It was all unexpected. Hades thought that eliminating a simple human would not have been so taxing; all of the power that the lava-orange-haired god had induced into his abilities just to move the brown-haired man was frightening. Even now, after clashing with Regashi, Hades has not yet managed to make the human bleed, much less scratch or bruise his skin in the slightest.
There had only been one encounter between Hades and any of the gods of the multiverse that proved themselves to be a great hassle—the Crimson Messiah, Reiwa Takuetsu. The insane tyrant, on the other hand, was nowhere near as vexing as Regashi. The brown-haired male had no regard for battle, treating magic and his ostensibly god-like powers like toys.
'Clearly… I cannot deal with this man on my own, as much as I hate to admit…' Hades reflected, his body burning bright with flames and orange cracks tearing through space itself.
Suddenly, Hades stretched both of his arms upward, his flattened palms facing the blue skies.
'I have to… call for help!'
*BRRRRMMM!*
The god proceeded to discharge a powerful beam of red light upward, resembling a beacon that could be seen throughout the entire realm. Once the beam had reached a certain point in the sky, the sky rippled greatly, stretching across the lands at rapid speeds.
Regashi stood still, eyeing the god's act curiously. "The prideful oaf requesting backup… hilarious."
"I never thought that I'd have to do such a thing ever again… but you're much more serious than what I initially planned." Hades commented, finally letting the red beam dissipate into nothing.
For a few moments, the two remained motionless, with no response from the massive beacon sent out by Hades. Regashi arched his brow as he thoroughly examined the surroundings, his puzzled expression mirroring Hades'.
Regashi smirked and said, "They must be away—"
A narrow second before Regashi could finish speaking, the area was brimming with a profusion of new sensations, all of them moving incredibly fast.
"I'd start praying if I were you, mortal." Hades suggested in a condescending tone, his pride inflating once more.
The sky darkened in an instant, with several soaring beings residing hundreds of feet above both Regashi and Hades, drawing closer with each passing second. Regashi concentrated his vigilant, green eyes on the advancing beings from the sky, enthralled by what he was witnessing.
"Behold… the Norse pantheon's Valkyries!" Hades exclaimed, keeping his eyes on the brown-haired male at all times.
Regashi watched as warriors in gleaming armor and spears halted in the air around him, each astride a horse with wings sprouting from the nags' sides, permitting flight. Notably, all of the valkyries were female, reminding Regashi of finely aged tales from a period when the gods above still ruled the universe.
"Valkyries…" Regashi murmured, his eyes glowing. "Glad to know that some survived the Keisan War!"
Hades chuckled, "This is your end, human! These Valkyries fought alongside the gods for as long as a deity could remember! Their power is unrivaled to any warrior of any realm!"
Regashi's eyes shined brighter.
With a hand engulfed in fire, Hades pointed at Regashi. "Valkyries!"
Following the god's sudden exclamation, the hovering warriors fell silent, each holding their spears closer to themselves. Regashi's fingers began to shudder subtly, excitement coursing through his veins and a smile spread across his face.
"Attack!"
At immense speeds, the winged horses galloped in the air, launching the Valkyries toward Regashi, booming battle cries bouncing in the air.
"GAHHH!"
Without warning, Regashi slid his feet to the side, evading impending jabs from the Valkyries spears with what appeared to be a brief dance. With every swing, the brown-haired male dodged with a dance move, his eyes now closed and his smile wide.
Hades observed from afar, his eyes broadening slightly as he noticed what was occurring.
'He's… dancing!?' Hades wanted to yell, his hair blazing with intense flames.
With one fluid motion, Regashi redirected a Valkyrie's spear with the back of his hand, twirling his entire body and clutching onto the warrior's helmet with his other hand, ripping her head off completely.
Every Valkyrie ceased their movement, appalled at the abrupt murder of the Valkyrie.
"Unrivaled power?" Regashi questioned rhetorically, flaunting the decapitated Valkyrie's head in his grasp. "Perhaps you need to try harder!"
Once Regashi stopped speaking, rage found itself in the core of every Valkyrie's heart, prompting one to elicit a venomous cry:
"Kill him!"
Unexpectedly, the Valkyries ordered their winged steeds to fly all around Regashi, orbiting around the brown-haired male menacingly. With spears mightily stretched to the sky, the warriors in the sky all roared in unison.
"By the will of Zeus and Odin and their pantheons, you shall expire!"
As if their roars were an auditory command, the spears they wielded became coated in various colors of magic, and a cyclone of Aura Senses formed, trapping Regashi indefinitely. The winds of the cyclone were strong, but nowhere near powerful enough to damage the Realm or move Regashi from where he stood.
"DIE!" All of the Valkyries demanded with determination.
*SHIIIINNNNGG!*
The cyclone erupted into a massive explosion with a blinding light that would have incinerated anything physical; even so, nothing was truly damaged because the heavenly realm was impervious to any form of magic, no matter how potent.
The smoke of the attack was noxious, but was quickly erased by Heaven itself to purge any unsightly and hurtful elements that roamed within it.
"What a wonderful formation, Valks!"
Regashi clapped his hands cordially, unharmed by the impressive attack unleashed by the flying warriors of the heavens. There appeared to be no feasible way to subdue the brown-haired male, with all of Hades' attacks failing miserably and the Valkyries' combined assaults gradually proving to be ineffectual.
"Surely that's not all you have, right?" Regashi queried, tilting his head.
Hades clenched his teeth as he yelled, "Don't just sit there! Attack!"
Joining in on the fight, Hades reeled his flaming fist back and pushed his knuckles forward, trying and failing to land a solid blow on Regashi. In response to every one of Hades' punches, Regashi would, once again, shuffle his entire body, his feet sliding across the ground, and his arms flailing around dramatically.
The male continued to dance in the midst of battle.
Slowly, the Valkyries resumed fighting Regashi, assisting the fiery god in taking down the brown-haired male, only to be unsuccessful with every swing, slash, jab, and lunge.
Then, the impossible happened.
"Let's spice this up a bit, shall we?"
With a single thrust from both of his arms, Regashi managed to tear mounds of dirt out of the heavenly ground, leveling the grassy plains with relative ease. The realm rumbled, shaking violently.
Several eyes widened in fear and bewilderment, including Hades'. The Realm, otherwise known as Heaven, was being destroyed by a single man's actions.
Using his left foot and swiftly stomping on the ground, Regashi managed to obliterate the Realm to further lengths—the golden arches in the distance were starting to crack and inevitably topple over; the clouds in the sky were pushed away, eventually disappearing; streams of water were lifted into the air, sloshing everywhere. With one motion at a time, Heaven crumbled.
Regashi calmly patted down his black cloak, knocking debris off of his clothing.
"Now, I have duties to complete back at home—so let's finish this little charade, yes?"
Both the Valkyries and Hades would soon regret challenging Regashi.
XXX
I have imagined these past few chapters for so long! It's nice to finally complete them! The next chapter should be the finale to most of the monumental fights for the time being—but don't worry! The story won't become staid and only consist of boring dialogue between characters! Stay tuned for more!
Have a Great Day!
Peace - Cr1ticalz_