Chapter 252:
Jean gulped next to me. She had already exhausted herself roasting Ego and now a drastically more powerful being had popped up in front of us. "Are we going to have to fight again, Layla?" She whispered to me. "This thing looks like the Iron Giant had a baby with the Death Star!" She exclaimed.
"That's…not an inaccurate way to describe him." I replied while gripping the Power Stone tightly in my palm. If I had to fight Arishem here, I could handle using the stone for 2 or 3 minutes at most. I grimaced, that wasn't going to be near long enough to bring down a being over 100 levels above me.
"Someone's coming." Jean said.
I felt something rapidly approaching the two of us from behind. I turned my head to see what it was. Captain Marvel was rapidly speeding over from my ship. I cracked a small smile at the fact that she didn't choose to run away like everyone else.
She came to a stop near where Jean and I were floating in space. Carol glanced off into the distance nervously.
Arishem had been staring at us, with his six red eyes, in silence since he arrived in this sector of space. He hadn't done anything else. His giant body didn't move even an inch.
It was a bit unnerving… I'd never dealt with a being that acted so inhuman. Even Mephisto, the Marvel Devil, has acted more normal than this Celestial so far.
"This is exactly what I warned you about!" Carol whispered aggressively at me. "Killing a Celestial ended up pissing the others off! Now this freak has shown up too! I didn't even believe he was real until now!" Carol complained. "Arishem was supposed to be a myth, one of the boogeymen of the Cosmos!"
"Don't put this situation on, Layla. You were offering to help us get rid of Ego not even a half hour ago." Jean stuck up for me and pointed out.
Carol shook her head. "I wasn't blaming Layla. I was just trying to remind her that actions have consequences." Carol said back to Jean before turning back to me. "It didn't help that you both killed Ego so quickly, and in the flashiest manner possible! You made the Celestials look really weak to the wider Galaxy. They're supposed to be incredibly prideful beings, they won't let that go easily…" She trailed off. Her eyes drifted over my shoulder towards Arishem. Carol was under the impression he was here as a show of strength. I supposed that was possible, myself. Despite that, his massive form still hadn't moved since he had arrived. He must have been deep in thought about something.
"Ego wasn't even a real Celestial. That's obvious now. He died way too easily." I said. "Arishem shouldn't even care." I had no idea why Arishem turned up here. He never gave a shit when the Guardians killed Ego in the movie! I made my thoughts known to the two of them.
"Didn't the Phoenix tell us that Ego was a Celestial?" Jean asked me nervously. "Although, she could have been wrong I guess."
I shrugged at her. "Maybe he was a Celestial's inbred cousin or something." I joked to try and lighten the mood. I shook my head when I noticed neither girl smiled. "It doesn't really matter anyway, since he's dead now."
[Ego went out with a great bang too! I rate his death explosion a solid 9/10.]
Carol let out a sigh. "Regardless of whether he was one or not, his death brought Arishem here." Carol said before pointing at me. "You announced to the whole Galaxy that Ego WAS a Celestial. They all think you killed one now, and you did it easily." She explained.
"Oh, I see your point." I said. In hindsight, there were probably more subtle ways I could have liked Ego over. I was just too lazy to try them. I wanted to finish his Quest and return home as soon as possible.
"I doubt the Judge will let us escape now without an explanation." Carol said. "From the stories I've heard about him, that I thought were not even real until now, Arishem has his own weird sense of judgment. Entire planets and Empires have been wiped out by him for the pettiest of reasons." She explained.
Jean frowned at Carol's words. "We have an explanation, Ego was trying to absorb the whole Galaxy!"
"We're about to find out whether that's a good enough explanation or not." Carol replied to Jean.
I frowned and took her words as a challenge. "I'd like to see Arishem even try to stop us from leaving." I called on my Orb of Infinity. I summoned a small portal towards my Warship's bridge.
If Arishem was just going to passively float there and stare at us, then we might as well leave. I floated forwards to go through my portal.
BONK!
{-5HP}
"Ow!" My head ended up smacking something solid! I looked up to see what I had just collided with. "That's new…" Directly in front of my portal was a red energy barrier. In fact, the barrier completely surrounded my portal on all sides, completely blocking my access to it. It was pretty obvious who the barrier blocking me came from.
I called on my Orb of Infinity again and tried to open another portal. Immediately, another red energy barrier sprang up around it.
I glared at it in annoyance! "Amaterasu!"
