Bab 63: DA : Chapter 63: To Break a God I
Two Weeks Later (Mortal Time)
Thwack!
"And that's a knockout!" screamed an announcer over a cheap speaker system to the roar of the crowd. "… But don't count on seeing him back folks, he might not make it anyways!"
A man watched from his private box, beer in hand, his arm around an escort for the evening. He was dressed in a torn jeans and bicker jacket without a shirt.
His broad and scarred chest proudly displayed to match the scars adorning his cheeks and dark shades hiding his blood red eyes.
He smirked in amusement as he watched the throngs of people underneath cheer and rage at the caged boxing ring, two men hauling a bloody and broken third by his ankles leaving a trail of blood.
The other man, a large blonde with green eyes, raised his arms with a proud bellow. His eyebrow was busted along with his nose and blood dripped down his chest but the crowd loved it.
The man relished in the atmosphere of violence and bloodlust, feeling the energy swell within him. He absolutely loved whatever human it was that thought to make underground fighting rings, the man's own personal playground.
Blood and casual death, greedy bastards gambling away thousands, and woman of all sorts to pick up.
Now if only he could get something like this back on Olympus … maybe with his goody-goody aunt out of the picture he could try for it? His father would certainly appreciate it. Still, thoughts for later whereas now, it was time for him to have some fun.
"Would our next pair come on down!" the announcer, dressed on a professional tux with his hair greased down and overdone mustache.
He grinned as he smacked the ass of the woman he'd had hanging on his arm, appreciating the healthy jiggle of feminine flesh clearly displayed through the tight green dress that barely even reached passed her ass.
The brunette gave him a coy wink as she looked at the crowd below more, a glass of wine in hand, while he left his lofty box.
He passed a bouncer that nodded to him before moving aside as he walked down a small flight of stairs to the arena floor. He soon arrived and started to walk through the crowd, the rowdy humans parting before their better making his smirk grow.
He reveled in how he towered over most, his clearly visible muscles scaring off any bastard thinking themselves worthy of facing him.
Still, he mused on which poor sap was facing him now. He was feeling like making a drawn out fight, planning on breaking the bastard slowly until he begged for mercy … and then he would kill him. Ah, now that was a grand idea.
He stopped with his musing though as he stepped up into the opened gates, the crowd roaring again at his appearance. He raised an arm before shrugging off his jacket but keeping his shades, his wrists wrapped up in white bandages to let him know how bloody he could get.
"You know him, you love him," the announcer started, his free arm gesturing to the man as he rolled his shoulders. "… The undefeated, the bloody … ARES!"
The crowd roared again as Ares gave his most bloodthirsty grin, flexing his arms in preparation for his plaything. He then watched as another gate on the opposite side of the ring open and in stepped his challenge. Ares scuffed at the sight even as the announcer proclaimed the challenger.
"Form parts unknown, even his face being a mystery, the new kid on the block … Shadow!" he shouted to a chorus of boos making Ares grin.
The challenger looked like a young kid, probably not older than his early twenties though decently tall.
He wore black cargo shorts reaching his knees, black bandages wrapped around his ankles and wrists with an unzipped hoodie without a shirt. Ares noted a few light scars and lean, steely muscle … not that he was worried or anything.
This Shadow's hoodie was missing the sleeves to display his arms and the hood was up, obscuring the kid's face from the cheeks up in darkness. Interestingly enough, Ares could make out pitch black hair with some icy blue highlights but otherwise couldn't tell much more about his opponent.
The boy also seemed to be sizing him up but then gave an oddly familiar snort making Ares grit his teeth. 'Oh … now the pain is going to double,' he thought before glancing behind the kid to see a woman that had come with him.
'And you brought me a little gift, how sweet,' he thought while licking his lips, eyeing the gorgeous ravenette with intense blue eyes in a little black dress with generous amounts of cleavage showing.
"See something you like?" asked Shadow with a small smirk, much to Ares' annoyance.
"Maybe," he said while shrugging and raising his arms in a basic boxing stance, getting ready for the beginning bell. "… Just thinking about how I'll be taking that woman off your hands after this."
"She'd break you in two," Shadow replied while sticking his hands in his pockets.
Before anything else could be said the ring of the bell started, letting both know the fight was underway.
Ares smirked as he rushed forward at high human speed, expecting the kid to last no longer than a minute at best, not that Ares would let him go afterwards or show mercy anyways.
He closed the distance fairly quickly and lashed out with a right hook, his fist screaming for blood. However, his smirk dropped as Shadow casually sidestepped the fist, his own smirk still present.
Ares readjusted himself, watching the kid intently with both fists primed. 'Must have been a lucky dodge,' he thought before rushing him again. This time he launched a combo; hook, left jab, right swing, left upper but Shadow weaved through it easily. Ares started to grit his teeth in frustration as he tried another but only got the same results.
"Hold still!" he shouted as he tried for a grapple but the fuck just swerved to the side, just an inch out of reach, his smirk growing into a grin.
"So what's with the trashy title name?" he asked.
"What?" Ares paused as he took a step back to plan another attack.
"The title name. Ares, really? Who'd want to be named after that disgrace of a god?" Shadow continued as Ares felt a vein pop.
"What did you say?" he growled as his eyes started to glow behind his shades.
