Emerald stepped gracefully through the crowd and stood in the front amongst 6 other players, Genesis included.
The man with the long hair and husky voice stepped forward, standing among Emerald, Genesis, a cyborg with green eyes, a woman with blue skin and pointy ears, a dark-skinned man with horns on his head and black hair, and a girl with a ghostly pale skin colour and a transparent body.
The man with the long hair stepped forward and extended his hands, instantly receiving silence from the constant chatter of the players.
"Greetings, fellow god hunters. My name is Bruce Grant, but you may call me Hounder," Hounder introduced himself with a gentle bow.
"As you already know, all of you standing amongst us have been chosen to fight alongside us, the 7 Pillars of Salvation. We alone have reached feats unknown to normal players."
"For instance, Viola singlehandedly eliminated a seraph, earning her the title of Seraphim of the Underworld. As most of you already know, not many players have killed a messenger of the gods before," he continued.
"But now, Viola and the rest of us aren't so special," he added as he paced with his hands behind his back.
"This is a new age for players. We've been shackled to this world against our will, by the very gods we've prayed to countless times. And, how do they repay our loyalty? By plunging us straight into hell! So, I say we break every chain and show those so-called deities what it means to be alive! We'll free ourselves without the help of divinity and we'll make sure that no one ever finds themselves in this situation!"
Hounder raised his fist in the air and his eyes started glowing gold. A smile plastered itself onto his face and the crowd immediately began applauding his speech, cheering and whistling as well.
Hounder put his fist down and fixed his black tie. Signalling at the 6 players around him, he turned his back and faced the sky.
"And now, we match towards freedom," he said calmly. "Emerald."
"Right right," Emerald replied cheerfully as she stepped forward and pulled out a strangely shaped key with a black hue and bent handle.
When she channelled her energy into the key, a keyhole with a red hue and systematic numbers appeared right in front of her.
She then pushed the key into the keyhole and took a deep breath. Then, she turned the key.
When she did, a bright golden gleam flashed before everyone's eyes, glowing brighter and reaching the skies.
Emerald then released the key and allowed it to get burnt through the keyhole. The key disintegrated into charcoal and fell to the ground. Without wasting time, Emerald reached into her inventory and pulled out a horn.
Her eyes then began glowing green and her pigtails flowed with the ethereal energy around her. Then, she began chanting in a foreign language, slowly allowing the golden glow to become clearer.
The visage of the light morphed into pearly gates and with each passing second, the gates started to pry themselves open.
"Normally, players aren't able to pry into the divine. Emerald here is different. She is one of the few people who were chosen to battle the gods. As such, she was granted a special ability that allows her into a divine state known as Divine Shadow," said Genesis as he crossed his arms.
"With this power, she can alter anything in the system. She's practically a god within her right," added Hounder.
As the gates of heaven became clearer and clearer, the players readied themselves. The supporting players began gathering their mana and applying effects on the front-line players.
The tanks applied their effects and prepared for what was about to come. Then, the 7 Pillars of Salvation simply conjured up their weapons and took fighting stances.
Once Emerald finished with her enchantment, she held the horn tightly and allowed it to disintegrate in her hand, turning it into ash.
"Ares..." she whispered into the ash before blowing it towards the gates.
The black ash flew delicately in the direction of the gates and within seconds, a hand emerged and grabbed the end of the ashes, spooking the players on the other end.
Emerald then extended her hands and a red coloured mana surrounded them. With her mana, she suctioned her energy onto the hand that was grabbing the ash and pulled with all her might.
Then, a large man with a muscular build and bright red hair was suddenly forced out of the pearly gates.
He slid across the road and managed to stop himself from falling. Then, he released a long and dry sigh, pushing his long locks of red hair back with an exasperated look on his face.
His red eyes pierced the hundreds of hunters standing before him and he couldn't help but release a dry chuckle.
"Well, what do we have here? I must say, I am quite impressed with the... presentation. But, if you wish to live, you will fix the horn," the man with the deep voice said as he glared at Emerald.
In response, she scoffed and backed away, summoning her whip as she smacked it on the floor, whipping it to assert her dominance.
"Sorry, but I don't take orders from anyone besides Hounder," she confidently retorted.
"What a pity," Ares responded as he cracked his knuckles. "I'll make you regret bringing me here..."
"Now!" Hounder exclaimed as he summoned a barrier between himself and Emerald, allowing the other players to charge ahead.