{-5000MP!}
Black flames impacted the barrier and started burning away at it. This barrier was proving even stronger than the Collector's Infinity Stone prison barrier had been. My flames failed to eat away at it after almost a full minute. I willed them away and turned back to Carol. "Ok, we might be trapped here…" I relented. Arishem couldn't stop me from creating portals, but he could stop me from going through them. I didn't expect him to be that clever…
[He's literally millions of years old…]
"If we die here, I'm going to haunt you…" Carol's eye was twitching.
"If we die here, I'll just revive myself and then you guys a few days later." I replied.
I'd stash the Power Stone in my inventory as well, so Arishem wouldn't be able to take it. I would be a petty bitch like that…
[What if he can reach into your inventory like the Ancient One was able to do over a year ago?]
'Fuck…'
"Oh right, I forgot you could do that." Jean said, some of the tension had lightened after my statement. You can be a lot braver when you know death isn't permanent.
"I'm not worried about us, I'm worried about what Arishem could do to Earth in retaliation!" Carol hissed out worriedly. I decided not to tell her that Arishem was already planning on destroying the Earth. There was a baby Celestial growing in the center of the planet that I was going to have to kill at some point. The more humans in the world, the faster it would develop. When the Earth Marvel and DxD fuse back together, the baby Celestial will grow much faster than in MCU Canon as well. I was going to have to kill it sooner rather than later.
"..."
"I have come to pass judgment!" Arishem's voice boomed from all around us. He had finally spoken.
…
–Arishem–
Arishem gazed across the void of space. His vision was locked on the three very tiny beings. All of them were decently powerful, but he felt like they were no threat to him. He wasn't even wary of the one holding the Infinity Stone.
Arishem had spent the past few minutes reading the minds of the mortals onboard the only remaining spaceship in the small section of space. From them, he understood the situation…for the most part.
The being known as Ego was not a Celestial, but he was still a unique existence. Arishem might even go as far as to say that Ego was interesting. Arishem pondered if, maybe one day, Ego could have evolved himself into becoming a true Celestial? And if that process involved Ego devouring countless mortal planets, well…Arishem didn't actually mind. He would consider those mortal lives as having served a more noble purpose.
It was incredibly difficult for the Celestial race to spawn new members. Therefore, Arishem saw Ego's death to be a waste. What were the lives of a few trillion mortals, compared to that of a new Celestial? Unfortunately, it was not to be.
Ego, the living planet, was dead. His soul forever lost to Lady Death's realm. Arishem would not be able to bring it back. Arishem found himself…feeling irritated. It had been a long time since he had felt such a mortal emotion.
"I have come to pass judgment!" Arishem declared. "I judge Ego's death to have been a waste to the Cosmos! A detriment to the prosperity of the greater Universe! You must prove to me that your existence was more valuable than his or you will be punished!" Arishem declared. He did not believe that any of the three women would be able to prove their worth, but he had to at least give them a chance to defend themselves.
He was a fair Judge after all…
"How the Hell do we do that!?" The one with the 14 Black Wings asked Arishem. He noted that her voice projected across space with a rudimentary use of Cosmic Energy.
"You will allow me access to your minds. I will judge for myself from all of your memories." Arishem declared, as was his right. He had been trying to read all three of their minds since he arrived, unfortunately all of their minds were all protected by higher powers. Those powers felt familiar to Arishem, but he couldn't recall from where or when he was familiar with them. Even for him, some memories become hard to properly recall after tens of millions of years.
"Absolutely not!" The same woman declared again. He could see that she was channeling more and more power from the Power Stone into herself.
"I'm never letting anyone I don't know in my head ever again!" The girl who was glowing with cosmic fire declared to him.
The third woman powered up as well. A bright Golden Aura surrounded her next.
Arishem wondered if they were going to attempt to actually fight him? 'How long has it been since any beings have challenged me?' He was almost amused…almost. "You will follow my judgment or be destroyed!" Arishem declared with finality.
He wasn't planning on indulging them in pointless battle. They would submit to his judgment like any other sane sentient would. He didn't believe they would truly attempt to fight him.
Arishem was wrong.
"COSMIC SUSANOO!" The woman with 14 Black Wings screamed loudly. An enormous well of Divine and Cosmic Power combined and surged around her being!
'Where did that come from!?' Arishem had not sensed any of that hidden power!
The next thing he knew, he was getting punched in the face by an ethereal purple fist the size of a small moon…
…
–Layla–
This asshole thought he could root around in my mind! That wasn't happening! I was the Gamer here!
