Anthony was dead. Monstrum incarnated fully into his younger cousin's flesh, gazing through the smoke with blood-red eyes and bright snowy hair. Talen was all but paralyzed before the Disastrous, despite the stench of battle in the air. The Monster God scoffed at his motionlessness.
Grabbing Talen's head after closing the distance, Malum threw his opponent through the ceiling. Amit flew into the air after exiting the building's peak, landing into his enemy's fist bruising his cheek, until another kick sent the Unconquerable down the street. Warping back in front of him, Monstrum punched his face.
His knuckles destroyed the street once Talen backflipped away, landing and crouching atop a nearby rooftop overlooking the Disastrous.
"Is… is Anthony still in there?"
"Huh?" Monstrum laughed, grabbing his sweater. "Of course not! Initially, I couldn't destroy his consciousness, but I ensured to massacre the center of his ego! Your pathetic friend is gone, Amit, and the only way to avenge him… is to fight. Fight and beat me, Unconquerable."
Talen's conscience was overtaken at that moment. Lingering urges from over a decade ago resurfaced, appearing in the form of bestial breath hissing out his mouth, shaped like steam.
"You really wanna fight? Fine then. I won't hold anything back. I'll kill you, Monstrum, and make it as bloody as possible in the process." The Unconquerable threw his glasses aside, crushing them under his boot as he stepped off the roof. "Are you ready?"
The Disastrous laughed. "HAHA, OF COURSE! Now, SLAUGHTER… Veil!"
Back at the Building, Alora dispelled the aura surrounding her, collapsing to her knees. Aella ran over before the Enforcer could keel over completely.
"Hey, hey!" Throwing Lora's arm across her arm, the Displacement stood up. "No passing out! We have to move or else we're gonna get in the crossfire!"
"Aella?" The King's familiar raspy voice intoned. He ran over to Raven, glancing at Alora and then scanning the area. "Where's Tony?"
"Tony's dead," Raven said. "Apollo had the last of Monstrum's Arms and made him ingest them. There's nothing left… all we can do now is run."
"That's not true," said Uriel. He raised two fingers. "I have information. However, before I tell everyone, we need to regroup somewhere secure. Do you think Barronia's compromised?"
"I doubt it," Maeve, standing beside him, interjected.
Aella grinned. "Maeve! It's so nice to see you again. I assume this means the King enchanted you?"
"That's quite obvious, sister. I take it your surprise means there aren't any other Displacements besides us. I can't sense them anymore…" she uttered.
King Barron nodded. "Your siblings' demise is quite unfortunate, but we have bigger things to worry about. Regarding that of Atlas's greater scheme and its unstoppable scale."
Since Helenheim was deserted, Talen didn't have to worry about civilian casualties, meaning he could mercilessly unleash the depths of his technique upon the city and Disastrous. Monstrum darted across the numerous abandoned buildings, cackling insanely, simultaneously dodging the explosive bolts chasing him.
"I CAN'T EVEN HIT YOU! WHAT SORT OF POWER IS THIS?!"
Talen's figure was but a blur above the skies, continuously dispersing bolts from his aura that destroyed the surrounding buildings. The Disastrous jumped off, catching his opponent's form with a punch that Amit caught.
Amid the skies, the duo glared at one another, before Veil revealed themself and struck Talen into the clouds. Malum appeared above him, ready to intercept with a ready hammer fist. Fortunately, the Unconquerable adjusted himself and managed to punch Monstrum after closing the distance.
Talen moved back and vanished, making Monstrum look around in search of the enemy. Suddenly, a giant hand emerged from space, enclosing the Disastrous in its palm before throwing him into the city. As Malum smashed into the ground, Talen flew after him—slamming his fists into the concrete.
Catching his fist, Veil pushed their master up. Using the opening, Monstrum backhanded the Unconquerable with his fist and jumped back, lunging his leg ahead to kick Amit down the street. Instead of landing in the nearby train station, space sliced open, inhaling Talen.
The Disastrous sucked his teeth. A miniature gate opened in the space behind Monstrum's head. Despite hastily lowering his hand in an attempt to chop his skull, Talen's eyes widened.
'His hands are…'
Veil exited its master's rear and caught its foe by the throat, punching him across the face. The Disastrous was suddenly encased in a block of ice, unable to break free. Just when Talen thought he'd won, the frost instantly shattered around Monstrum, and he stepped forward.
"Veil."
Slicing the air with his palm; Amit, soaring through the city—opened his eyes. The signature sound that slaughtered him ten years ago was none other than Malum's infamous cutting technique. Seemingly both unavoidable and invisible, anyone targeted by it irrevocably perished. But not Talen. Not again.
The Unconquerable aura infused with superior speed and defense engulfing his soul automatically detected the incoming discrepancies in the air. Furthermore, the moment they got too close, Talen's aura activated—autonomously moving its user's arm. In one clean motion, he'd flawlessly dispelled Veil's imminent slices.
