Susanoo's surprised expression as the invisible force ripped apart the space between us and flung him back into his house brought a smile to my face.
The shabby walls that supported it were utterly demolished and everything collapsed onto itself.
Though I couldn't admire my handy work much longer.
"Reinforcement. Ebony Flesh. Lightning Armor." I called out my main enhancement abilities.
Reinforcement filled my body, filling in the gaps and conceptually enhancing the existence of my body parts. Ebony Flesh was cast over me physically, like an invisible armor. Lightning Armor, what I had named the application of my Lightning Skills that Sir Wiggles had managed to deduce before me. My limbs had a thin layer of lightning crackling over them.
I flexed my fingers, feeling the Ring of Khajiit that Meridia had given me. Avalon had the tiniest bit of Magical Energy remaining within it as it slept within my body, yet the feeling of it was still warm.
The rubble of the house moved, the God's towering form pushing through the rubble. He had a look of sadness on his face as he held the broken bottle of Sake that he was drinking from earlier. He crushed it in his hand with a small flicker of anger before settling down again and turned back towards me.
"An Authority?" He stared at me. "No, it was much too weak but it felt similar." He shook his head, glancing around. "The Netherworld can't handle much punishment."
"The Netherworld? Is that were we are?" I questioned.
He looked at me in disbelief. "You came here not knowing?" The corners of his lips curled up. "I regret that that I must kill you. I'm sure I would have enjoyed your company." He straightened his back. Even with a large gut sticking out, there were still visible muscles bulging over his body. "A God's word is absolute. A God's dignity cannot be trampled on. I will wash away your sins with your death and you will be forgiven."
[Arrogant ass.]
Says the Dragon.
[Yeah, should tell you something.]
Susanoo waived his hand. The fluctuating space that had been all disjointed by my shout started mending. "The realm that exists between Life and Immortality. Squeezed between the realms of Myth, and the Mortal world. There is a reason many of us don't wish to fight here."
Yeah, this place felt flimsy compared to earth.
"So die quickly." He moved with a crack of thunder and a fist filled my vision.
I summoned the Boosted Gear and blocked it, but my feet were lifted off the ground and I was sent tumbling backwards before I regained some manner of footing. I quickly looked up to see the Storm God in the air, lightning gathered around him as he plummeted towards the earth at insane speeds.
"BOOST!" I called out.
The Staff of Magnus appeared in my other hand as I held it up. "Shield of Asgard!" The Runes formed and actualized the spell nearly instantly.
A muscular leg slammed down from the heavens, engulfed in a massive bolt of lightning. "That's not going to work, Mortal!" Susanoo shouted as my shield cracked and he burst through it.
The ground beneath me sundered in every direction for dozens of yards. I held my Gauntlet-clad arm up, with the Staff also acting as support, but even so, I was forced to a knee.
"A Divine weapon?" He sounded surprised. "And something that feels like a Dragon."
"BOOST!" I called out as soon as the time limit was up, and my strength doubled once more. I pushed his leg away, and he laughed as he jumped back.
Almost lazily, he hopped back. "Are you really human?" He questioned with a wide grin. "Now that I take a proper look, you are really a strange one." He said almost mockingly as he put his hands behind his back. "Already winded there? Where's that bravado you showed earlier. What did you say again – 'I don't fear you'?" He laughed before his expression darkened and the amusement was wiped from his face. "A mortal dares speak something so absurd to my face?"
Wow…
[Are you surprised? This is how most Gods are. They are very easy to anger. Even if he's laughing about it, you pissed him off and no words will calm him down.]
I stood up fully, straightening my back and put my staff away. With a flick of my hand Mirage reappeared.
"Wuld Nah Kest." It was barely more than a whisper, yet the words reverberated. I took a single step and like a whirlwind, I moved.
"Hmm?" Susanoo's eyes widened as I was already in his face, sword swinging down. He raised a finger, and flicked the edge away, deflecting my sword.
I didn't dwell on it for even a single second. My hand covered in the Boosted Gear swung towards his face.
He lazily looked at it and went to raise his hand up to block.
"Boost!" I called out once more and my speed accelerated. The air exploded at the sudden burst, my first buried into the side of his face. He stuttered in place, almost falling over.
Slowly, he turned his head back towards me, spitting out a mouthful of blood.
