gut, as his soul was manifested out of his own body. He felt strangely isolated and it was so cold. It was a horrible, uncomfortable, uneasy feeling that caused anxiety to rise up in him as a knot formed in his stomach.
"Now then…" Moorza hissed as a loud hum ran through the area and the chakrams appeared around his arms. "Allow me to cut the strings of your fate."