Malum laughed. "I see! So after our first fight, you went to work tinkering and playing with that pathetic little defense! You even managed to deduce why Veil's slices are invisible… right?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Talen stood up, crushing a piece of debris in his hand while rising. "You send the attacks through surrounding shadows and have them exit the darkness closest to the target. That only works for super long-range though. For point blank, the travel distance is instantaneous. So? I'm right, aren't I?"
"Of course you are. I expect nothing less from the Unconquerable," said Monstrum, rubbing his chin. "That being said, the way you are now, I doubt I can beat you. Looks like I'll have to go all out."
With the combined power of all eight Arms, Monstrum summoned the core of his being—true power. The crimson Fate within him, tainted by millennia of bloodshed and chaos, amplified tenfold. The pressure in the air sent Talen wobbling, eventually making him fall to his knees. Peering through the miles and miles of surrounding rubble, the Unconquerable's eyes widened.
Everyone heard legends about it. But that was just it. A legend. They were wrong. The unseemly sight reflected in Talen's dark-green eyes couldn't be real. As the air distorted around them, a stray gust of wind sent the Unconquerable's hair astray, leading to a deafening explosion directly below the morphing Disastrous.
"Unleash your might, boy. Discard all else on the path to power and become the strongest. That is what it means to be cursed by Fate in this world."
The smoke cleared around Monstrum, revealing his bulking and deformed monstrous form. Talen couldn't even shiver at the sight of it—his stare said it all.
"So? How's it look? Been a while but… feels the same as ever," said the Monster.
Tal shrugged. "You look the same to me."
A brow quirked above Malum's eye. "I see. It seems you took my advice then," he snickered. "It's always nice to see an intelligent opponent."
The flow of Talen's aura was controlled and tranquil. With each passing edge of the signature's reach finishing its rotation, the blazing life force's amount never dwindled. It remained steady. His once-closed eyes opened slowly, reflecting Monstrum's figure and the darkness he emanated.
The Disastrous Monster God's true form is a muscular beast with eight arms and just as many eyes over his face. The first four are layered normally on each side of the torso, but the others remain idle on his back. They imitate the shape of wings with the way they're angled off his rear. Hissing steam from his jaw, Malum licked his fangs, opening his hand to summon a double-edged lance of darkness.
"I'm going to slice you to pieces and then see how you Amits taste on the inside."
Talen stepped forward. "Do as you please." As he spoke, a footprint was implanted into the concrete he walked on. The Unconquerable smirked. "I'll be destroying everything in my path to slaughter you."
"HAHA!" Malum grinned. "You have no idea how happy it makes me hear to those words… Talen."
The Disastrous instantly closed the distance and swiped his spear, sending Talen through multiple structures. Once Amit settled into a wall, his eyes widened, spotting a darkened edge sink toward his pupil. As Monstrum stabbed the ground, Talen rolled between his legs and caught his foe in a headlock.
"My turn."
A giant fist emerged from the atmosphere and punched the building they were fighting in, sending the fighters to fall down the demolishing scraper. Monstrum slashed the spear at his head, briefly spinning it around himself before relentlessly throwing more slashes from his lance. Talen vanished, reappearing above the Disastrous to smash his heel into Monstrum's crown.
Monstrum crashed through the bottom of the building and landed in the street, chuckling while blood carelessly leaked from his nose.
"You're the first to ever make me bleed. Be proud." the Disastrous appeared beside his enemy's head. "You'll never touch me again."
The aura enveloping Monstrum's hand bypassed every defense programmed into Talen's surrounding Unconquerable. Driving him to the ground, Amit briefly groaned. He quickly jumped up and unhinged his jaw, blasting a huge fiery blast that covered half the remaining road.
The Disastrous emerged from the shadows behind his foe and grabbed him by the hair, temporarily throwing him into the air before catching him by the ankle. In one clean lunge, Malum threw the Unconquerable across the city, gradually rising two fingers and releasing Veil from his soul.
"Chase."
Talen eventually managed to regain his composure—but not in mid-air. Only upon landing on the side of a building did he halt; shaking his head and ruffling his hair. Suddenly, a familiar but irregular stench infiltrated his senses. For some reason, his arms reflexively raised, defending his face.
In what seemed like no time, Veil's blade attacked its target—however, Talen was able to defend against it. The only victim of Monstrum's strike was the building sliced into an X-shape behind the Unconquerable. Malum emerged from the shadows beside Talen and flawlessly uppercut the man, sending him into the sky.
The Disastrous warped above, catching his foe by the leg and sending him back into the deserted city. Displacing Veil from his back, Malum's hands angled the surrounding buildings into an X.
"Slaughter."