"What kind of Dragon exists in that thing?" He mumbled, eyes moving towards my Gauntlet still pressed against him. "I'll take a look later."
With a thought, I summoned my other swords out and had them all shot right at him.
"Pointless." He waived his hand, a burst of lightning pulsed out, overtaking the swords and forcing them to the ground.
With another thought, Whisper regained its altitude and shot into the air.
He reached out and grabbed ahold of the Boosted Gear and I could feel the force of his grip as my hand was forcefully pulled away.
"Interesting. Very interesting." He muttered again, as if this was a game.
I opened my palm towards him. "Dragon Shot." The Draconic power accumulated and burst out right in his face.
"Hmm." He muttered completely okay after taking that hit, his beard not even the slightest bit singed.
So this is a God.
[You're going to have to take it up a notch if you want to do anything to him.]
Yeah, this level is pointless.
At this level, I could fight some of the middling Servants, yet he was brushing off anything I did.
I dropped Mirage and yanked the Sword of Destruction to me with Telekinesis. He held his hand out to knock it away again without even looking, but my Aura burst out, feeding into it as a Catalyst and it erupted with my Power of Destruction.
He reacted too late as his head snapped to the side, the blade sliced into his hand, and the destructive power crackled around his arm, lashing out at anything it could.
"AAH?" He let out a confused, but pained noise, forcing him to let go of the Boosted Gear. "What is this!?" He blurted out as the flesh on his arm started to disintegrate.
He yanked the sword out quickly, tossing it to the side. Staring at his arm in disbelief. "Why does this feel like Kali? Who are you?" He demanded to know.
In that moment, I jumped back, gaining some distance.
So my Power of Destruction was capable of reaching the Divine. I knew the conceptual makeup of this bloodline was absurd, but this confirmed it.
"So, you finally deem to acknowledge me?" I felt a little pride in that. Maybe that's why I hadn't used Balance Breaker yet, or broken out my peak spells. He wasn't trying and my pride was hurt that he was so dismissive of me.
It did bring a smile to my face. "You want to know who I am?" I held my hands out as the sky above turned dark. And the God turned his gaze upwards "I am Wilhelm Henry Schweinorg." I declared as the lightning above took form.
"Hammer of Thor."
"Transfer."
The massive lightning figure that already encompassed the sky grew in size and power. The huge hammer that could smash apart a mountain aimed right down on the Storm God as he stared up. And a Pillar of lighting erupted at the focal point
I had to turn my eyes away from the sheer explosive might.
The ground became a massive chasm to which I couldn't even see the bottom. But after the dust finally settled, I frowned as the figure of the God floated there, unmoving.
He held his arms up, one of them had some flesh gouged out where my Power of Destruction ran rampant and the other looked a little scuffed, as if it was slightly burned.
"You harmed me. With Mortal Magic." He said quietly, though his voice still filled with the authority of a Divine being. "A mortal, not once, but twice, harmed me."
So my spell could only do that much, huh?
[Don't be upset, it was a wonderful spell. He was simply the worse matchup for it. A God of Storms was already going to be very durable against Lightning. The fact that you able to even leave a mark is worthy of praise.]
"I am saddened." He looked up. "As a God, I cannot go back on my word. But I am saddened that I must kill you. How much fun would it be if I had been able to see you grow?" He shook his head. "The only thing left I can do is show my appreciation for this feeling."
"Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi, Unsheath." The world shifted around his words. The weight behind them forcing laws to bend to his whims as a familiar black sword appeared in his hand. Though its presence completely eclipsed the feeling of that girl who previously wielded it.
The Divine Power gathered around him.
And he gave it a simple swing.
Instinctively, I quickly created a portal and fell through it, opening up to the sky above.
Falling through the air, I saw the spot I was just in, completely gone as if the earth there never existed.
How ridiculous.
Looking down at him, he appeared confused as if he lost sight of me.
Spell Circles formed all around Mirage. I pulled on the Magical Energy from parallel worlds to actualize this spell, to convert all of it into the 5th imaginary element.
His head turn upwards a moment later, but it was enough. I poured an insane amount of power into this application.
He swung his sword again, the very air getting cut apart.
"ETHER CANNON!" I roared as the accumulated power discharged with the swing. It was stronger than the one I used against Siegfried. I could feel my Magic Circuits flare up, straining from filtering out excess Mana that was bursting out in every direction.
I watched in horror as his sword cut through my spell.
