Moyako…
Since Raum still hadn’t come back yet, and she knew she couldn’t just leave Camilla alone in her apartment so long as Hylla was breathing down her neck, she decided to bring her to the arena anyways as she teleported the both of them to their seats. She gently sat Camilla down and had her rest her head on a pillow she brought for her so that she would be comfortable.
Moyako knew she couldn’t miss Marcus’s fight, especially this one, so she had to make things work somehow.
But seeing how things were playing out, and just how barbaric and brutal Marcus’s fighting style was compared to her own made her feel squeamish. It wasn’t that his technique was lacking in skill or discipline, but rather that he fought in such a way that every attack was meant to break down the body and rip them apart.
It was mercilessly efficient.
As more time passed and Marcus waded through the hordes of Ares’ army, the two stood face to face against one another.
Ares pulled out a trident and twin blade shaped like a lightning bolt as he took up a stance.
Marcus, however, stood there, reaching out his hand, and said, “Koi, Kakure Sakura.”
Then, she began to feel a jolt along the length of the katana that rested at her hip as her sword flew from its sheathe and disappeared until it appeared in the battlefield.
So he’s actually going through with it...he’s not backing down at all, she thought as Marcus and Ares were about to clash once more.
However, before they could get the chance, the announcer’s voice came on and said, “I must demand the two of you stop at once!”
Both Marcus and Ares stopped abruptly and stared up at the sky as if the announcer were an idiot. Even she was confused as to what the deal was.
The announcer stammered as he continued, “Though it is stated that there are no real limitations on what weapons can be used in battle, and summoning weapons in the middle of a fight from outside the arena is permitted, I cannot in good conscience, say that taking the weapon from the lady Moyako is-” the announcer’s voice then was suddenly cut short as Moyako looked down at the battlefield and noticed Marcus raise his index finger to his lips as a jolt of electricity sparked from his eyes.
“Be silent,” Marcus ordered as the announcer struggled to speak but failed.
He can even affect things outside of the battlefield? That’s outrageous!
“As the still current head of the Kaneko family, the Kakure Sakura sword belongs to me by right. I was entrusted with the ownership of this sword by Hiroshi Kaneko, the previous family head when he passed it on to me. It is my duty to decide who is worthy to inherit this sword after me, or to reclaim it from someone who isn’t. Unless of course, you reject that statement, Moyako Kaneko,” he said as he looked her directly in the eyes, even through the battlefield that separated them.
Everyone in the audience who had listened to what Marcus had said now all stared in her direction, waiting for her to answer him.
Hesitantly, she shook her head as she said, “No. That sword belongs to you.”
The people around her spoke amongst themselves in confusion at her words but Marcus nodded all the same.
Before he could turn to face Ares once more, he said, “When this battle is over, I will officially relinquish this sword to you so that you may properly inherit it from me. After all, you’ve proven to take good care of it for the last two hundred years.”
Hearing that, even though she knew Marcus was still unaware of being her father, made her feel...warm inside.
Happy even.
He probably didn’t even piece it together when he used the word ‘inherit’.
Regardless, she was happy to see him win, if only for what he had just said to her.
For the first time since the tournament began, she was rooting for him.
Azazel…
This conclusion of this battle would undoubtedly be the most important and impactful moment in history. Not just for Forrosa, but for the entire world.
He could feel it!
He could feel the tension in the air, as if the universe itself were holding its breath in anticipation.
Next to him sat Nashandra and Frosk, as well as King Razel Aldia as their eyes were fixated on Marcus.
He then addressed the two kings as he said, “Pay very close attention to the words that are spoken in this fight. I have a feeling that it will lead to the answer we are all waiting for.”
Hearing that, Nashandra had a hopeful glint in her eyes while Frosk appeared uncertain.
“Is there something wrong?” Azazel asked him.
“You had said that we would become witness to who would be named as Dagon’s successor, yet I can’t help feel that it is too soon for that. In this tournament, three kings have already been chosen, which would lead me to believe that the fourth should also be here for such an important moment. However, not only has the fourth king not been chosen yet, but Camilla is still comatose.”
Azazel nodded as he turned to face the battlefield and said, “I can understand your concerns Frosk, but I believe that they are unfounded. Camilla, though still asleep, has been brought here by Moyako. As for the fourth king, while their identity remains unknown, I can still feel that their presence is near. I can say with utmost confidence that all four kings are in attendance to witness this battle’s conclusion.”
Thalia…
Although she had decided to support her brother in his fight against Ares, she was feeling reluctant to support him much further if he won.