{-100,000,000 Faith Energy!}
I loved being a Goddess, but the truth was, I wasn't really a fan of Faith Energy. It could only be acquired from people's faith, and it was slow to accumulate. Despite that, I was very thankful that I currently had so much of it saved up. It was exactly for a situation like this. I channeled an absurd amount of Faith Energy and combined it with Cosmic Energy and the Power Stone. The amount of power I felt flowing through me was staggering!
I grabbed Jean and Carol and pulled them both close to myself. I appreciated their eagerness to fight, but they would only be a liability outside of my protection.
"COSMIC SUSANOO!" An ethereal skeleton rapidly formed around me. It was quickly followed by muscle, and then skin, and then armor.
"Oh my God, Layla!" Jean's eyes were bulging wide.
"How is this possible!?" Carol exclaimed in disbelief.
[Holy shit…]
Holy shit was right. 100,000,000 Faith Energy created the largest SUSANOO that's ever existed. My construct was as big as Arishem himself!
My Susanoo was the size of an entire planet and I was controlling all of it seamlessly. I raised my hand and clenched my fist. My construct perfectly mirrored my action. I felt that this fist had the power to shatter an entire planet if I felt like it.
{Emergency Quest Initiated: Kick Arishem's Ass!}
{Reward: Level Up x 10!! Eternal Bragging Rights! ???}
A smirk formed on my face. I was going to kick Arishem's arrogant ass anyway, but I wouldn't turn down some rewards for it.
[Keep in mind, you're on a time limit. The Power Stone is already starting to damage you internally!]
'I won't hold back.' I told the System. I was losing about 200 HP a second from the strain of holding the Stone.
Wings the size of continents emerged from my Susanoo's back. With them, I surged forward towards Arishem, faster than I thought possible! In the span of only a few seconds, I had crossed hundreds of thousands of Kilometers!
I reeled back my fist and punched the massive Celestial directly in the face!
BOOM!
His head whipped backwards. I think I actually managed to leave a dent in his face, but it quickly regenerated. All true Celestials were supposed to be incredibly durable and resilient.
I reeled back my other fist and punched him again! This time I landed a devastating body blow that would have knocked the air out of him–if he even needed to breathe.
[Hell yeah! Kick his ass, Host!]
Arishem was caught off guard by the sudden violence, and possibly even the fact that I was actually hurting him. His face wasn't readable, but I imagined it would be showing shock if it was.
{-1,000,000 Faith Energy!}
"You want to judge me!?" A massive Lightspear formed in my Susanoo's right hand. "You're not qualified!" I stabbed forwards with the spear. Before it made contact, he was enveloped by a red aura. It was almost impossible how quickly the planet sized being vanished from my sight!
An instant later, I sensed that space had shifted behind me. A powerful blow splashed across my Susanoo's back, just underneath her massive wings. I felt an echo of pain from the blow and let out a grunt.
[Another rapid teleporter! How annoying!]
{-2,000,000 Faith Energy!}
I had a solution for that now. I felt my Orb of Infinity emit a feeling of -Glee- as I fed it all that power. Once again, on a much larger scale, space became impossible to teleport through. Even for a being like Arishem.
I recovered from his sneak attack and quickly spun around. I lashed forwards with my giant spear a second time.
Arishem seemed to have caught on quicker, at what I had done, than the Collector had. Instead of trying to teleport again, Arishem swung his arms forward towards my incoming spear.
CLAAAAAANG!
A massive greatsword appeared in the pathway of my spear. The two world destroying weapons clashed momentarily before we both pulled back.
"It has been a long time since I was last injured. Millions of years…" Arishem declared.
"Well, it's about to happen again in a few seconds." I replied smugly.
"Yeah! You're not so tough!" Jean cheered next to me from inside my construct.
Carol looked like she wanted to speak as well, but was too tongue tied to say anything. I could understand that, two planet sized giants were currently battling it out and she was literally inside one of them.
"You have proven you have more worth than I initially believed. It is not often I admit I was mistaken. I offer you one last chance. Submit to my judgment, and I will pardon you for attacking me!" Arishem declared once again.
Where did this guy get off!? Of course, there was no way I was going to submit to him!
[Layla of the Fallen]
[Title: Fourteen Winged Angel, Goddess of Angels, Death's Favored.]
