Right before the father and son's eyes was a demon from the past. Resurfacing after almost a decade, but for what? None of them could determine the length of his goals; there was undeniably a larger picture they couldn't see. But it was irrelevant. All that mattered now was the fighting spirit ablaze within them, thirsting not only for blood but a fair fight above all else.
Talen and Eros didn't know where their bloodlust originated. All they worried about was what lay ahead.
Atlas chuckled. "I see. So you two have inherited that from me, too," he said.
The duo didn't waste any more time. After the schemer spoke one last time, they dashed ahead in unison, throwing their fists contorting with aura. The punches they threw might have demolished the ground, but Atlas stood tall regardless, staring at them from the nearby fire escape attached to a building. He rested his hand on his chin, grinning.
"Son. Grandson. Both of you wield insurmountable power. In all the history of the numerous Unconquerable descendants, you two may very well be the strongest." Atlas raised on the railing. "But that would only be the case… if I weren't around."
Revival emerged from Eros, charging while its master simultaneously jumped, punching the scaffolding his father perched on. Atlas hopped and kicked his son across the face, backflipping onto the wall. Talen aimed his palm, discharging numerous Fate bolts that destroyed the building, forcing Atlas to retreat to the rooftop.
The man gave chase—instantaneously vanishing before reappearing above Atlas, kicking at his face and then flipping off the arms his grandfather raised to shield his skull. Atlas watched him spin around in mid-air only briefly; Talen swiftly regained composure and aimed his palm again, hovering. To his surprise, his opponent had fled.
Grunting and thuds landing from the ground caught his attention. Talen peeked over the rooftop edge and spotted Atlas fight his father with the cane-sword drawn—sparks occasionally entering the air.
Eros's foot dove through the air, smashing the ground beneath him as Atlas jumped away. The necromancer chuckled, slashing the air with his blade, forming projectiles that soared through the air at his silver-haired foe.
But he was fast. Fast enough to blitz through the barrage like a blur and instantly reappear behind Atlas. Using this slimmer of an opening, Eros's knuckles sunk into the old man's cheek, breaking some of his skull and throwing him to the street. Talen's eyes were wider than ever.
'That's insane! How could he have been that fast? I'd never seen speed like that before! Except from—' He thought back to when he once fought Monstrum ten years ago. 'Then again, if I remember correctly, Dad did fight him. It'd only make sense they'd be at the same level…'
Atlas tumbled into a parked car, denting the door he landed in and leaking blood from his lip. Pushing out of the vehicle, he stood tall, cracking his neck. The mastermind giggled.
"Looks like I'll have to stop holding back." Imbuing his aura into the sword, Atlas raised the steel, using it to shadow half of his face. "Don't die… my sons."
Valentina couldn't help but gape at the ongoing battle from the hole in the above apartment wall. She turned around, facing the homey interior.
"Should we intervene?" she asked Anthony.
He shook his head and rubbed his neck. "I don't know how strong you are, Mrs. Amit, but I have a bad feeling. Stepping between them means certain death. For anyone besides me, at least." Tony stepped forward, standing beside her at the hole. "Frankly, I don't care much about this fight. Keres was playing us all along. And even more so than that, he was doing it to kidnap Alora; we don't know where she is or what's going to happen to her."
Valentina looked at him, noting both his sweaty forehead and shaking fists facing the ground. She slid closer, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"It'll be alright. Alora's strong, y'know. I'd be surprised if she didn't break out on her own and came back to us without a hitch." She patted his back and smiled. "It's funny. I never thought you and her would get together," she said.
Tony shrugged. "Yeah. Me neither. She's the best. One of the only people in the world who saw me as a person. I'd do anything to protect her." He looked at her, stifling a chuckle. "Sorry. I'm kinda spilling my heart out here at a bad moment."
"It's alright. There's nothing wrong with expressing yourself at terrible moments."
The two shared a genuine chuckle. But as she closed her eyes and continued laughing, Anthony's red pupils reflected her white-freckled face. Unlike anything, he'd ever felt before. At a time before the present, the young man would remember his grandparents—who'd been with him since birth.
He'd never felt the proper love of a mother. He never got to hear words from his parents telling him how much they loved him. Up until now, he hadn't thought twice about it—but for some reason, now, she shone brighter than even the sun to him. She was the epitome of a 'good person. From his perspective, anyway.
Valentina brushed a strand behind her ear, looking up at Tony and grinning. "Is there something wrong?" she asked.
"No." The man smiled. "Nothing's wrong. Thank you though. For being nice to me, I suppose."
She waved away his compliment with a kind chuckle. "Oh, trust me, it's nothing! Someone burdened with a curse like yours deserves all the happiness in the world. That's what my children decided ten years ago when we originally ordered them to execute you. What type of mother would I be if I didn't agree with them 100%, ya know?" she beamed—eyes closed.
Anthony nodded. "I suppose you're right. Then again," he turned back to the fight between the Amits. "it's not like my existence brings anything to this world anyway. My technique is useless," he said, looking at his finger.