After learning that William was her father from Julian, she wanted to learn more about that but was afraid to ask her brother about it as she figured he would shut down about that topic outright.
Not only that but there was no reason to assume that Julian would survive for much longer for her to ask him outright as no doubt Marcus would look for a way to kill him permanently even with the battlefield’s protection.
She knew that Julian was a piece of garbage but she wanted to know anything about her father, especially since she had spent so much time with William without knowing a single thing about him.
If that didn’t stress her out enough, then the final fight against Moyako would be the final straw.
To hear her say to his face that she was his daughter and yet he showed no emotion about it and acted like it didn’t matter to him…
Thalia didn’t have the stomach to watch her brother fight his own daughter and rip her apart like he’s done to everyone else.
Nor did she think it would be very healthy for Moyako to have to do the same to her own father if she turned out to be more powerful than him.
Either way, her support for her brother would likely only extend to this match and no further.
“Something bothering you?” Alta asked as he was sitting next to her.
Hearing his concern, Selene and Fayebel also turned to look at her and noticed the change in her expression that Thalia herself was not aware of.
“Uh...no. I’m fine,” she said but the three of them looked at her and knew right away that she was lying. It was clear on their faces that they could tell something was off.
“You have the same lying tell that Marcus has, you know that right?” Selene asked.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Whenever your expression freezes up and you try to have as little revealing emotion, that is when you look like you’re trying to hide something. Marcus does the same thing, but he’s much better at it because he looks that way almost all the time anyways,” Selene explained without any aggression or irritation in her voice. She seemed genuinely concerned but didn’t pressure Thalia to explain herself.
“I think I would rather keep it to myself,” she said meekly. She didn’t feel it would be right to involve them in her own worries especially when she wasn’t even completely sure of them herself.
If she made a fuss and they all went to Marcus to ask him about her problems, it would cause him unnecessary stress and she didn’t want to put that on him.
“Thalia, your brother is not the best example of how to handle what is bothering you. You shouldn’t bury or bottle up anything that makes you sad or angry or stressed out like he does,” Selene said, which she felt was incredibly ironic.
“Look at the pot calling the kettle black,” Alta said under his breath, to which Fayebel immediately smacked him in the back of the head.
Thalia then shook her head and said, “Its nothing, really. Nothing that you need to be worried about. Its just... something I’m bothered by on my own. Let’s just keep on cheering my brother on.”
Though as she tried to put on a facade of being ‘just fine’, the other three could tell not just from the fact she was hiding something from them, but also from the lack of enthusiasm she was showing for her brother when she cheered.
But rather than agitate her further with more questions, they followed her example and continued to cheer Marcus on.
Marcus…
With both of his katanas in his possession, he stared down the God of War who stared back at him through the slits of Hades’ Helm of Darkness. A thick black mist flowed from the bottom of the helm and circled around Ares’ body, pulling in his own shadow as part of that darkness. To make matters worse, it radiated such crushing fear that it was taking all of Marcus’s willpower just to remain standing in the face of it.
His own power would not be nearly enough to help him stand against the terror that helm induced in him.
Ender…just this once, I want you to help me. However, I am not telling you to take over, but rather fight with me. You control the rage that keeps me fighting and I’ll do the killing.
At first, there was nothing but silence.
Then suddenly, he felt a strange sensation within his mind, as if Ender were shuddering with excitement as he answered, Finally.
The lightning that flowed through Marcus’s body changed from blue to red as Ender’s influence dominated the nature of his magic.
Marcus...that Helm is meant to conceal his presence entirely within the shadow realm as well as instill fear into you. But with my eyes, yours can pierce through the shadow realm and strike him wherever he may hide, Malthael offered helpfully.
Thank you.
Ares made the first move as he lunged forward, pulling back his right arm and thrust the trident of Poseidon forward to run him through.
Marcus responded with Kakure Sakura as he made a wide sweeping parry, swinging it backhanded and causing the trident to pitch upwards violently with the momentum.
As both weapons were raised high in the air, the trident from the recoil as Ares struggled to recover, with Marcus’s katana continuing its intended path as it had reached the apex of its swing, pointed straight up at the sky, he turned his wrist so that the blade would face the opposite side, and swung down with all the force he could muster.
An expression of familiarity flashed across Ares’ eyes as he extended his left hand and blocked with the Master Bolt twin-blade.
“That is-!” Ares blurted out but stopped talking to focus on the fight as he kicked Marcus away so that he could slam the trident on top of him.
As he swung it down, a stream of water flowed around the three points as it compressed wave exploded from it and cleaved the ground beneath them. So great was its force, even with so little strength behind its initial swing, that it carved a canyon behind Marcus.