[Level: 87]
[Sacred Gears: Purger of Darkness, Orb of Infinity]
[HP: 54,000→57,000 / 114,000→117,000]
[MP: 5500 / 120,000]
[Faith Energy: 39,555,675]
[Vigor: 10,000→10,300]
[Strength: 5,200]
[Intelligence: 12,200]
[Luck: 2300]
[Available Free Stat Points: 300→0]
I quickly put my remaining free stat points into Vigor to give myself a few extra seconds to hold the Power Stone. Every second counted right now!
"You have no right to judge any of us! I refuse!" I yelled at him. My Susanoo flapped her wings and rushed towards him again. Once again, my spear met his sword. We both quickly started to trade blows back and forth.
The greatsword he had created was even bigger than my Lightspear, and he wielded it with some skill, but it was evident that he was severely out of practice. After all, why should he bother training when no one has challenged him in longer than eons.
CLANG! CLANG! CLASH!
I batted his greatsword to the side when he overextended himself. My Lightspear lashed out towards his left shoulder. I poured even more Faith Energy into the massive weapon the moment it made contact with his shoulder. My Lightspear burned right through!
{-1,000,000 Faith Energy!}
"Raaaaaaaggghhh!" Arishem let out a wail of pain. He had been dealt heavy damage. A colossal arm was separated from his body and rapidly started flying off into the void. Arishem dropped his greatsword and clutched at the wound. My Light along with energy from the Power Stone was infecting his wound and preventing it from healing. Otherwise he would have immediately been able to grow another arm. His six eyes glowed burning red in fury. The rage he was emitting was so intense that it was palpable. "No more! I judge you guilty!"
He raised his remaining arm towards me and all of my instincts warned me about what was coming. He wasn't playing around anymore!
I threw both of my arms forwards and my Susanoo mimicked my actions.
"Disappear!" A beam of pure cosmic power blasted forth from Arishem's remaining arm. I knew if it hit me, we would be goners, regardless of my massive Susanoo or not.
{38,555,675 Faith Energy!}
{-40,000HP!}
I channeled absolutely all of my remaining power and combined it with everything left I could squeeze out of the Power Stone! "Fuck off, Arishem! Almighty Push!"
[What the fuck!?]
When I released all of that power in one targeted attack, something strange happened. The Space in front of me trembled…and then cracked. The wave of gravity surged forwards and crashed into Arishem with an incompressible amount of force! For a moment, the Laws of Physics shattered.
Arishem was hit with so much force, that one instant he was in front of us, and the second…he vanished. That was the only way I could describe it. He was simply gone…
"Damn, Layla! Did you just knock him into the next Galaxy!?" Jean exclaimed with a shocked laugh. "Where did he go?"
"What the fuck…" Carol finally spoke after Arishem vanished in front of us.
[Wait, did you knock him into the next Galaxy!?]
Wherever I just sent him, I hoped he wouldn't be coming back for a while at least. I lowered my arms and let out a tired sigh. My planet-sized Susanoo faded away around us. I was completely spent. My MP was close to zero, my Faith Energy was drained and I only had a few thousand remaining HP. Despite that, I realized there was a massive grin on my face!
"Ha! Get fucked Arishem! I hit him so hard he ended up recoiling away faster than the speed of light!" I bellowed out with a laugh. "Haha! I literally broke Physics with pure force!"
"Is that what happened!?" Jean asked me in shock.
"He's not dead is he?" Carol asked next. Somehow, she looked even more nervous at that prospect.
I shook my head. I would have gotten a notification if he was. "I honestly have no idea what happened to him. Why don't we get out of here before he comes back?" I suggested as I started flying back to my Warship. I was kind of hoping Rocket had recorded my fight just now because it would be awesome to show to people!
{Quest Completed! You have Leveled up x 10! You have acquired a #####!}
[Layla of the Fallen]
[Title: Fourteen Winged Angel, Goddess of Angels, Death's Favored.]
[Level: 97]
[Sacred Gears: Purger of Darkness, Orb of Infinity]
[HP: 5,000 / 117,000]
[MP: 4,000 / 120,000]
[Faith Energy: 0]
[Vigor: 10,300]
[Strength: 5,200]
[Intelligence: 12,200]
[Luck: 2300]
[Available Free Stat Points: 1000]
[Perks and Skills:]
-Goddess of Angels (10x Increase in all Stat Points. Access to all Angelic Abilities. Can turn other races into white or black winged Angels depending on the person's Karma.)
-Death's Favored (Resurrect on Death after 24 hours. Can resurrect up to three people a day.)
