—3rd Person POV—
"Over?", Emotus laughed, "This is just getting-"
Crushing the man's head like a soda can, Kessler quickly assessed the situation. Confirming that the village was empty, he looked back at Naofumi and company for answers. Noticing that a Shadow Agent was among the group, he saw that she was recording everything here secretly likely so the Queen could review the Hero's First Wave herself. Giving the agent a nod, Kessler turned to Naofumi before speaking.
"What the heck man, I asked you not to do anything dangerous.", Kessler stated.
"You're joking right?", Naofumi remarked, "You think I woke up this morning and decided this should happen?"
"I am giving you a hard time and venting some anger, the play is going on right now and I am missing the show! My daughter is the cutest sheep in the play, and my son is a wise man!! Instead of cheering them on, I am here dealing with this shit.", Kessler sighed, "Fortunately this shouldn't take too long."
Catching something out of the corner of his eye, Kessler saw that the man's body was starting to regenerate and show signs of life. This led Kessler to believe this was no ordinary person. Someone with Deadpool/Wolverine's Healing Factor plus a Deities Aura likely meant he was a Demigod. His father was likely one of the deities Kessler was after, that was why he showed up here today thinking he would be there. Putting the pieces together, this poor man was just a distraction to cover his father's escape attempt.
'They must not realize that I gained a lot of power from the energy I siphoned off the Angels and God of Destruction.', Kessler determined, 'I will play along for a bit, and see if they attempt to flee. Hopefully, this will make missing my children's play worth it!'
—Between the Worlds—
In the Wave Organization Forward Base, things had become very tense. Everything had been running smoothly with the testing till Kessler's arrival, and the quick dispatch of Emotus. Seeing how effortlessly Kessler overwhelmed the Demigod, it was clear that they had been lied to from the start.
"You didn't mention anything about him killing Gods…", the Leader said in an annoyed tone, "Just what are you hiding from us? I demand to know what you did to make such a dangerous enemy!"
"We don't owe you any explanations mortal.", the God of Nightmares stated, "Just worry about backing up my brat! Deploy more of your creations to overwhelm that son of a bitch already!"
'He isn't even hiding his disgust for his son now…', the Leader thought watching the monitor closely, 'This isn't going to end well for our organization.'
—Raphtalia World—
Picking himself back up a few moments later, the Demigod launched himself at Kessler. Throwing a series of powerful punches at him, that could have easily demolished a mountain, Kessler effortlessly blocked each punch with his right hand. Seeing how easily his attacks were being stopped, Emotus became increasingly frustrated that he couldn't land a blow.
"Fight me seriously damn it!", Emotus spat.
"This is really all you are capable of…I am missing my adorable children's play for some two-bit idiot?", Kessler mocked him, "If I am going to miss part of their play, you should be at least a passable threat."
"I am a fucking genuine threat!", Emotus bellow in indignation, "You are the one that isn't fighting me!"
"That's because you aren't a threat, you are more like a mosquito.", Kessler remarked with a smirk, "Allow me to show you."
Batting Emotus' hands away, Kessler smacked Emotus like a fly and sent the Demigod screaming out of the village at Mach 10. Soaring through the horde of monsters, everything within fifteen feet of his flight path was turned into a red mist. Crashing into the hillside several thousand feet away from the village, Emotus felt his entire body racked with pain. Kessler had broken dozens of bones and caused many of his organs to explode with a single blow.
"Damn…it..!", Emotus wheezed as he coughed up a mouthful of blood.
"Since you clearly don't understand what a genuine threat is…allow me to show you.", Kessler offered raising his hands slowly.
Slowly the ground started to shake far more violently than it ever had before making everyone hold on to each other for dear life. Watching cracks start to form all around the village, the Shadow Agent called out to Kessler pleading for him not to kill the civilians. Thinking that he was about to wipe the area off the map, she didn't want innocent people to die here today.
"No will die here unless I decide it.", Kessler remarked as he activated his Decay powers, "Just stay out of my way, and you will live to see the blue sky again."
Suddenly the earth ruptured as the cracks exploded creating a massive dust cloud that raced across the countryside. Anything that was caught in its path was instantly reduced to dust leaving behind only a barren wasteland in its wake. Seeing monsters trampling each other trying to escape their impending death, lightning rained down from the sky as hundreds of monsters vaporized with each strike.
'What did I almost do…', the King thought watching Kessler slaughter the horde without mercy, 'I almost awoke a sleeping demon, and the whole of Castle Town would have paid for my mistake! This only reaffirms my decision to not confront him again.'