"Magic is nothing infront of my blade." He taunted as my spell was forcibly dispersed. My Ether Cannon that was something created in my previous life and still used by Zelretch.
Did his sword penetrate Magic on a conceptual level? The thought stayed with me even as I fell back to the ground that still remained.
I readied myself, but a blink later and the God was gone. Instead, there was a streak of lightning appearing right next to me. I expected his sword, but instead, a fist found the side of my face.
My vision spun around as I was lifted off my feet again. The sky became the ground, and the ground somehow became water as I skipped across the liquid surface.
[Well, I think he held a grudge from when you punched him]
"You think?" I growled, coughing out some blood myself, a wave of water splashing against me breaking me from my stupor. I could taste the saltiness in the air as I stared up at the sky. "We're back on earth."
[Did….he punch you through a dimension?"]
I leaned up, looking at where I came from.
There was a crack in space.
"He did say something about the Netherworld not being able to handle too much strain." I just didn't think it was that bad, to the point where we literally tore apart the points that connected the Netherworld and the Earth.
"Ddraig."
[What?]
"He put me on my back twice."
[He did.] Ddraig confirmed. [What are you going to do about it?]
I closed my eyes for a brief moment and steadied my breathing.
"Welsh Dragon Balance Breaker."
***
Susanoo, God of Storms POV
"My Lord, you are harmed."
"I am aware." I glanced down at my old friend, the blade that had accompanied me for much of my immortal existence.
My sword which gained its own Godhood after being filled with my power for so long.
"Did that mortal….?" Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi spoke.
"He did." I glanced at the tear in the fabric of the world, connecting back to the mortal realm. "He has some strange abilities that I had never seen before. Authorities that are not Authorities. Destruction that does not belong to a God. Mortal spells that could even leave a mark on me...Divine weaponry I don't know the origin of." I shook my head with a wistful smile. "A human that is not human."
What a strange thing he was.
Fun.
I hesitated to walk through and follow him. I had not forgotten why I was hiding in the Netherworld. And if I left, I would be throwing away many things I had hid there for. Yet....I could not leave matters as they were.
When was the last time I had fun like this?
What was the point in being a God if I couldn't do the things that I wanted?
"That last spell would have been dangerous had you not cut it, my old friend."
"To praise a mortal in such a way…."
"Deserved praise is deserved praise. Even if I must cut him down, I will acknowledge his abilities."
I am a warrior, and thus as a warrior I will meet him as such. It was time to stop playing around and fight truly.
Without a second thought, I descended upon the mortal world and the familiar laws encircled me. I paid them no heed as the object of my desire was in the distance. Looking around, I could see that we were off the Coast of Japan.
A wonderful place for our final exchange.
"Where is –" I paused as a large amount of magic gathered to the side.
And to my confusion, a massive Tree began to appear. Growing on top of the waves. A hint of uncertainly appeared in my heart as I recognize the origin, but refused to believe it.
My confusion turned into shock as I felt the power pulsing off the newly grown foliage.
"Master, that is not a normal tree."
"Yes, I can feel it too." But it's impossible for that thing to appear in the mortal world like this, especially at behest of a mortal.
A golden light shimmered infront of it and I quickly brought up my blade. The clash of steel meeting steel, the scraping of the metals as I stopped myself from being knocked back.
A large golden spear was pressed against my blade.
"ODIN!?" I roared in fury as I could recognize the Old God's signature weapon. "YOU OLD FOOL, HOW DARE YOU?" I continued to shout, looking for the fool who dared interrupt my fight.
It flew away just as quickly as it appeared, streaking across the sky before stopping, hovering nearby a person I recognized.
Donned in a red armor that looked similar to the Gauntlet he wielded before. But the stench of a Dragon was much stronger. And his power had taken a qualitive and quantitive increase.
Wings sprout from his back as he floated above the waves.
"Ready for round two?" He beckoned me with a renewed confidence.
I had no clue as to what was going on, more strange things had appeared around me, but I felt a flicker of excitement in my heart.
"This God will give you a quick death." I grinned in response.
***
Fight wraps up next chapter. Sorry for the late post, but the Pat.reon chapter is like 7k words and took me a long time to write. It's an interlude with four different POVS that i havn't found a place to put them until now.
If you want to read 7 chapters ahead or support me, visit my pat.reon.com/storyforone