He had side stepped the swing with a spin and tried to split Ares in two with a backhanded swing of light taker only to once again be blocked by the Master Bolt when Ares strained himself to spin his body in time.
While pushing back against Marcus’s strike, he said, “That counter you just did…it belongs to the Nøkkran Assassins. How did you convince them to teach you that?”
“What are you talking about?” Marcus asked, irritated.
“That is the style of swordsmanship that all the Nøkkran Assassins know, taught to them by Moyako The Immortal. Even Ranni, though she is a teacher of such a style, only allows for women to learn it. How do you know of it?”
Disturbed by this sudden information, Marcus replied, “Because I’m the one who invented it. Why do the Nøkkran Assassins know the Shura style? I never shared that with anyone.”
“You even know its name without me telling you...are you well and truly its creator?”
To this, Marcus said, “Only two people should even know its name. Myself and the woman who developed it with me, and I know for a fact that Moyako is not her.”
“Fascinating…,” Ares said with a grin as he disappeared into the shadows, running to try and move into Marcus’s blind spot.
Yet he could not hide from him with Malthael’s sight revealing his every step, but Marcus decided to humor him anyway, letting him think that he had the edge. As Ares was running within the shadow realm, Marcus used his lightning to manipulate his senses, making him see what he wanted to see; making Ares think that he was standing still. All the while, he jumped into the air and landed behind him.
Then, the moment of truth happened as Ares tensed up as he prepared to thrust the trident at where he thought Marcus was standing, but then did something unexpected.
He pulled back his right arm so hard and fast, spinning around the butt of the trident that it slammed into Marcus’s chest.
Was that on purpose?! He thought in a mess of confusion as Ares turned around and stared at the space Marcus was at, even though he should be invisible to his eyes.
He shouldn’t even be able to feel the shock of slamming the butt of his trident into me if I was manipulating his senses! How did he hit me center mass?!
“I know of your improved senses given to you by Malthael, your ability to see through different dimensions, and your ability to manipulate people’s senses. I just wasn’t sure if you would actually fall for that.”
What?! Did he really look that far ahead?
Ares had purposefully angled the position of his trident to hit directly to the left behind him where Marcus would have been out of danger of being hit by accident.
“Now that we’ve cleared up the fact that neither of our tricks would work properly on the other, lets finish this fight for real. Like men. LIKE GODS!”
After spitting out some blood, Marcus stood up straight and said, “Fine. No tricks, just a regular old fashioned ass beating.”
Giving him a wide and toothy grin, Ares replied, “Agreed.”
Golden lightning began flowing from the Master Bolt into Ares’ body through his left arm while the water around the trident became a mist that surrounded him and spun at rapid speeds.
Even just being several feet away, Marcus could feel the rapidly flowing mist of water cut his skin.
The moment he got close to Ares and they met each other in battle directly, his body would be torn to shreds.
He took in a deep breath as he remembered something important that Ruvick had told him when they first sparred.
‘Pain is an amazing teacher and motivator. Without it, you can’t grasp what your limits are or how to push past them. Anger, grief, pain, all of these emotions push us to reach for greater strength. Fighting without any emotion is meaningless.’
Even if all the flesh was torn from his body and he was racked with agony, he would continue to fight until his enemy lay dead at his feet.
This time, Marcus lunged at Ares, crossing his arms to prepare two backhanded swings, both of which collided with the Master Bolt as Ares blocked his attack.
But even so, the force was more than enough to cause him to stumble as he took a step back to try and stabilize his footing.
That small window of attack that he had taken had resulted in the several layers of skin across his hands and arms being shredded as blood rapidly began oozing from them and falling to the ground.
The pain was intense, but he took that pain and made it his strength.
Before Ares could recover to attack, he swiftly kicked out his left knee and slashed at his right wrist.
With his right hand rendered useless, he dropped the trident and the mist flowing around his body faded.
But before he could press his attack further, Ares reached out with his left arm, using his forearm alone to leverage his grip on Marcus’s neck as he drove the Master Bolt into his chest, piercing through his heart and exiting out his back.
With the shock of Zeus’s lightning traveling through the master bolt and coursing through his body, he was left stunned as he hadn’t been stabbed by a weapon of such power since Ruvick’s All Black ran him through.
Panicking, he dropped Light Taker and grabbed Ares’ wrist as the god held the Master Bolt firm in is chest.
Ares stood up straight as he used the Master Bolt’s power to force the fingers in his right hand to move and Poseidon’s trident flew up off the ground and back into his hand even though his tendon’s had been cut.