Having only speculated what Kessler was capable of, the Shadow Agent now understood why he was bold enough to threaten the Royal Family and Heroes. The power he wielded…there wasn't a person in this world that could stop him, if he wanted to, he could take over the world without any resistance. Making sure she recorded everything that was happening, she want the Queen to see that Kessler was someone they couldn't afford to make an enemy of.
"Sh…top…it!", Emotus howled in agony as his body was decayed and regenerated in a neverending cycle, "Its…Urts!"
—Between the Worlds—
Watching two-thirds of their forces get wiped out in less than ten seconds, the Leader knew that he had to end this quickly. Turning back to his men, he told them to start shutting down the Wave immediately. He had very strong concerns that Kessler might be able to trace the Wave back to their location, and that wasn't a risk he wanted to take. The Wave Organization's goals were too important to let these idiots ruin it for them.
"What the hell are you doing!? You should be using every resource we gave you to help my son kill Kessler!", the God of Nightmares shouted.
"I am not going to let your vendetta be the end of the Wave Organization. We have worked too hard and sacrificed too much for it to all end now. Our agreement is over, remove yourself from the premise at once!", the Leader commanded.
"You have no authority to command us!", the God of Deceit refuted, "Mortals are meant to serve at the Divine's behest, you should be honored to serve us! Vermillion, if anyone tries to remove us kill them immediately!"
"Yes Father!", Vermillion swore as she placed her hand on her sword.
Knowing that removing them from the base would cost the organization a lot of needed manpower, there was only one other option left for him. Triggering the emergency evacuation alarm, he ordered all of his subordinates to leave the base immediately. Telling them to take as much equipment as they could with them, he wanted to minimize their losses now.
"You are giving up!?", the God of Nightmares roared.
"I refuse to die needlessly because of you, if you won't leave my base we will abandon it.", he said, "Do as you will, I hope you all rot in hell when he kills you."
Teleporting himself out of the base without another word, the Gods sensed the number of people in the space dropping rapidly. Hearing the automated system report that it was going into a shutdown state, they had only a few minutes to reactivate the system before they were screwed. Realizing this, the God of Nightmares suggested trying to split up and reengage the system manually.
"Both of you head below to see if you can get more power into the system, I will go to the Control Center to stop the shutdown.", the God of Nightmares suggested.
"That works for us.", the God of Deceit said turning to his daughter, "Vermillion, please lead the way."
Parting ways, the God of Nightmares grinned as they left the immediate area. Already deciding to make his escape in a few minutes, he would make sure Kessler could detect the portal opening and leave the other two to face him. Unsurprisingly, the God of Deceit and his daughter were already way ahead of him. Leading her father straight to the Portal Room, she began to overload the system.
"Which one of these goes to the other world you told me about, the one with the other Four Heroes right?", her father inquired.
"The one on right, the left one goes to our homeworld.", she told him.
"That bastard intended to leave us behind the moment he suggested we split up.", he stated, "Since he wanted to leave us as bait, I will leave him here to die."
Carving several runes into the wall, the deity ensured his former colleague would not be able to leave now. Once the runes were activated, the two of them fled through the portal as it started to reach critical mass.
—Raphtalia's World—
Turning his attention back to the Troll, the monster roared at Kessler not out of anger but fear. The monster could tell that running wasn't a viable option so it was giving a desperate attempt to survive this fight. Backing the Troll up, the Wyrm sent out a burst of fire at Kessler trying to keep him away. Turning himself into smoke, Kessler launched himself like a rocket high into the sky.
Climbing to roughly two hundred feet in the air, Kessler nosed dived towards the ground letting loose a barrage of Smoke Missiles. Letting them smash into the ground first, covering the area in a dense cloud of smoke particles, Kessler turned himself into electricity and slammed into the ground. Igniting the cloud of smoke instantly, the entire area exploded reducing the two monsters to nothing except a few item drops.
By now the Decay effect was finally dissipating allowing Emotus to completely regenerate himself. Staggering back to his feet, he felt ill from the large amount of energy he expended to survive. Looking around to reorganize his forces, he noticed that all of them were now gone leaving him all alone. Seeing the dark clouds start to disappear, the Demigod knew the Wave had ended.
'Damn it…', he thought, 'I failed my father…'
Teleporting in front of him, Kessler gave him an unimpressed look. Knowing that he was going to die, Emotus didn't want to go down without a fight. Drawing his sword for the first time in a very long time, the Demigod prepared to fight normally.