-Daughter of Heaven's Will (Passive Skill: Ask and you shall receive! The universe bends to your whims and circumstances that you wish for are far more likely to occur!)
-Observe (Max: No one's level is hidden from your gaze. No one can detect you using Observe on them.)
-Light Manipulation (Max: All Light Abilities Cost 10x less MP to Cast.)
-Senjutsu (Max: Passively regenerate 1000 MP/Min.)
-Rinnegan (Max: All Rinnegan abilities cost 5x less MP.)
-Faith Pool (Can draw upon Faith Energy when MP runs out.)
-Cosmic Energy (Instead of air, you know breathe Cosmic Energy. All abilities are drastically improved along with access to Cosmic powers.)
XXX
–(Canon?) Omake, A Celestial Lost in Time–
It took Arishem a surprising amount of time to bleed off the momentum. He had never been hit with that much force in his entire existence! He didn't think he had ever been so injured. All of his limbs were broken and bent out of place. There was a massive indent in the center of his torso, where the full power of the blow had struck him.
As the mortals say…he needed a minute.
Arishem would recover from the damage shortly, but that wasn't the most pressing issue!
Somehow, the 14 winged woman had managed to hit him so hard that she sent him through time itself! He could sense the faint traces of Temporal Energies around him. He was not where he was supposed to be…or WHEN he was supposed to be would be the more accurate statement. He didn't know whether or not he had even been sent to the past or the future. He had absolutely no control when he was forcibly launched through time itself.
Arishem took a few moments to recover from his injuries and grow back another arm. Once he was healed, he opened a portal towards Terra. The winged woman was from that small blue world. Maybe he could find her there and exact judgment on her properly. This time, he wouldn't underestimate her.
A massive portal swallowed him whole and transported him to his destination. Arishem arrived near the moon of Terra an instant later. His arrival did not go unnoticed. Numerous spaceships nearby all stopped traffic as their pilots stared at him in wonder. A few seconds later, all nearby spaceships spun around and immediately started to flee from him.
"I am in the future then." Arishem commented to himself. He had read the memories of the Half-Terran known as Peter Quill. Terra was not even close to space travel as far as the mortal knew. And there definitely was not a colony of people openly living on the moon…
Arishem's eyes drifted towards Terra. He had a feeling the woman he was after would be there. "Woman with 14 wings! Come out and meet your judgment!" Arishem declared. His voice echoed across the entire planet!
"Jeez. Did you have to yell so loudly!? Also, who the hell are you, and why are you so needlessly big?" A woman's voice spoke from nearby.
Very nearby!
Arishem's eyes almost became crossed as he glanced down. Hovering directly in front of his face was the woman with 14 Black Wings! No–it wasn't her. This woman looked almost identical, but her aura felt different.
"Who are you, mortal? Where is the woman I seek? Where is Layla of the Fallen!?" He demanded to know.
"Mom? She's out right now, probably touring another weird universe with my sisters. She's left me in charge of the planet while she is out. Nice to meet you giant dude. I'm Hilga…" She introduced herself confidently.
She wasn't gazing at him with reverence or fear, but looking at him as if they were equals. Arishem was once again annoyed at the audacity of lesser beings. "Your mother hit me so hard that she sent me through time itself! That is but a single one of the crimes she must face my judgment for! Bring her to me!"
Hilga had a pondering look on her face before she snapped her fingers in realization. "Oh, I know who you are! You're Arishem! They talked about you in history class! You ended up disappearing for a few years after my mom first fought you decades ago. No one knew where you went during that period. So, she ended up hitting you so hard that she sent you through time? I didn't know that was even possible!" Hilga said excitedly.
"It is." Arishem confirmed. "I must now find a way back. It will be tedious, even for a Celestial."
Hilga tilted her head. "Is that so? Why don't I help you out then?" She suggested. "Want me to try sending you back myself? It shouldn't be too hard for me."
"How would you do that?" Arishem asked.
Hilga Heladottir raised her palm towards Arishem's face nonchalantly.
Suddenly, all of his senses screamed at him in warning! It was only now that he truly sensed the power lurking inside the girl in front of him! She was even more powerful than himself somehow! Far mar powerful! 'How is that possible!?'
Hilga smiled. "See you later giant dude, Almighty Push!"