The God of Wrath then pulled back his right arm as he stared Marcus in the eyes and said, “This is the end.”
With the fear of death and defeat gripping his heart, he did the only thing he could think of as he severed Ares’ left hand with the Master Bolt still in his chest, and kicked off of his chest to get away.
Poseidon’s trident struck him just above his left shoulder, barely avoiding hitting his vital organs, but the intense pressure of water shaved off all the skin on the left side of his head and his left eye exploded in his socket.
While he was still falling back, he watched the trident fall from Ares’ hand once again.
When Marcus crashed to the ground, grabbed the Master Bolt in his chest and violently pulled it free.
Gasping at the intense pain from pulling it out, he took hold of the grip and slowly got back on his feet.
His eyes fell on Light Taker which was still on the ground at Ares’ feet while Kakure Sakura was still in his left hand.
Noticing this, Ares looked at Poseidon’s trident in his left hand, looked at Light Taker, looked at the trident again and decided to chuck it to the side as he picked up the katana.
“A fair trade I guess...I’ve never had the privilege of using Light Taker myself. Of course, I’ll be sure to return the sword after the battle is over,” he said with some manner of respect in his voice.
With the Master Bolt gripped firmly in his right hand, he could feel a deep sense of familiarity with it as Zeus’s power flowed from it and into him. The lightning that sparked along the grip, unlike his blue, red, or yellow lightning, was colored gold.
Interesting.
“Don’t bother. I’ll take it back from you myself, and I’ll be keeping this as well,” he said, to which Ares blinked.
“You’ll do what?”
He pointed the twin-blade at Ares and said, “I’ll be taking the Master Bolt for myself.”
“Hmm…that is an interesting declaration to be certain...but are you truly up to the challenge?”
“I’m sure you already know what Light Taker’s abilities are, yes?”
“I am familiar. Its power is granting its wielder omnipresence within a domain limited only by the vastness of one’s own soul. It allows the user’s to display their power anywhere within that field.”
Marcus nodded as he said, “Yes, that’s true. Unfortunately, in your hands its effectively useless. Your own power is not enough to kill me. In fact, you would have better luck sticking with the trident than Light Taker.”
Further confusion flashed across his face as Ares scoffed and said, “Nonsense. How could this be weaker-”
“I’m not saying the sword is weaker, I’m saying that you are weaker. Your power is too weak on its own to make use of that sword to have any effect against me. If you hadn’t tossed away the trident or if you still had the master bolt in hand, then you could make use of Light Taker, but now you have neither.”
Shock and realization flashed on Ares’ face as he realized the stupidity of his actions and he cursed, “Shit...well, I’ll just take the good with the bad and do what I can with what I have.”
As Marcus gripped the Master Bolt tight in his hands, information of what it could do began to flood his mind.
He transformed the twin-blade into its truest and most powerful form of pure energy and had it settle within his chest.
Seeing this, Ares cursed once more and roared as he pointed Light Taker at him. As he did, several thousand Spartoi soldiers appeared with machine guns in hand and fired all at once.
With Light Taker, Ares forced the bullets to appear all around Marcus from every direction, slamming into him from all sides.
Yet it could do nothing as the Zeus’s power was so great that every bullet that made contact did no more damage than if a child were to flick their finger at him.
“Dammit, come on!” Ares shouted as his soldiers switched to RPGs and began another meaningless barrage.
Ignoring the hail of rockets, Marcus gripped Kakure Sakura with both hands and charged at Ares.
Jumping back in fear, Ares swung Light Taker through the air and Marcus felt as it tried to cut through his neck but the force Ares mustered up was not enough to break through Zeus’s energy.
Even though he might have avoided Kakure Sakura’s reach, he would not have been able to dodge the lightning that sparked from its tip as it swept through the air in a wide slash.
He knew this and used Light Taker to teleport away, which resulted in his Spartoi soldiers being hit by the lightning.
Surprisingly, Marcus did not need to infuse Zeus’s power with Arcanence as it reduced them to ashes and they did not reform.
Even without Light Taker in his hands, thanks to Malthael’s power, he could still sense exactly where Ares was at regardless of his omnipresence allowing him to teleport.
With a flash, he appeared in above Ares, who looked up in horror as Kakure Sakura was raised to strike him down.
“Fall,” Marcus said as he struck Ares down while the god reflexively tried to block.
Thunder crackled and the ground shook as a crater formed from where Ares had crashed.
