With the death of Iapetus, the second higher being had fell in this battle; and it happened shortly after the first one. This showed that the Dragna Clan weren’t pushovers.
“Hm? Iapetus’ life force has vanished?”
Typhon who was relaxing by the gate leading to Tartarus, was quite surprised to sense the death of Iapetus.
“Two higher beings were killed in a span of a few minutes, and they were done in by different people too?”
He grinned.
“Augustus’ descendants are more capable than I thought.”
He said.
“Are you going to join the fray now?”
Asked Julio, who was near him.
“Hmm….Not yet. When they’ve killed more than half than I’ll step in. Otherwise, I’ll be disappointed if their first two kills were mere flukes.”
Typhon replied.
“Hm?”
It was at that moment that he suddenly looked back towards Tartarus.
“That brat, is he just waking up?”
Julio was confused when he heard him say that. Before he could ask who he was talking about, something strange happened.
A beam of light was seen coming out of the darkest pits of Tartarus and heading towards the mortal world.
Typhon didn’t look at the light and only leaned on the pillars of the gate with a smile on his face.
Before Julio could discern what the light was, it shot out of the gate without fear of Typhon. He then watched as it disappeared in the Northern direction.
“……….”
Julio wanted to ask what the light was, but considering the fact that Typhon didn’t stop it and knew it’s identity, he decided to leave it be for now.
‘Typhon has a bad temper, so he might get mad if I try to pry into his business.’
Thinking that, he turned his attention back to the battlefield.
Seeing Iapetus killed before his eyes, emotions formed Seishi’s tranquil eyes. In them you could see anger, confusion, and hatred.
“Fraud, do you know that you’ve killed the progenitor of the human race?”
He asked.
“Of course. However, he’s only the progenitor of humans of Greek descent. In others he’s nothing to me.”
“Such a malicious heart.”
Seishi said.
“Please, Lord Buddha. I’m not interested in your hypocritical views.”
Nero pointed at him with his sword that destroyed Iapetus.
“I’m only here to kill until I’m killed myself. I have no sympathy for those who die by my hands, especially not those from the Greek mythos. I cut down everything in front of me and bring my people glory. That’s how we Dragnas live our lives.”
He charged towards Seishi.
“Offer your blood to my ancestors, Buddha!”
“Such a rotten soul.”
At Seishi’s command, the warrior monks in the holy land all attacked once. They’re countless attacks charging towards Nero.
Nero gripped his sword and swung it with all of his strength.
*BOOOM!*
An overwhelming force collided and destroyed their attacks while leveling everything around them.
Nero leaped forward and swung down his sword, a holy hand came from out of the holy land and blocked his strike.
“You sword damages souls, right? So that means that all I need to do is use a false hand to block it.”
Said Seishi.
Countless hands thrusting swords appeared from the holy land, and tried to stab Nero. He jumped back to avoid them, but in that instant the swords extended and reached him before he could react.
The swords stabbed into his body causing his blood to flow.
“Ahhhh!”
Nero used his sword to shatter these swords and be freed from them. Or that was what he thought.
“?!”
The swords remained lodged into his flesh even after being destroyed. They even began sinking into his body like it was quick sand. It wasn’t long before they disappeared into his flesh.
“You have a demon soul right?”
Seishi asked.
“What you happen if you were hit a spell that banishes evil?”
*Throb!*
Nero suddenly felt something throbbing inside of him.
Seishi lifted his hands in a prayer gesture.
“Evil Begone.”
The instant he said that, Nero could feel an unbearable pain spread through his entire body.
“Ahhhhhhh?!”
He screamed out in agony because his entire body felt like it was being grind to bit from the inside.
“Blegh?!”
Blood forcibly flowed out of his mouth, ears, three eyes, and even his pore. It was as if his insides were being turned to mush in a blender.
“Evil can’t win against the sacred.”
Seishi approached him.
“This is just the laws of nature. There’s nothing we can do about it.”
He stood in front of Nero who was grinding his teeth while trying to bear the pain and keep standing.
“Just accept your fate and return to the samsara, Fraud.”
He stretched his hand out towards Nero’s face.
*Swoosh!*
“Eh?”
However, his hand never touched Nero. Instead, he saw it floating in front of him with a trail of blood. He looked down and saw that Nero was tightly gripping his sword with trembling hands and cold sweat covering his body.
“F-For someone who is hailed as wise, you sure are dumb. No, it would be better to say you’re ignorant.”
Nero spoke with a trembling voice.
“You’re ignorant about what kind of person your opponent is.”
Seishi tried to jumped back, but his back hit something hard. He turned around and saw that he was trapped in a cage.
“If you had known even a little about me, you’ll know that I can be really reckless when I want to quickly kill an opponent.”
“You, you let my swords enter your body so that you can trap me!”
Seishi shouted after realizing his error.