She watched the way he looked at his hand. "Well, Talen taught you mostly everything, right? Basics, intermediates, advanced. I'm sure you can do anything we can." A hand on her hip, she turned to Tony, smiling softly. "Then again, that won't cut it in the Fate World. Your blasts are indeed powerful. But they require a condition. That's already a drawback. What do you say I teach you instead? I was former Captain of the King's Elite Guard, y'know," she said.
"That sounds awesome."
Tony chuckled and raised his hand. Despite the unfortunate situation of Alora's abduction and Atlas's appearance, she'd managed to make him laugh. Though the tiniest feeling of pride threatened the core of her soul, Valentina suppressed it, gazing intently at the boy's wide smile. She high-fived him and grinned widely. After all, what were mothers for?
Atlas cackled loudly, dashing through the streets and throwing slashes from his sword. Talen flipped back onto the top of a car, blocking the imminent cuts with bandaged arms. Eros appeared above his father, clasping both hands together, striking his skull with an aura-imbued hammer fist. Briefly, the schemer fell downward; Talen used this opportunity to move hastily.
Thanks to his father, the Unconquerable's fists could move at breakneck speeds, digging numerous blows into his grandfather's build. The illusion of his body faded as Talen's knuckles fell through his transparent build, but he didn't falter. Atlas reappeared behind his grandson, raising his sword and attempting to behead him with one cleave to the neck.
His sword, imbued with Unconquerable Fate, grazed the ulterior aura surrounding Talen's exterior appearance. Three automatic hits struck Atlas's gut, crotch, and face, sending him flying even further down the street. Eros sprinted after his old man, shocked to see he'd sheathed the sword, and started running just as swiftly as his son.
Eros couldn't accept that. This city wasn't uninhabited—numerous civilians could perish. So, Amit punched the ground, sending his signature through the concrete for it to resurface as Revival's figure intercepting Atlas. She punched at his face, but easily, he grabbed her fist and uppercut her, sending a shockwave through the clouds strong enough to shatter the surrounding windows.
A single strike too much for Revival's fully manifested form immediately dissipated her spiritual existence. Atlas turned back to his son, widely smirking, black eyes glowing.
"IS THAT ALL, SON!"
Eros gasped. Before his father's fist could sink into his skull, Talen's foot knocked him away—palm stopping Atlas's attack. The grandfather couldn't help but grin.
"Intriguing…"
Talen used his other fist to punch Atlas to the ground. Momentarily struck into the concrete, the schemer rolled back, quickly drawing his sword and slashing up at the Unconquerable's chest. It was a shallow cut—purposeful. Talen spun around, kicking his relative's face. Atlas quickly jumped and slashed downward, striving to flawlessly cleave his head in two.
Eros's hands swiftly caught the falling blade, intruding on the mastermind's movements and throwing him away with another quick kick to the gut. Exiting the shadows behind his son, Atlas grabbed him by the hair, throwing him aside onto the street.
Now on his feet, Eros raised his palms, summoning his aura and extending it so far its peak scraped the skies. Talen was shocked to see what'd come next. Falling from the sky like an Angel from the heavens was none other than lightning bolts, emboldened by Fate and strengthened by the Unconquerable.
Atlas immediately jumped back from Talen, leaping backward across the concrete, consistently dodging the descending thunderbolts. Eventually, he stopped. As he aimed his sword at the skies, the black mist started spiraling the length, expanding endlessly with every passing second.
Eros and Talen couldn't waste time waiting for the attack; they dashed ahead simultaneously. The father and son, fortunately, closed the distance almost instantly—raising their fists drenched in Unconquerable. But they were too late. Atlas's speed was far superior to their own.
"Ancient Unconquerable…"
Atlas instantaneously slashed his sword. As the effects of the technique gradually began activating, his long black hair went with the wind; his slowly parting lips released his cold and soft voice.
"Unbridled Chaos."
There is no range to the Unconquerable technique. To begin with, they're not ranged fighters—save for the common conjured projectile or weapon. It was built for close combat. Somehow, Atlas managed to surpass that. By inserting both the Unconquerable aura and Chaos's power into the blade, the human limit is shattered, allowing one access to demonic powers.
'Unbridled Chaos' is a destructive technique with a range of 250-meters following the attack. It obliterates indiscriminately, leaving nothing but ash and despair in its wake.
After the dust cloud faded, the father and son standing tall in the aftermath bled from every corner of their bodies before eventually collapsing to the crater they were unknowingly near the edge of. If not for the Unconquerable's unparalleled endurance, they long would've perished.
Atlas stood over them. "And here I thought you two would shatter your limits like me. How disappointing…" he walked past them, briefly using their backs as leverage. "Goodbye, my sons. Let's do this again sometime."
And just like that, he was gone. Leaving nothing but destruction in his wake. The progenitor of the Unconquerable technique—an uncontainable calamity disregarding everything in his path. Cherishing nothing for the sake of his curiosity. A veritable disaster akin to Monstrum himself.
To Be Cont.