The remaining buildings within Helenheim were intentionally caught in Monstrum's crosshairs. As Veil's slice cut apart the scrapers, Talen's hand raised—deflecting the slash into another structure. He instantly vanished the moment his peripheral caught a glimpse of Monstrum.
Reappearing behind the Disastrous, Talen's leg folded over his back, kicking him back into the street. Tumbling down the road, Malum smirked—yanking his hand while endlessly rolling to pull Talen down with him. Looking down at the blackened rope attached to his chest, the lawyer groaned.
He fell into Monstrum's extended arm leaning forward, clotheslining the black-haired Unconquerable to send him back down the road. Emerging from the darkness behind Talen, he formed another weapon. This time, wielding two swords, he watched Amit powerlessly fly back toward him, smirking widely.
"Oi."
He didn't even have the time to turn around. In one clean stroke, Talen sliced Malum's shoulder and jumped back, quickly dodging his foe's reflexive counter.
"That wasn't too hard," said Talen, tracing his fingers along the blade. "I'm sure you know this already, but I can use my aura to warp reality. However, complex manifestations are taxing and—"
Another arm grew out of Monstrum's wound and elongated, eventually punching Talen across the face. The Unconquerable, dazed, stumbled back.
'W-what just happened? I was talking and then—'
He gasped. Monstrum's instantly emerged from the darkness, slapping away Talen's punch and snatching him by the throat. As the Unconquerable smashed into the ground, he groaned even louder as Monstrum stomped on his chest with one foot.
"You were trying to explain your technique and its conditions to build up the energy for a big move. Sorry, but you're a dangerous opponent. I can't let you get the advantage." Leaning closer, the Disastrous grinned. "I'll start by whittling down your resolve before utterly annihilating you. Let's change the scenery… SHALL WE?"
The duo sunk into the shadows beneath them. They instantly traveled across limitless miles and appeared above the unvisited kingdom, Jotan. Appearing above the castles and skyscrapers making up the cityscape, the Unconquerable and Disastrous battled while descending.
Talen's output increased. He charged forward, digging his fist into Monstrum's gut and then slamming down on his shoulder. Reeling back, he stared.
'That didn't feel right…'
Malum spun around, throwing two kicks in mid-air. Talen managed to assume control and dodge both, but he leaned right back into Malum's chest. Grabbing the lawyer by his face with two arms, he summoned an extra two from his back and punctured the man's sides, causing him to scream.
Talen's eyes blasted lasers that destroyed the Monster's hands. Enhancing the aura around his fist, he cocked back his fist and fired—eventually blasting into Monstrum's cheek. Launching the Disastrous through the side of two buildings, the Unconquerable gasped. Flying around the structure, he stared at the hole, noticing numerous civilians undamaged inside.
"Uh…" he glanced at the ground. "Shit. This is gonna be a pain."
The whole top of the building Talen was hovering beside spontaneously imploded. The bystanders seated within were cut away by the attack, exploding into blood and guts before the Unconquerable's very eyes. Blown away by the shockwave, Talen spun around before facing forward in mid-air.
"You… you killed them," he said.
The Disastrous hovered above the demolished building. "Were you expecting anything less?"
Monstrum appeared above Talen and kicked him into the city, flying right after him as he crashed into a crater. Long snowy hair flowing with the wind, Malum glanced around at the surrounding bystanders, all paralyzed by fear at the Monster.
"This is perfect. Stand by and watch as I butcher this city," Monstrum lifted Talen by the hair and threw him back down the street.
As Talen flew back, he split a car in two and twirled into the air, inevitably crashing into the street. Bleeding from his head and wounds, the Unconquerable tried to stand.
"S-shit." He fell over, bleeding onto the road. 'It's not even a matter of Fate. His output doesn't increase no matter how hard the strikes are. They only increase in power because he's awakened. Liberated by the chains of imprisonment, Monstrum's in a frenzy. Anyone besides me who crosses his path…'
"Talen," Uriel said.
Talen put a hand to his ear. "Uriel..? W-where are you guys?"
The King walked atop Jotan's rooftops with Aella beside him. Long white hair flowing with the wind, he perched upon the edge and looked down at his friend.
"There's no time. We were never going to let you fight Monstrum all on your own. Aella alerted the Metropolitan Center, so they should be coming to take care of this. While she and I take you somewhere secure, the rest of them will buy time with the Enforcers."
Uri glided off the rooftops and landed beside the Unconquerable, throwing his friend's arm over his neck.
"Y-you can't be serious. They're all going to die…" he said weakly.
Aella shook her head. "Some will. Others won't. We have to have faith in the ones we love. Faith that they'll return to us," she said.
Talen looked down at her. "Can I get a kiss for a job well done?" He grinned.
"Don't get ahead of yourself…"
Monstrum stared ahead at the incoming signature, feeling the power course through his blood and enhance his perception. Slicking back his long white hair, he sighed with a smirk.
"Now then. Let's start with a little taste… shall we?"