“Go back to hell, Buddha!”
Nero lifted his Midnight Blade and swung it with all of his strength. Seishi used his strongest attack in an act of desperation.
*BOOOM!*
A massive blast occurred which devoured everything for countless miles. When the explosion faded, there was a crater so large and deep that sea water started flowing in it from below the continent.
Their attacks colliding bored right through the continent and even blew away all the magma, causing water fill the hole.
Floating above the crater was Nero and Seishi. Seishi’s holy land had long been destroyed, but Nero’s entire body was charred and there was smoke coming out of all of his pores.
Even so, he smiled.
“Looks like I was the sacred one, and you were the evil needing cleansing, Seishi.”
Nero watched as Seishi’s upper body slid off his lower body and fall into the crater. His lower body soon followed. When they hit the water, they immediately began sinking down to the dark abyss.
“Nero 2-0 Higher Beings.”
Nero said.
*BOOOM!*
At that moment, the blades that sunk into his fleshed exploded out of his body making him look like a cactus.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“Cough?!”
Of course, this wasn’t something Nero expected.
“That bastard……He placed a special conditions on the swords to tear me apart in the case of his death.”
Nero showed a bloody smile.
“He’s really worthy of being praised as the wise sage. That was magnificent.”
He vision began to blur.
“B-But that’s not enough to kill me….”
He fell into the crater under him and hit the water surface, and didn’t move after that and just kept bleeding out.
Like this Nero had became the first person to kill two higher beings in this era and back to back as well. He once again created history, cementing his place among the best to ever live.
The battle between Miko’s group and the higher beings have spread into not only the Southern Region, but even the west. The desert like lands has long been reduced to a wasteland filled with craters and scorched lands as evidence of battles.
*BOOOM!*
With the death of Iapetus, the titans were driven insane with anger. This was especially true for his son Menoetius.
“That son of a bitch!”
He was locked in a clash of fists with Echo, who was preventing him from going after Nero.
*BOOOM!*
He lifted her in the air with an uppercut, and then slammed his gigantic leg on her with a kick.
“Guh?!”
She immediately felt like all of her bones had been shattered as she was sent flying through the air. Menoetius jumped in the air and crushed her under his foot.
*BOOOM!*
Wide cracks once again ran through the land, and Echo was forced dozens of mikes underground.
Ridding himself of Echo, he charged at Nero who was severely injured from Seishi’s attack from beyond the grave.
“You little bastard! I will kill you!”
Menoetius roared and destroyed the earth around him with his charge.
Miko who was preoccupied with stopping several higher beings from killing the injured Nero, frowned when he saw Menoetius shook off Echo.
“Hey, I gave you two my power for a reason you know!”
He shouted.
*BOOOM!*
Before Menoetius could reach Nero, he was kicked under the chin by Darwin.
“I was already on it!”
Darwin shouted.
Menoetius was forced to take a couple steps back.
“You fuck-”
*BOOOM!*
His angry shout was interrupted by a punch in the face from Darwin.
He landed beside Nero, who seemed to be out of commission.
“I didn’t want to get too involved with this clan again after what happened to my daughter, so I thought that as long as me and clan survives, I don’t care what happens in this war. For that reason, I didn’t give it my all in this battle.”
He looked at Nero whose blood was slowly staining the water he was in, and clenched his teeth.
“But I’m just a Flameheart after all. I can’t abandon my friend.”
“Like I care about you!”
Menoetius got even angrier.
“That bastard killed my father!”
His body began releasing a burning aura as if his entire body was on fire.
“I’ll kill all of you, fuckers!”
He charged towards Darwin who was guarding Nero. Darwin leaped towards him while releasing an emerald aura.
“Flameheart Art: Burning Passion!”
The aura around him suddenly experienced an explosive growth before compressing around him like a second skin, causing his body to seemingly glow like a gem. Even his hair became a emerald color.
He and Menoetius threw a punch at the same time.
*BOOOM!*
Red and emerald light spread out and caused a massive explosion. Maria appeared at that moment and picked up Nero and retreated.
Meanwhile, neither Menoetius or Darwin took a step back from each other. The two began throwing punching at a blinding speed causing their fists to clash over and over again.
*BOOOM!*
Because he had the longer reach, Menoetius held the advantage and was able sent Darwin crashing into the earth. The ground cracked open as if it was forming a new valley, as Darwin’s body broke through it.
Menoetius jumped and aimed a stomp at him. Seeing that, Darwin forced his body to spin and landed on his feet before dodging the stomp.
*BOOOM!*
However, Menoetius immediately kicked him while he was midair and sent him flying again like a football.
“This bastard is strong!”
Darwin forced himself to stop and saw Menoetius chasing after.
“I guess he’s the personification of senseless violence for a reason.”
Menoetius thrust his burning fist down on Darwin, who thrust both arms into the air to catch the massive fist.