"I said that Ares was a disgrace," Shadow continued while finally taking his hands out of his pockets only to cross his arms. "So called God of War yet always in the shadows of his siblings. Makes me wonder why didn't the Greeks just drop him from their myths. Hell, that drunk of a god is better."
Ares felt his temper break as he charged with an angry roar, now using higher tier demigod strength. Enough to guarantee bones breaking but still keep the trash alive.
His fists flew to the point of looking like blurs to regular mortals, his thirst for blood rising and yet Shadow maneuvered in and out of every blow, at times even just escaping by a hair's breath away.
"Ooh, I see," Shadow drawled as he ducked backwards, Ares' haymaker passing harmlessly overhead. "You want his name because you suck at fighting just as bad as him. Great job!"
"Shut up!" Ares shouted, his breathe misting over before him, as he went for a forward kick but Shadow sidestepped it. However, instead of moving away, Shadow suddenly got closer as launched a jab to Ares' gut.
The god smirked at the foolish mortal but his face quickly turned to shock as the blow actually knocked the air out of him and made him stumble back. By now the previous roar of the crowd had turned to stunned silence, seeing the great Ares take a hit and apparent damage for the first time.
"A little flabby there," Shadow commented while taking an odd stance with his palms semi-open and at level with where a boxer would hold his fists.
'What was that?' Ares asked himself, looking at the mortal in confusion.
"Getting cold feet?" Shadow asked with a teasing grin. "Want me to call your mama for you?"
"Your dead!" Ares shouted, his earlier confusion forgotten.
"You're," Shadow quipped as he deflected Ares' fists leisurely, with every second making the god angrier.
Suddenly Shadow stepped into Ares' guard, their faces close enough for Ares to see an icy blue glow within the hood. Before Ares could react Shadow grabbed his arms and kneed Ares in the gut making him spit out.
Without hesitation Shadow followed up with a jab into Ares' throat, causing the god to choke up in shock and then a right hook across his cheek sending the god spiraling on the ground.
"Come on Ares," Shadow taunted as he started to slowly circle the recovering god. "There has to be more than this."
Ares grit his teeth as he got up, his body starting to emit a red aura as bloodlust saturated the air. 'Screw it to Hades! I'm not holding back!' Ares thought as he charged like a rabid animal, all semblance of control lost.
He charged with reckless fury, his fist glowing a bloody red as it flew at Shadow who had the gall to still smirk at him. Then, with an explosion of pressure, Ares' fist met Shadow's cheek as the war god grinned.
"Ha!" he declared in victory … only to shiver in sudden worry as Shadow started to chuckle of all things even with Ares' fist still planted against his cheek.
"Is that it?" Shadow asked, his eyes glowing with cold hatred in contrast to the dry tone in his voice. "Disappointing."
"Wha-"
Ares didn't get to finish his word as Shadow's fist lashed out and hit Ares straight in the jaws. The god felt his jawbone crack as his entire body was thrown by the hit, his shades spiraling off. He hit the floor twice like a skipped stone before stopping at the link cage around them, his head spinning.
"Come on Ares," Shadow said as he slowly walked forward. "I thought a major god would be able to put up a fight."
That got Ares to look at him in surprise, his blotted crimson eyes widening.
"Oh, don't give me that look," Shadow said while shrugging. "You were so obvious and I made my own title just as cliché but you didn't even catch it."
"Who are you?" Ares asked dangerously as he slowly got to his feet, ichor dripping out of his mouth.
"Shadow … though I prefer the Latin translation," Shadow said with a grin, letting Ares see his fangs for the first time.
It took Ares a moment but then he paled as he whispered, "… Umbra …"
"Bingo!" the now named Umbra chirped with open arms. "Now are we really going to fight? I'm pretty sure the audience won't mind … well, I don't think they'll be minding anything at the moment or ever again."
"What?" Ares asked unsurely as he looked around before he paled further as his eyes widened in disbelief.
Only now did he notice the temperature had dropped drastically during their fight and as for the crowd. He didn't know how it happened but in the time they'd been fighting, every single person had frozen over with black ice covering them.
Some were wide eyed while still looking at the fighting ring, others looking at their feet in confusion, but all turned to morbid statues.
Then Ares noticed the woman that had been with Shadow before, her hand lazily caressing one man as the ice thickened at her touch, her gaze on Ares with a sinister smirk.
"Lovely isn't it," Umbra commented as he observed as well. "Now I get why Medusa had a thing for her statues other than quick kills." He then turned to look at Ares with a dangerous grin.
"Well, one cesspool of human scum cleaned up … you Olympians really left a lot for us to handle."
"W-what are you?" Ares asked, cursing himself for stuttering. "You're no mere demon if you can do this but gods can't interfere with mortals using their power."
"Ho? Look at that, Ares of all people citing the Ancient Laws, how novel," Umbra said with a grin.
"True, gods may only attack a mortal personally if; assaulted first or challenged, in opposing sides of a declared war … or they use a natural disaster as an excuse like your daddy using freak lightning strikes at his convenience. Funny thing is my dear Lamia," Umbra said while gesturing to the ravenette.
"Though immortal herself, does not rule a domain and therefore is not strictly speaking, a god. She, being my vassal, can freely interact with mortals for me. I merely cooled the atmosphere. The new décor is all her."
Shadow then looked directly at Ares, his fanged grin glinting as his eyes glowed even brighter from underneath his hood.
"Now then … I do believe we have a fight to get underway."
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