The tides of the battle shifted.
Shu could fight one on one with Antony in his original body, but each of these incarnations was different.
The original blue-haired Antony was a magic user who excelled in weather magic and weather manipulation.
Fighting him, Shu needed to use his gift and predict where the bolts of lightning he summoned would strike.
The second incarnation, the blond demon, was a master of magic manipulation and expulsion. He summoned a stave of pure magic in his hand and fought Alexander. His capabilities weren't as good as Danniel's, but they weren't anything to scoff at.
The third body was of a big man. It was way more enormous than the other bodies. He had brown hair, and his primary weapon was a club. He effortlessly fought off troops as if they were ants.
The fourth avatar was a red-haired voluptuous girl who could summon a magical sword made of fire. Looking at her, many men in Shu's army simultaneously thought of the same joke. Holding that burning greatsword, she was rather lewd...
The fifth incarnation was a brown-haired teenage girl in high school uniform with pigtails tied by yellow ribbons. Her expression was somewhat melancholic, and it seemed that without doing much, she had an effect on the environment around her that didn't let her get hurt.
Danniel looked at the scene with anger. He expected Antony to have more bodies he could control, but he didn't expect him to use them this soon.
"So, are we going down there?"
Chaos asked.
"Let's watch some more, though, first..."
Seeing his brother's body on the battlefield, Danniel was finally sure of this enemy's identity.
["Come on, Augustus! Kick this Mark Antony's ass!"]
Danniel sent a message to the godless realm.
Only two people heard his call. Antony and Shu.
"You are still referencing random human shit, huh?"
Antony chuckled.
Shu didn't know what their relationship was, but they seemed close.
"Well, I don't care what historical reference you pull! I will beat your followers and destroy everything you work for!"
Antony shouted and resumed his attack on Shu.
Thunder came like rain from the sky. It was becoming an annoyance. Even though his stamina was above average, Shu didn't have infinite energy.
In a moment of misfortune, Alexander and Shu were back to back. Each didn't have anywhere left to go.
This misfortune wasn't directed at the two gifted young men but at the god who attacked them using two bodies.
As Antony's blond demon incarnation neared Alexander, the latter ducked, and Shu did a wide strike above him that sent the possessed body flying.
Alexander moved from below and used a magical shield he created to block the lightning bombardment launched by Antony's weather god form.
He got near Antony's weather god incarnation and summoned a sword in hand to start attacking the closed-eyed god.
********
On another part of the battlefield, Mary merely just finished fighting the two legates as she dreaded their situation.
Were they going to fail again?
Is she going to restart all over again?
Again?
These thoughts made her want to give up more than anything, and she didn't notice when the third incarnation, the giant man, raised his club above her, ready to strike.
In less than a second, Thomas, her father, grabbed her and pulled her away, and Armageddon blocked the giant's club with his axe.
It was somewhat comedic, Armageddon, the largest of men, looked small compared with this giant incarnation of Antony's.
Then, something that no one expected occurred, the giant overpowered Armageddon. The latter was struck down.
Next, the giant resumed his advances toward Mary. He raised his club once more. As the club went down, Thomas, Mary's father, was slain.
Why did they think they could win? What brought such hubris that they, mere mortals, could kill a god?
Mary fell to her knees. Both her father figures were killed in front of her because she wasn't stronger. This was all her fault.
The giant raised his club one last time against a member of her family. Mary did not react, her eyes soulless, and she didn't know what to feel or think.
The club went down and...
SHTING!!!
Mary heard a loud metal noise.
She lifted her head and saw a man dressed in kimono blocking the club with a katana.
"Are you okay?!"
He asked her with a severe and loud tone.
"Y-yes."
Mary stuttered. She didn't feel okay, but she was not hurt...
"I'm sorry we didn't come down sooner. We weren't able to."
The samurai said apologetically.
"W-who are you?"
Mary asked. Something about him felt familiar and divine.
"You may know me as the divine swordsman, the Oni king, Momotaro."
The samurai said, and in a flash, he appeared behind the giant and beheaded him.
He then bowed before the bodies of Thomas and Armageddon and mumbled a prayer.
On the other side of the battlefield, Chaos killed the brown-haired girl incarnation of Antony. The sword of Chaos that can cut through anything is the only item that could slice through the divinity that covered and protected her.
The tan, green-eyed man, wearing a mix of knight's armor and suit, looked at the many dead bodies angrily.
The tide of battle has changed once more as Ishtar and Mira joined the fight.
These deities were all gods known to follow another god, one of the six main gods, the demon god.
And as the people could expect, following his allies' arrival, the demon god had descended to the mortal plain.
White-haired with purple, glowing eyes, had two horns, but one was broken, was short, with an overpowering presence. Danniel, the demon god, located his brother's body with divinity and hurried to that part of the war zone.
While he passed by Mary, he sent her a telepathic message.
"Please forgive me for their deaths. This will be your final loop. Even if I die, I don't want you to reverse my choice. Please live well after."
Mary didn't understand why what he said sounded so final. Was he really planning to die?!