Arishem once again found himself being blasted through time…
XXX
A/N: A fun little addition at the end there XD
Chapter 253:
–Layla–
Hours later…
"This ship is needlessly tedious to control." I muttered to myself in annoyance. Every single control on the bridge was a holographic touch screen. Half the time, my finger ended up brushing across the wrong interface and my warship would start lurching in a random direction! "Seriously, what's wrong with buttons? Why does everything have to be a touch screen nowadays?" I complained.
I was now controlling this massive warship by myself. I had to learn at some point. Jean had given me a quick rundown, but she was gone now.
Jean had returned to Earth a few hours ago via portal. She was getting antsy and wanted to return to Akeno and Ororo. She had done her part well enough and I let her go back.
"I would help you if I could. I've never actually piloted a Kree warship before." Carol said. She was slightly embarrassed about that fact considering she served in their military for years. She primarily flew around the galaxy using her cosmic powers.
"I can rewire this whole bridge for you." Rocket offered with a gleam in his eyes. "I could make it so you can fly this thing with your toes if you wanted to!"
I was almost tempted to take Rocket up on his offer, but I didn't trust Rocket enough to not install some backdoor programs that would allow him to hijack my ship from me. I wouldn't put it past him to try it at least.
[He would absolutely try to steal your ship from you…]
Peter had served his purpose and I kind of wanted them all off my ship now. Of course, Carol and Nebula were free to stay as long as they liked.
"No thanks. I'm dropping you all off soon anyways." I said to the Guardians. The only problem was that they, except for Mantis, were all still wanted by the Nova Corps. I didn't know where I could even drop them off.
I definitely wasn't letting them anywhere near Earth or Asgard. I didn't need their craziness accidentally burning down any places I cared about.
"Aw crap…we ARE still wanted, aren't we?" Rocket complained. "I completely forgot about that! We won't be able to operate in Nova space until we clear all this up. What did we even do wrong?" Rocket asked out loud.
"I am Groot."
"Yes, I know a bunch of Nova Corps prison guards died because of us! That wasn't my fault they were at the wrong place at the wrong time." Rocket complained. He was probably the most wanted of the bunch since he organized an entire prison breakout.
[They were literally just doing their jobs as prison guards. Where else were they supposed to be?]
"Can we have Ronan's body?" Peter asked me. "I know that Drax stabbed the absolute shit out of his corpse, but it should still be recognizable at least..." He said with a thoughtful look.
"Peter, why do we want a corpse?" Gamora asked him. "Do you have some kind of plan?"
"Are we going to eat him?" Drax said eagerly. "I like this idea! It is the ultimate form of disrespect! Good idea Quill!" Drax praised Peter.
Gamora sent Peter a judgemental glare! "I will not eat a Kree corpse, Peter! What kind of plan is that!?"
"What!? No, we're not going to eat Ronan!" Peter replied with a horrified look. "What's wrong with you two."
"My apologies, I don't know much about Terran diets and I've had a long day." Gamora explained sheepishly.
"Awwwww…" Drax pouted in disappointment. "My wife and children would have rested easily knowing I had filled my belly with the man who took their lives."
"For the last time, I'm not planning on eating Ronan!" Peter said in exasperation.
"Maybe just a leg?" Drax suggested.
"I am slightly hungry." Mantis added. "I do not know who Ronan is though. Is he tasty?"
"I might try some leg. I'm not picky, I'll eat almost anything." Rocket added thoughtfully.
"I am Groot."
"Nevermind, Groot's right. We don't know what kind of diseases Ronan probably had."
Peter let out a tired sigh and decided to ignore Drax, Rocket and the other idiots. He explained his reasoning to everyone else on the bridge. "We're going to turn Ronan's body over to the Corps in return for pardons. The Nova Corps hated the shit out of Ronan. It should work out. I want to at least get my ship back from them."
"That's a good idea." Gamora agreed. "We might even get some bounty money on top of our pardons."
With that decided, I turned over Ronan the Accuser's body to the Guardians. I opened a portal for them to Xandar and they left my ship. I was honestly glad they were gone. They're banter was funny in small bursts, but could honestly get very irritating after hours upon hours of listening to it all.
"What now?" Carol asked me. She had made it clear before that she wanted to take a break from the larger galaxy for a while. She wanted to stick around with me, and I was perfectly ok with that. I looked forward to more subtle, or not so subtle, flirting with her in the future.
She wasn't the only one sticking around.
Nebula had been looking at me reverently after I restored her body. After I took out Ego, and then blasted Arishem to who knows where, I was now getting borderline looks of utter worship. I could tell that she would follow me anywhere I asked her to.