*BOOOM!*
Darwin was forced deep underground, but was still able to stop the fist.
“Ahhhhhh!”
He roared as all of his muscles tensed up. The impossible then happened.
He lifted Menoetius off the ground, holding just his fist.
“Wha?!”
This shocked the Titan. Of course it would, a Titan was as huge as a mountain. Lifting up one was equivalent to lifting a mountain.
“Ohhhhhhhh!”
Darwin roared and started swinging the Titan over his head with a spinning. He then threw Menoetius with a shout.
Menoetius was thrown so far up in the air that even he was wondering who far would he go. Eventually Menoetius started falling towards the earth again.
“Hmph! So what if you could throw me?! I’ll just use the new found momentum you granted me and increase the destructive force of my stomp!”
The Titan then began spinning like a top with his feet facing the earth. With his burning aura and the friction caused by his fall, he looked like a meteorite that would end it all.
“Die, mortal!”
Darwin silently looked at the Titan falling from the heavens, and took a deep breath.
Let’s talk about the man known as Darwin Flameheart for a bit. He was born into one of the servant families of the Flameheart clan. This meant that he was not someone that was a part of the head family or someone that was a direct descendant of one of the five progenitors of the clan. He was a mere servant.
However, this servant was a bit special. He was born with immense magical power and superior physical abilities. You see, despite being a servant he had one of the highest concentration of Aphrodite’s blessing, which all Flamehearts possessed, since the progenitors. It was because of this that he was adopted into the main family and became Joesph’s disciple.
As you know, he later married Joesph youngest daughter and became the leader of the clan after making a name for himself. However, he faced endless oppositions in the clan because of his origins. Yet, he remained the clan leader and was only second to Joesph in power.
As for how he did it, the answer was simple. Darwin was stronger than everybody else outside of Joesph, and the reason for his strength laid in a secret technique that only the clan’s progenitors were able to use, beside him.
“………”
Facing the ball of death falling from the sky, Darwin stretched his right arm to his side. In that instant, all signs of magic disappeared from him. It was as if he never practiced it in the first place.
At that moment, an emerald mark appeared on the back of his hand, it was a heart. Immediately after several tribal marks of the same color started appearing on his body from his right hand, tearing his clothes as they spread. It was as if a vine art was spreading across his body, completely covering it.
A heart mark appeared on the back of his hands, his feet, the center of his forehead, and in the middle of his chest. Once the marks stopped spreading, Darwin stooped down.
“Heavenly Blessing: Venus Advocate.”
*BOOOM!*
He jumped and caused a massive crater in his wake.
“You’re coming to meet your maker, Mortal!”
Seeing Darwin charging at him, Menoetius mocked him.
“You really are the Titan of reckless violence.”
Darwin spoke while clenching his fist.
“You cant even see that your opponent is superior than you.”
“What rubbish! There’s no one greater than me!”
Menoetius replied.
Darwin immediately knew why Zeus vanished him to Tartarus in the first place. His hubris was incurable.
“Join your father, Titan!”
Darwin and Menoetius were in range of each other. A man vs a mountain sized meteorite, this clash was unique in its own right.
“Die!”
*BOOOOOM!*
The two clashed and a massive shockwave spread and erased every cloud in the sky and scorched the air.
Emerald and red sparks rained down and destroyed everything they struck, like they were lightning bolts. Soon cracks began to appear in space itself, as if the dimension was going to be torn apart by their clash.
“Drop dead already, mortal!”
Menoetius roared.
“Unfortunately, I can’t afford for that happen before I see my granddaughter wed and become happy!”
Soon the emerald sparks became more frequent than the red ones. Darwin thrust one hand above his head and a rose mark appeared in his palm.
“Bloom, Rose Of Venus!”
A transparent rose emerged from Darwin’s palm. It quickly devoured Menoetius.
“Wha?!”
This shocked Menoetius.
“As cringey as it sounds, looks like my love beats your senseless violence.”
Darwin smiled.
“Wither, Rose Of Venus!”
*BOOOM!*
The rose that covered both Menoetius and Darwin exploded and caused another explosion which resulted in a hole appearing in the sky. This hole sucked in the explosion as it began to fixed itself.
Menoetius was seen being sucked towards it with his body broken and bloody. Just as he was going to be sucked into the hole he started shouting.
“Damn you, mortal! How dare you do this to me?! I promise that I will kill you and everyone you’ve ever loved!”
“Unfortunately, you won’t get the chance.”
Darwin pointed at Menoetius chest.
“Heartbreaker.”
*BOOOM!*
That moment, Menoetius chest blew open as if his heart had turned into a bomb.
“?!”
The Titan felt his body go cold, he immediately knew that his death was approaching.
“Your father died because his heart was destroyed, so I thought that it was fitting if his son died the same way. Like father like son as they say.”