Before he could have a chance to recover, Marcus plummeted down onto his chest, shattering his armor, and stabbed Kakure Sakura into his heart with all the lightning the Master Bolt had to offer.
With his flesh scorched and all of his power exhausted, the god was undoubtedly beaten. Even his fingers had loosened their grip on Light Taker as he lay helpless on the ground beneath Marcus’s feet.
“Do you yield Ares?” he asked him.
Huffing from exhaustion, he struggled to speak as he said, “I...I will…”
Marcus leaned in closer, twisting the sword in his chest to emphasize his point as he asked, “Do. You. Yield?”
Ares swallowed, smacking his lips, and said, “I...will...NEVER YIELD!”
He raised his head up at Marcus, staring at him with a crazed smile as he tightened his grip on Light Taker, and all around them, fifteen Tsar Bomba nuclear warheads appeared.
“NO-” Marcus tried to shout, but he was too late as all of them detonated simultaneously.
Fifteen false suns appeared all around him, slamming him with so much force that he could barely maintain consciousness as he called on Malthael and Ender to fill his body with so much energy, both of rage and death, to try and keep him alive and push back against it.
But struggle as he might, his consciousness could not hold up against the might of these false suns as he blacked out and felt his life slip away.
Ares…
With his power, he could make any kind of weapon of war that mankind had created appear and because they were his creations, they could not be used to harm him like the three god weapons could.
He lay on the ground, watching, as Marcus took the full brunt of fifteen nuclear warheads point blank.
What surprised Ares the most however was the fact that his body was not immediately eviscerated or sent flying from the force of the explosions.
Rather, his body stood firm even as it was being blown apart and bombarded with so much radiation that death would be practically guaranteed.
He stood firm, undaunted by everything Ares threw at him, weathering the devastation as it rolled over him.
However, the light and the flames were so thick that he could no longer see the man that stood above him and was forced to wait, exhausted, until everything had cleared and he could see the result of their battle.
After nearly fifteen minutes of waiting for the flames and the smoke to settle, finally did things clear enough for him to look up and see that Marcus was still standing.
But the sight of him nearly made Ares vomit from the grotesqueness and severity of his injuries. Nearly all of the skin had been pulled from his flesh rather than burnt since he was immune to heat. What little flesh did remain was marred by cancerous growths and his organs had been scraped out of his chest. The parts of his skeleton that were exposed were now mostly made of stone rather than actual bone, with only a handful of shards still remaining.
Yet still his stood firm, with golden lightning sparking across his chest, death root keeping his body stitched together, and a red glow shining within his hollow eye sockets.
Those red floating orbs of light then fell on him and Ares instinctively swung Light Taker at him in a last ditch effort to claim victory only for his left arm to be severed entirely.
Light Taker fell out of his fingers and found its way back into Marcus’s grip.
When he spoke, it sounded less like Marcus and more like a cacophony of thunder.
“Accept your fate.”
His voice did not sound or feel like that of a human or a god, but something more. Something greater.
Yet as his fate was clear, Marcus made no attempt to kill him, nor did Ares make any further attempt to fight back.
“I want to hear you say it.”
He looked up at this impossibly powerful man, who had weathered everything, standing firm in defiance of everything Ares had thrown at him.
Then, as if he were a lowly mortal blessed by his sister Athena herself, godlike knowledge flowed into his mind as he recognized the existence that was the being who stood before him.
He knew exactly what it was that he had fought against and lost to so completely.
“I yield to you, Successor of Dagon.”
Moyako…
Though Marcus’s current state was a gruesome and disturbing sight to behold, she felt excited to see that he had managed to pull out a victory at the last second.
He had even forced Ares himself to yield to him, although she wasn’t sure what to make of that title that Ares gave him. It bothered her for some reason, but she couldn’t put her finger on why.
As the spatial battlefield collapsed around the two, she heard Camilla’s voice as she said, “Its him.”
Moyako’s head spun around to look at her and her eyes lit up as she could not hide her joy of seeing her awake as she smiled and said, “You’re up! Camilla! I can’t believe you woke up just in time to…”
Her voice trailed off as Camilla did not turn to look her way as she stared down at Marcus and said, “Its him. He is...the one I serve.”
A chill ran down her spine as she slowly turned to look down at Marcus, who remained standing as his body remained devastated by the nuclear warheads despite the battlefield coming undone.
No…
“He is...the god I’ve pledged my service to,” Camilla said, almost as if in a shock induced trance.
The seconds continued to pass as the battlefield healed Ares’ injuries but did nothing to heal Marcus.
Her father, the Successor of Dagon, the God of Wrath, then fell to his knees and died right before her eyes.