Ares dashed towards Hounder and curled his hand into a fist. As he drew closer to the barrier, his fist whistled through the air and buzzed towards the two.
He then landed a perfectly clean punch, which sent shockwaves inside the barrier. But, much to his surprise, it wasn't destroyed.
"Incredible. That woman must be the reason why it's so strong. You're one of Nyx's kin, aren't you?" Ares queried with a smirk on his face. "I'll enjoy murdering you!"
"Not so fast, hotshot," Dante Suarez said as he dashed towards Ares and appeared in front of him. He then lightly smacked him on his shoulder.
When Ares violently swatted his hand to hit him, Dante disappeared, leaving behind smoke and ash in his place. This confused Ares.
Without warning, he appeared on Ares's right-hand side and lightly smacked him again. This time, Ares reacted quicker and threw a punch, only to miss him once more and simply look through the black smoke and ash.
He looked around him anxiously and predicted Dante's next move. After knowing exactly where he would land, he put his hands together and put them above him, ready to smack Dante down once he appeared in front of him.
And, Dante did reappear right in front of Ares. The god of war smirked and smashed the ground with his hands, hurling piles of debris and smoke all over the scene.
Right when he thought he had caught him, he felt the back of his head getting smacked.
"Great prediction. But, that shit won't work on me," Dante confidently said as he landed behind Ares after hitting him.
"You're not getting away from me, brat!" Ares exclaimed as he quickly turned around and tried to punch Dante.
"Soul Shackle," Dante chanted as he put his fingers together and weaved a hand sign.
Before Ares could land a hit on him, he suddenly froze in place, unable to move any muscle on his body. Then, green marks with Greek key patterns appeared on the exact spots where Dante had smacked Ares.
Then, those very same marks spread all over his body and painted themselves like tattoos. Dante couldn't help but smirk as he watched his curse take effect.
"Soul Shackle; this move allows me to trap my enemies in place for exactly 45 seconds. Depending on how capable you are, let's see if you're capable of surviving this!"
Ares suddenly felt a chill run up his spine. Right behind him was a huge consort and amalgamation of various mana and spells, each one with one objective; to destroy.
Right behind him, all the players who could use magic gathered their mana and fused it above the sky, allowing a gigantic ball of energy to form above the god of war.
The mana ball grew in size and became heavier with each added attack. Sophia and Jessica were also in the front lines, adding their spells into the mix.
"I see..." noticed Ares. "While you hold me down, they'll attack with everything they've got. There are over a hundred of them, after all... But, what's going to happen to you? Aren't you afraid that you'll be killed as well?"
Dante smirked. "I don't fear death. Besides, even if I did, that attack won't harm me. When I use Soul Shackle, I become immune to any and all attacks. You're done, Ares. We're going back home."
Ares tried struggling and clenching his fists, but couldn't due to the powerful restraints of Dante's ability.
Emerald stood amongst the players and added her spell to assure that Ares was killed; the ashes of the burnt horn she used to summon him. Then, she added counter spells and support spells to ensure their success.
When the players ran out of mana, the healers would replenish their strength so that they could keep increasing the size of the ball. Once everyone was almost drained, they hurled the massive mana ball at Ares.
The attacks disintegrated anything in its path, bringing along the deafening sound of destruction and magic with it.
Once the attack closed in on Ares, he stared at it with his eyes wide open. Then, the attack consumed him and Dante.
Within a matter of seconds, the ball of mana exploded and rocked the earth, sending debris and smoke all over the area.
Black and red smoke appeared from the calamity and amongst the aftermath were tired players who were sweating profusely and breathing heavily.
But, after waiting for a relatively long time, there was no sign that Ares was dead or alive. But, the silence proved to be in their favour.
Hoped was in their hearts and most of them couldn't help but smile. Dante cheered as loudly as he could and he ran towards the other players.
But, before he could get far, his head suddenly spun and he was sent flying in the air. Before he could land on the ground, he was punched and he gagged blood.
He flew across the road and tumbled around, rolling on the ground and falling unconscious.
The players looked at the smoke and saw a bloodied and muscular hand appearing from it. With a swift hand swipe, Ares cleared out the smoke and revealed his slightly bruised body.
"That tickled. Now, how's about some real fun?" he said as he slightly lowered his centre of gravity, opened up his arms and smirked menacingly.