I contemplated my choices on where to go. I wanted to return home, but there was also something else to consider.
I had been out of touch for a few days, but I'm pretty sure the war in Asgard had finally kicked off. The Demons of Muspelheim and the Frost Giants of Jotunheim had joined forces and declared war all out war.
I had no doubts that Hela and Azazel would eventually win, but it would be a long fought battle. The enemy had far larger numbers than our forces did. We could use something to give us an advantage.
Something like my warship. It had enough firepower to almost solo Xandar. It was definitely a game changer. Not to mention, it could hold and transport tens of thousands of troops at once.
"We'll be setting a course for Asgard." I decided. "And by that, I mean I'll just be portalling this massive ship to Asgard. I'm not spending days flying there." I said. This ship was absolutely massive, but with Cosmic Energy I could now make portals large enough for it to fit through.
…
–Sif–
Sif was currently engaged in battle on the outskirts of Asgard. The Flame Demons had somehow found a way to bypass Asgard's protective barriers and sneak their troops inside. Surtur had sent a few battalions along with some large monsters in the initial attack.
The majority of Asgard and the Grigori's forces were currently facing off against the invading battalions of Flame Demons. Sif and Kokabiel were busy dealing with the largest monster the invaders had brought with them.
"Watch out, Sister! It's going to breathe fire!"
"ROOooooaaar!"
Sif heeded Kokabiel's warning and dove to the ground. She was just in time!
A searing hot wave of fire passed a few inches above her! She was thankful that the Extremis in her veins kept her from being roasted by the latent heat.
Once the flames subsided, Sif hopped back to her feat and gripped her sword tightly. The monster they were facing roared angrily when it noticed that Sif had dodged its breath attack.
They were currently fighting a Dragon…
A Dragon that had crawled out of the hottest magma pits of Muspelheim. It stood over 20 meters tall on its four legs with a wingspan at least 3 times as large. Its scales were also glowing and burning red hot. This was a creature that comfortably swam in fiery liquid magma.
The weaker Fallen Angels and Asgardians couldn't even get close to the fierce beast without getting burned. Only Sif and Kokabiel were able to withstand the intense heat and battle the dragon.
"It's been a long time since I've faced a Dragon in combat." Sif reminisced. The last time she had faced an actual dragon had been on one of Thor's crazier escapades. She sometimes found herself missing the simplicity of those days. Her life was filled with nothing but fighting and drinking. Of course, Sif would never change her current life for anything. She was much lonelier back then as well.
Kokabiel floated down next to her and hovered a meter off the ground. There was an oversized Lightspear in each of his hands. He was grinning maniacally at their current situation. "Hah! This is what my brethren and I were born for! Glorious war where we can prove our dominance! I will never fall to some oversized lizard!"
"ROOooooaaar!" The dragon's eyes glowed in fury. It wasn't able to communicate, but it was clearly smart enough to understand Kokabiel words just now. It didn't seem to like them very much.
The ground started to shake as the massive beast started to charge towards them. The Dragon's mouth was snarling wide open, showing rows upon rows of razor sharp teeth. It lunged its powerful jaws forwards towards Sif. She leapt high into the air just as it snapped them shut.
"I am not your dinner, foul beast!" Sif gripped her sword tightly as gravity started to pull her back downwards. She was directly above the Dragon's head. "Die!" She attempted to slam her blade directly into its skull.
CLANG!
At the last second, it swung its head to the side. Her Asgardian blade ended up bouncing off one of its strong horns. Sif cursed and grabbed onto the horn to steady herself. Her other hand was still holding her blade. She attempted to stab the foul beast again. She raised her blade and prepared to strike at the Dragon's unprotected eye.
Its head started thrashing back and forth wildly to stop her! Sif had to stop her attack. She hung onto the Dragon's horn with all of her might as it thrashed wildly. It had amazing physical strength! Even a fully grown bilgesnipe wasn't so fierce!
"Hope you didn't forget about me!" Kokabiel shot through the air towards them. His wings kept him a few meters off the ground, which was starting to bubble and boil from the sheer heat the Dragon naturally exuded. Kokabiel thrust both Lightspears directly into the Dragon's left side. "Ugh! You're a tough bastard!" Kokabiel grunted at the impact.
The Dragon's hide was so tough that Kokabiel's two Lightspears barely sank a few centimeters deep into its flesh. That didn't stop the beast from acting like a baby. It stopped thrashing, threw its head into the air, and let out the loudest roar yet!