"Looks like you are finally taking me seriously.", Kessler told him, "Before I wipe the floor with you, I have to ask…why are you helping your father? I know the male deities almost never take care of their children, what is to be gained by helping him?"
"I want one of my parents to be proud of me!", Emotus answered with a hardened expression, "I don't expect someone like you to understand it. Your children enjoyed a loving household, all I got was a bitter mother who hated my guts for being conceived. All I want is to have the life I deserved, and you are standing in the way of it!"
Rushing forwards, Emotus slashed at Kessler with much more refined and calculating blows. Seeing a warrior's training in how Emotus was fighting now, it was probably the first time he'd fought this way in a while. Even though his movement was much less wild, he was noticeably out of practice. Sensing the raw emotion in his attacks, Kessler could feel the pain in his heart.
"I am sorry you had a sad excuse for a father kid, we don't get to pick our parents…if we did no child would end up like us.", Kessler remarked speaking from personal experience.
"Shut up!", Emotus roared as Kessler vanished from his sight, "What do you know of my pain!"
"I know more than you realize.", Kessler said from behind him.
Spinning around to swing at him, Emotus felt Kessler's hand grab him by the face as red and black lightning started arcing from his arm. Stealing the Demigod's power before he could do anything to stop it, Kessler punch a hole through his chest and ripped the man's heart out. Waiting for his body to regenerate from the damage, Emotus felt his body start to grow cold.
"What did you…do to…me…", he asked as his body started to tremble.
"Stole your power, you should have done your homework before trying my patience.", Kessler remarked, "Now you will tell me what I want to know."
"I won't tell you…shit…", Emotus said as Kessler let him drop to his knees, "Fuck…you…"
Grabbing his head with both hands, Kessler's eyes turned bright red. Before Emotus could utter another word, he felt his mind be overwhelmed by Kessler. Feeling the man before him rip everything the Demigod knew from his mind, he screamed out in pain as blood started streaming from his eyes, ears, and nose. Taking everything he wanted from Emotus, Kessler released him and incinerated his body before he hit the ground.
Looking toward the direction from which the Wave originated, Kessler turned into the Beast and began exerting his power on one specific spot. Recalling the Demigod's memories, he knew exactly where the two Gods were hiding and he wouldn't let them escape today.
—Between the Worlds—
The entire base started shaking violently as Kessler began ripping a hole in the fabric of space and time. Watching the fissure open up, the God of Nightmares decided now was the time to flee. Attempting to open a portal to escape, he quickly discovered he was unable to open one. Hearing an explosion several floors below, the deity tried to see where his colleague and Vermillion were.
"DAMN YOU BASTARD!!!", he roared realizing he had been left behind.
With nowhere left to run, the deity drew out his spear and readied himself for a fight to the death. Ripping the hole wide open, Kessler locked eyes with him instantly causing the man to quake in fear. Sensing only the deity in front of him present, Kessler was frustrated that one managed to slip onto another of the Shield Hero Worlds.
"Die you son of a bitch!", he shouted throwing the spear at Kessler's face.
Grabbing the deity and spear with Telekinesis, Kessler stowed the spear away and then yanked the deity out of the fortress. Pulling the God of Nightmares through the portal, he threw the deity to the ground and reverted back to his human form. Clawing at the dirt trying to get himself up, Kessler jumped on his back full of anger. Covering his hands in the Destructive Energy that he stole from the God of Destruction, he began torturing the God beneath him.
"This is for my family you rat bastard!", Kessler spat as he tore the man apart bit by bit, "You helped take my children from me!! Not only that, you used your own flesh and blood to fight me instead of doing it yourself coward!"
"He was just a tool!", the deity argued.
"He was your son, not a damn tool!", Kessler corrected him as he began stealing the deity's power, "Unlike you, I will put your powers to good use! Die and rejoin your piece of shit son in hell!"
Feeling his strength being taken away, the deity reached up and tried to strangle Kessler. Grabbing Kessler by the throat, he tried to choke him out but found he no longer had the strength to do so. Watching the deity's body shrivel up into a husk, Kessler eventually let him go and got up from the ground. Destroying his body completely with his Destruction power, Kessler dusted himself off and returned to the group in the village.
"I don't have time to stick around and talk right now. I will be back after Christmas to discuss things with all of you.", Kessler ordered, "Also, I expect a copy of your recording so I can assess how worthy these three false Heroes are. I want to see how they handled themselves so I can determine how to deal with them."
With that, Kessler vanished as the blue sky began to return.