“…….”
Menoetius was silently sucked into the hole. The moment his body entered, it was torn apart by the countless forces that was working to repair the sky. The last thing he saw was Darwin waving him goodbye.
The hole disappeared and the sky was back to normal. However, Darwin didn’t release his Venus Advocate and instead went to help Maria carry Nero to safety.
Maria was being chased by a Buddha who wanted revenge for his comrade’s death.
It opened a holy land similar to the one that Seishi opened, and commanded an army of monks to attack her with projectiles.
*BOOOM!*
The attacks packed quite the punch and caused damage to Maria, who was shielding Nero.
“Chaos Hammer!”
The holy land was suddenly crushed by a gigantic hammer, which was being wielded by Nova.
“Maria, give me the old man.”
He stood in front of her and said.
“Fine, take him. I’ll kill this Buddha.”
She said.
“……Huh?”
The moment she turned around to face the Buddha, she saw something that made her brain freeze up for a while.
She saw the Buddha that was chasing her on the ground, laying flat on his stomach. Standing on top of him was a tall and muscular man dressing in leather.
It was Typhon.
“?!”
The moment Maria looked into his eyes, every nerve in her body was screaming for her to run away with all of her might. She instinctively knew that the being in front of her wasn’t something she could ever hope to defeat.
Typhon smiled at her.
“Little girl, did I steal your prey?”
He asked.
Just his voice was enough to strike true terror in her heart.
“My bad, I originally intended to wait until you guys kill at least half of your opponents, but when I saw that battle where Menoetius was defeated, I couldn’t contain myself.”
He tapped his foot on the Buddha below.
“The next thing I knew, I killed this guy. Who is this by the way? A Buddha? Well, whatever. I don’t really have that many Buddhist friends anyway. They all want to vanquish me for being an evil entity after all. Killing one won’t hurt.”
He spoke about slaying a Buddha so naturally, that you would think that he accidentally stepped on an ant.
It was at that moment that Maria felt someone drag her backwards. She saw that nova had switched places with her and was now facing Typhon. It was obvious that his intention was to protect Maria.
“Oh? You’re the one that killed one of those dark gods from yomi.”
Typhon said after seeing him step forward.
At that moment, someone appeared behind Nova and Maria. They turned around and saw Julio Zebul.
“Lord Typhon, are you going to join the battle now?”
Julio asked.
“Well, since I’ve accidentally killed, someone I might as well.”
Typhon answered.
He started to approach nova who was shielding Maria. Seeing Typhon slowly approach him, Nova geared himself up for battle.
Maria faced Julio, however to her surprise, Julio not only showed no intention of fighting her, he even left the battlefield.
“Ah, don’t mind him. I never wanted his help. He’ll just watch everything from a far like a general should.”
Typhon said.
“In the meantime, I’ll do my duty as a soldier and destroy everything in front of me until I achieve complete victory.”
He stretched his hand out towards Nova.
“Hm?”
*BOOOM!*
He was suddenly attacked by blast of demonic energy and was forced back a few meters.
The one who attacked him, once again appeared in front of him.
*BOOOM!*
Typhon was sent flying upwards by a kick by Nero.
“Echo!”
The moment he shouted, Echo burst out of the ground and appeared above Typhon.
*BOOOM!*
She slammed her fist on his face and sent him crashing towards the earth.
“Hellish Breath Of The Demon Dragon God!”
An overwhelming burst of black flames spurted out of Nero’s mouth. It was as if he had spat out an ocean of flames.
*BOOOM!*
These flames hit Typhon and scorched everything around them.
Typhon fell on the ground with flames all around him.
Echo landed beside Nero and dust herself off.
“Just as I was resting underground, this thing had to appear.”
She said.
“My life was in danger while you were resting you know?”
Said Nero.
“Yeah, but I figured that you could handle it yourself.”
Echo replied.
“You two seem quite casual, despite not even being able to defeat me.”
Typhon slowly stood up with his head facing the opposite direction like an owl.
He casually took his head and twisted his head back into its rightful place.
“Well, I admit that you two sure pack quite the punch. As expected of Augustus and Tia’s descendants.”
He said.
“We weren’t trying to defeat you, King of Monsters.”
Nero replied.
“They were calling for reinforcements.”
Typhon heard a new voice, and saw Miko standing behind him. A bit further back, several higher beings were seen groaning in agony on the ground.
“Because of your intervention I was unable to kill them and could only put them down for a bit.”
Miko showed him an angry and savage smile.
“How are you going to make that up to me, Snake Leg Bastard?”
When Typhon heard that, he looked at Miko again because there were only a few persons who dared called him that. After a while, he figured it out.
“Yo, Augustus. It’s good to see that you’re still alive.”
He showed a similarly angry and savage smile.
“This way I can kill you myself.”