Sif felt woozy and almost released her hold. The roar was so loud that Sif's eardrums popped. "Silence!" Sif screamed in pain. Golden blood flowed out of both her ears before the Extremis went to work and started repairing the damage to her hearing. She quickly steadied herself before slashing down with her blade.
The Dragon's only unarmored spots were its eyes. Sif's blade slashed through its pupil. The beast was half blinded! Piping hot blood spurted outwards as Sif hopped off the beast's head and backed away.
"Excellent strike, Sister-in-law!" Kokabiel cheered. He left his two Lighspears lodged in the Dragon's side and flew over to regroup with her.
"Don't let your guard down. A wounded beast will fight ten times harder for survival." Sif reminded him. The Dragon was more dangerous than ever now. It had stopped thrashing and letting out roaring tantrums. With its remaining good eye, it was silently staring at the two of them furiously. It would now do everything in its power to try and kill them or escape.
"Now the real fight starts! I've been looking forward to a battle like this!" Kokabiel cheered. Sif found herself smiling with his enthusiasm. As an Asgardian, especially a Goddess of War, she would never turn down a good fight!
FWISH!
A flash of purple Light fell down from the sky high above. The Dragon went eerily still for a split second…and then its head fell clean off of its body. A purple Lightspear had fallen down from the sky and instantly decapitated the beast. Its body collapsed to the ground dead next to the severed head.
Kokabiel threw his arms up in the air in exasperation! "Damn it, Layla! You ruined our glorious Dragon hunt! It was just getting good!" He complained while staring up in the sky.
Sif could admit that she was also disappointed, but that didn't stop the smile that quickly formed on her face. Layla, her love, was hovering in the skies above Asgard! Layla looked beautiful and as majestic as always. What surprised Sif, however, was the absolutely gigantic spaceship that was now hovering in Asgard's orbit. She didn't remember such a large vessel being there a few moments ago.
…
–Layla–
I flew down and landed in front of Sif and Kokabiel. The latter was scowling at me in annoyance, while the former threw herself into my arms. I didn't mind that Sif was wearing armor that was covered partially in Dragon blood. I wrapped the blonde goddess in a loving embrace.
I could always wash the blood out of my clothes later anyway…
"Sorry I took your kill, brother." I apologized to Kokabiel over Sif's shoulder. "I saw you two fighting a large Dragon and got nervous. I wanted to help."
Kokabiel scoffed. I could tell he was annoyed, but still happy to see me. "Whatever…it's fine. I'm sure there will be other Dragons. This was only a probing attack from Muspelheim anyways. Only a few hundred Demons out of their legion of millions."
"When I arrived, I had noticed Asgardian soldiers fighting against Flame Demons in the distance." I commented. "I saw our siblings helping, but they were mostly letting the Asgardians fight." A lot of Fallen Angels were hovering on the edge of the battle and watching.
Kokabiel nodded. He explained that this battle was a good opportunity for the inexperienced Asgardians to get a taste of war for the first time. Kokabiel and Sif were handling the Dragon themselves since the younger Asgardians would have been overwhelmed by such a beast. Hela, Thor and Azazel were on standby somewhere in case Surtur sent any of his more powerful forces to attack.
"Where have you been, Sister?" Kokabiel asked me. "And what is that colossal vessel you brought back with you?"
I grinned at him. "I have a story you're absolutely not going to believe! I faced one of the most powerful beings in the Universe! I'll wait till we rejoin everyone else before I tell it though. As for the ship, it's mine now! I took it from the Kree Empire. We should be able to make pretty good use of it. It's one of their most powerful warships. It's fully stocked with a hoard of weapons."
Kokabiel grinned at my words. "Well done, showing the rest of the galaxy what we're capable of! I can't wait to hear the rest of the details!"
I let go of Sif and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "I'll be back in a few minutes, my love. I left two new companions behind when I rushed down here." Carol and Nebula were still on board the ship. I rushed down when I noticed a battle was underway upon our arrival above Asgard. Now that I knew it was nothing but a small probing attack, and everyone was fine, I would go back up and retrieve the two of them.
XXX
Commentaire de paragraphe
La fonction de commentaire de paragraphe est maintenant disponible sur le Web ! Déplacez la souris sur n’importe quel paragraphe et cliquez sur l’icône pour ajouter votre commentaire.
De plus, vous pouvez toujours l’activer/désactiver dans les paramètres.
OK