'Now, my dear weapon. Show me your powers'
Before Raahi and Kalpa started to engage, Lucifer was standing with his large silver battle axe, grinning ear to ear when Zuusha finally lost his cool and rushed towards him.
Just like others, Lucifer's weapon was also enchanted by Sage and had a unique property or a skill that can turn the tide of this battle to his favor, but to activate that skill, he has to meet some prerequisites.
*BANG!!*
When Lucifer was thinking, Zuusha came with his trident held high in his hand and struck down at him. It was so fast that Lucifer wouldn't even had time to guard himself. But that strike somehow met with his axe and changed its direction. If that strike had met with him, Lucifer's heart would have been pierced by his trident without even realizing it himself.
Zuusha was also surprised that his strike was countered but when he saw Lucifer's surprised expression, all the blood rushed towards his brain.
"Filthy human!! What is the meaning of this? How dare you deflect my strike with a fluke!"
"You call that a strike? I thought a mosquito was going to bite and didn't even lift my axe"
Zuusha was close to Lucifer and he would see from his eyes that Lucifer was looking down on him. All his anger and rage were increasing to heights that he never knew.
But in Lucifer's case, his ability to maintain a strong poker face was becoming harder by the second. Yes, Lucifer was stronger. But Zuusha's first strike had told him everything, including that he was just a frog inside a well. He wouldn't even lift a finger in front of Zuusha without the support of his axe. But even though, he had to maintain his cold, looking down demeanor and make Zuusha angry, very angry so that one of the prerequisites can be met.
Zuusha took a few steps back and started to continuously strike Lucifer without showing any skills or technique. But the distance between them made Lucifer breathe some air and started to deflect those strikes. But just after a few seconds, the speed of attack from Zuusha increased and it made Lucifer take steps back.
This caused Zuusha's displeased face to change into one that looks down on enemies and a clod smile appeared on his face.
"What happened, shitty human? Talk with me more now that I'm close enough!"
His smile started to widen when his attacks started to hit on Lucifer's body and blood started to fall. It was at that time that the V brothers came and hid behind a tree.
After a few seconds, the whole match looked like Zuusha was just toying with him. Lucifer's whole body was now a bloody mess. Zuusha enjoyed tormenting him to its fullest. His attacks came to a stop as Lucifer finally fell to the ground on one knee.
"What now human? Tired out so soon? After hearing all your talks, I thought that I can enjoy myself with you for some time, but now? Haahaahaaaa I knew you monkey people are worth nothing but dares to defy greater entities like us! Foolish!! "
Zuusha was so high and mighty that he didn't notice something. Something like Lucifer's shining axe shone even brighter under the night and the blood stopped falling from his wounds. When Zuusha finally noticed, he only saw Lucifer's moving lips started to form into a smile.
The whole area around Lucifer changed in that instant and it made Zuusha forcefully take a few steps back. The whole air seemed cold somehow. All the wounds around Lucifer started to recover at a speed that was said to be impossible for humans. He got up and dusted his clothes and started to mutter which was easily heard by Zuusha.
"Man finally! Now that all the conditions have been met, time for warm is over."
He looked at Zuusha with a sneer on his face.
"Y'a know, I really like strong people and even love if I saw someone stronger than me. Believe me or not, you're quite interesting. I'm Lucifer James. Nice to meet ya"
Readying his axe, he looked at Zuusha. But this time, there was a clear seriousness on his face. His weapon's conditions were to be attacked to a certain extent by a known person who is very angry and enjoys the fight. And now, he only needs to know his name and once all the conditions were fulfilled, his physical strength will rise temporally till it can rival Zuusha himself.
When Zuusha studied the behavior of Lucifer from a distance, he noted that Lucifer's eyes weren't looking down on him like before, but it was the opposite, there was a spark in his eyes and a hint of respect. A full opposite of before.
"My name is Zuusha. A warrior from Patala-Loka"
With a face of seriousness, Zuusha introduced himself. But that wasn't all. His serious face turned into that of a devil and spoke with a wide grin on his face.
"Today is the day where I, Zuusha will teach you manners on how to respect the strong and sends you to the afterlife. Be prepared for that"
*BANG!BANG!BANG!!*
The distance between them was once again closed in an instant and Zuusha striked down like before, but this time, not only Lucifer deflected the strike but also started to attack in the same manner as Zuusha with his large axe. Zuusha continued his attack and Lucifer would block that attack and even target the same spot on Zuusha's body. Their bout went on for a while as neither of them was taking a step back and both of them seemed equally powerful.
This surprised Zuusha. Once again, he retracted several steps back and attacked from below at lightning speed, aiming at Lucifer's legs. But when Lucifer saw Zuusha backing off he expected an attack. He figured out Zuusha's aim and jumped high as possible. With new strength coming from his weapon, he jumped as high as ten feet. This not only startled him, but Zuusha was also equally surprised as him.
"I didn't think that there were humans who can jump the same height as me and even survive after fighting with me for a minute"
"They aren't!! I'm just super strong now, *he he*"
Lucifer landed near in front of the forest. It was at that time he remembered that he had to lure Zuusha away from the temple so that he can make way for the twins to find nagmani. The excitement of fighting someone stronger than him with his new weapon made him forget about his mission. He knew the consequences of delaying any more than that, the lives of his supposed friends would be in danger and all the blame would be on his shoulders. Even his silver Axe was struggling to hold up against Zuusha's trident and can break if he fought another minute. The power it was giving was also reduced and he was slowly returning to normal.
Zuusha was still observing his enemy with new light as Lucifer's sudden change in strength caused a train of troubled thoughts to run through his mind. In Patala-Loka, his Master, Kalpa's father had thought him the art of duel, and even trained him to stay cool and analyze his enemy. But Zuusha's short-tempered personality made it difficult to have a cool mind during a fight and instead made him accurately analyze his opponent faster.
Just a moment ago, he was beating him like a dog, but now, all of a sudden, he seemed to be strong. When he started to think with a cool mind, he figured that something was off with that weapon and a great worry took priority on his mind. It had already taken some time after the temple was blasted but even though he still wouldn't sense Nagmani's presence and he was already a distance away from the debris of the temple. A realization struck his head.
'They're planning to lure me out of the temple and acquire Nagmani for themselves. Such audacity from these mere creatures!!! How can they even have the heart to take something so precious as Nagmani like that? I spend hundred years in that hell without food or anything to acquire it, but these humans! They're trying to steal it away from me'
Zuusha's hatred for humans grew so much that every cell on his body seemed to be crying for him to kill all humans and most of all, the person in front of him who is supposed to lure him out.
Zuusha also figured that somehow, the weapon in Lucifer's hand was giving him power as it started to dim a little when compared to before. Zuusha decided that if it goes on like this, it was he who is going to be at a disadvantage. Figuring that there was no choice but to end this quickly, he dismissed his trident, which disappeared in mid-air.
Noticing that Zuusha was going to attack with bare hands, Lucifer gripped his Axe with more power intending to cut off Zuusha's arm during the next collision. But he wouldn't be more wrong. The next actions from Zuusha were enough for Lucifer to lose all hope of winning this duel.