The cocoon of darkness pulsated ominously, casting a sinister feeling across the desolate domain. Ra and Kokou stood shoulder to shoulder, their eyes fixed on the dark beast and its rider. The creature's body twisted unnaturally, its eyeless face turning toward them with an unholy hunger. Its rider, encased in gleaming silver armor that radiated faint divinity, remained motionless atop the beast, a silent observer of the chaos.
The beast struck first. A deafening screech echoed through the air, followed by a torrent of shadowy tendrils erupting from its body. Each tendril writhed and lashed like whips, forcing the gods to leap back. Kokou summoned his massive Warhammer, its golden runes blazing to life. He spun it with practiced ease, shattering the oncoming tendrils with thunderous swings.
Ra moved with precision, conjuring radiant solar flames that carved through the shadows. The beast's tendrils burned and dissolved, but the creature recoiled only briefly before the darkness reformed, surging toward them again.
"This thing isn't going down easily," Ra muttered, his eyes narrowing.
Kokou growled, slamming his hammer into the ground. A shockwave erupted, tearing through the tendrils and staggering the beast. Seizing the moment, Kokou launched himself into the air, aiming for the creature's head.
The beast reacted faster than expected. Its shadowy body split apart, and from its chest emerged a maw of jagged teeth. Kokou barely twisted in time to avoid being devoured, but the beast's jaws snapped shut around his hammer, wrenching it from his grip.
"Damn it!" Kokou snarled, landing heavily on his feet. He summoned twin axes, their edges gleaming with divine energy. "You want to play dirty? Fine by me."
While Kokou charged back into the fray, Ra focused on the rider. The silver-armored figure finally moved, leaping gracefully from the beast's back. With an unnatural speed, the rider closed the distance between them, slashing with a divine blade that radiated an unsettling power.
Ra dodged the strike, countering with a blast of solar fire that enveloped the rider. The flames licked at the silver armor but failed to penetrate it. The rider emerged unscathed, its blade glowing brighter as it retaliated with a powerful swing. The ground beneath them cracked as the blade's energy clashed with Ra's divine shield.
"This is more than forbidden magic," Ra realized aloud, dodging another strike. "It's like they've taken fragments of divinity and twisted it into something monstrous."
Kokou roared as he delivered a devastating strike to the beast's side, his axes cleaving through its shadowy flesh. But for every wound he inflicted, the darkness reknit itself, growing tendrils that lashed out at him. Kokou grunted in frustration as one tendril coiled around his arm, burning his flesh with an unnatural cold.
"Kokou, aim for the core!" Ra shouted, narrowly avoiding a strike from the rider's blade.
"Where's the damn core?" Kokou barked, ripping the tendril off with brute force.
"Center of its chest!" Ra replied, hurling another barrage of flames at the beast to force it back.
Kokou didn't hesitate. He charged forward, weaving through the beast's flurry of tendrils. His axes gleamed as he leapt into the air and brought them down with a thunderous roar. The strike connected, shattering the beast's chest and exposing a pulsating orb of darkness buried within.
"Now!" Ra shouted.
Golden flames erupted from Ra's hands, converging on the exposed core. The beast shrieked, its form convulsing violently as the flames consumed it. Kokou struck again, his axes cleaving through the orb with all his might. The beast let out one final, deafening wail before collapsing into a heap of dissolving shadows.
The rider, now alone and cornered, lunged at Ra in desperation. With a fluid motion, Ra dodged the attack and delivered a devastating punch wreathed in solar fire. The rider's armor cracked and splintered, and Kokou finished the job with a crushing blow from his axe.
The two gods stood amidst the remnants of their enemies, breathing heavily.
"That was tougher than it should've been," Kokou muttered.
Ra's expression remained grim as he scanned their surroundings. "It's not over," he said quietly.
"What do you mean?" Kokou asked his axes still at the ready.
Ra's eyes glowed as he activated his divinity. The air shimmered, and the faint echoes of whispers reached their ears. The domain rippled, and the illusion shattered like glass.
Kokou's jaw tightened as the true scope of their predicament was revealed. All around them, thousands of dark beasts of various shapes and sizes emerged from the shadows, their grotesque forms writhing with unnatural energy. Humans like the rider, clad in similar silver armor, stood at the forefront, their weapons gleaming with the same runic etchings.
Kokou spoke under his breath. "This isn't just a trap—it's an army." The war god said with a vicious grin
Ra's flames flared as he prepared for the next battle. "We've walked into a war zone. Get ready."
The darkness surged forward, and the gods braced themselves for the fight of their lives.
Inside Plutonia's domain. The goddess of death, who had been conversing with her siblings just a few moments ago suddenly felt their presence disappear. As if they never really existed.
"What are those two doing?" Plutonia thought.
"How could they fall for such a ridiculous trap?" Plutonia thought.
"Those two have gone soft…. Maybe I should break out of this place"