[Third Person Pov]
Veins bulged along Agares's temples as his jaw tightened, the muscles in his face flexing beneath infernal skin. A slow, feral smile crept across his lips—one that only made his already demonic features more grotesque. His eyes burned as he stared down at Lucian, equal parts fury and exhilaration swirling within them.
"You brat," Agares snarled, his voice dripping with contempt and savage amusement. "I'll admit—you caught me by surprise." His claws flexed as sparks of hellfire crackled between them. "But consider that the only hit I'll ever allow you to land on me."
Lucian didn't respond with words.
Instead, halos of radiant light bloomed into existence around him, spinning slowly like miniature suns caught in orbit. He raised his hand calmly and motioned forward with just two fingers. In response, the halos fractured and reshaped themselves into dozens of gleaming lances of condensed light, each one humming with power.
In an instant, they launched.
Agares roared and tore his claws through the air like a mad beast, slashing wildly as the lances screamed toward him like heavy artillery. Each strike detonated against his defenses, shattering into shards of brilliance that burst apart like glass, flooding the battlefield with blinding flashes and shockwaves. The air itself trembled under the relentless barrage.
Before the last lance could fade, Lucian dissolved into particles of light, his body breaking apart into radiant motes. He surged forward alongside his own attack, becoming one with the storm of brilliance as he charged straight toward Agares.
Light coalesced behind the demon in a sudden flash.
Lucian rematerialized mid-motion, already summoning his spear. Bloody Mary—now a soul-bound weapon—answered instantly. Its form shimmered as its color shifted to match Lucian's transformation, the once crimson weapon now blazing gold-white, etched with glowing runes that pulsed in time with his heartbeat.
Lucian struck for Agares's back—
—only for his spear to tear through an afterimage.
His instincts screamed.
Lucian twisted his spear just in time, parrying Agares's claws as they lunged for his throat. Metal rang against talon, sparks and light exploding outward as the impact sent shockwaves rippling through the ground beneath their feet.
Lucian didn't relent.
He drove forward, stabbing the air in a relentless flurry. His speed climbed rapidly—ten strikes per second, then twenty, then forty. The battlefield blurred as his assault accelerated to sixty, then eighty, and finally a blistering one hundred stabs per second, each thrust precise, lethal, and overflowing with radiant force.
And yet—
Agares kept up.
Snarling in exhilaration, the demon deflected every single blow, forced to bring all four limbs and even his barbed tail into play just to keep pace. His movements were frantic but precise, each parry and counter fueled by centuries of combat experience.
Lucian suddenly broke the rhythm.
He raised his spear high overhead and increased his weight to its absolute limit, gravity bending unnaturally around him as the ground beneath his feet cracked and buckled. Sensing the opening, Agares lunged forward, driving a claw straight toward Lucian's heart.
At the very last second, a massive shield of radiant light bloomed into existence in front of Lucian, intercepting the killing blow with a thunderous crash.
Lucian brought his spear down.
The air shrieked in protest as wind resistance ignited the spearhead, its blade glowing white-hot before bursting into roaring flames. The impact detonated with apocalyptic force.
Agares twisted away at the final possible moment.
The strike missed him by inches—but the ground did not fare as well.
The earth split apart for miles, a colossal trench tearing through the battlefield as molten stone and debris were hurled skyward. The edges of the rift glowed red, pulsing with lingering heat and residual energy.
Agares hovered above the destruction, eyes narrowed.
'That attack would have been lethal if it had landed…' he admitted silently.
'The force behind it alone makes it dangerous.'
His lips curled into a savage grin.
'I was wrong to think this brat was all talk.'
Aloud, he laughed—a booming, exhilarated sound that echoed across the ruined landscape.
"But it's still not enough to defeat me!!" Agares roared, his eyes blazing with pure battle frenzy as he surged forward once more.
The two collided again, locked in brutal close combat.
They danced across the shattered battlefield, beams of holy light and raw energy crashing against hellfire and seismic shockwaves. Lassos of radiant light wove through the air like ribbons, slicing through the mountains of earth Agares summoned, carving them into perfectly cut cubes that collapsed into rubble.
"I've fought Angels for eons!" Agares bellowed over the deafening explosions as their powers clashed. "Your light is nothing more than parlor tricks to me!!"
'It's time I put an end to this farce,' Agares thought grimly as Lucian's attacks grew sharper, faster, and far more dangerous than before. The demon's muscles coiled beneath his infernal hide, power surging through him as he finally resolved to stop holding back. His stance shifted—no longer playful, no longer indulgent. This was his full strength and speed unleashed.
Agares lunged forward and caught Lucian's spear by the shaft, his grip like a vice. In the same motion, his barbed tail snapped forward in a brutal blur, lashing across Lucian's body again and again. Flesh split open as deep lacerations bloomed across Lucian's torso and limbs, blood spraying through the air.
The wounds hissed violently, steam rising as Lucian's regeneration struggled to keep up, radiant energy desperately knitting torn flesh together. Gritting through the pain, Lucian pivoted on his heel and tried to use Agares's momentum against him, attempting to throw the demon over his shoulder.
But Agares never touched the ground.
He vanished mid-motion, reappearing instantly behind Lucian.
Lucian only had time to spin around trying to protect his vital point only for Agares to clap both hands over his ears. A concussive shockwave detonated outward at point-blank range.
Lucian's eardrums burst instantly.
Blood erupted from his ears in violent geysers as the world around him dissolved into ringing silence. His balance shattered, his vision swimming as disorientation overwhelmed him. Agares chuckled darkly, clearly savoring the moment, as hellfire ignited around his hands, coating them in writhing crimson flames.
With a savage thrust, Agares drove his burning hand straight through Lucian's torso.
Flesh tore. Bone cracked.
Agares's arm emerged from Lucian's back slick with blood, steaming viscera clinging to his wrist. Lucian's cheeks puffed helplessly as his body convulsed before he violently vomited blood from his nose and mouth, a thick crimson pool splattering onto the shattered ground below.
The radiant brilliance of Lucian's Brightform flickered and began to dissolve, its light dimming as his strength waned.
Still—he did not fall.
With trembling resolve, Lucian reached out and grabbed Agares's arm where it pierced his body. His grip tightened with surprising force, enough to make Agares subconsciously let out a low, pained groan as bone and muscle were crushed together.
"With my blood—" Lucian tried to speak, preparing to invoke a blood-bound curse through sheer will.
Agares reacted instantly.
His claws flashed across Lucian's throat in a vicious arc, shredding flesh and crushing the voice box beneath. Lucian's words died in his throat as blood poured freely down his neck and chest. Agares withdrew his arm with a sneer, and Lucian's intestines spilled loose from the gaping wound, hanging grotesquely as blood streamed to the ground.
Lucian staggered backward, one hand clutching his ruined throat, his steps unsteady. His heel caught on broken stone, and he fell hard onto his back with a sickening thud.
The battlefield trembled.
From Lucian's shadow, his remaining shadow spirits surged forth in one final, desperate act. They rose screaming from the ground, rage and loyalty radiating from them as they launched themselves at Agares from every direction, claws outstretched and forms warping with fury.
Agares slammed his foot into the ground.
The earth fractured violently, enormous slabs of stone overturning as the terrain collapsed inward. From beneath the ruptured ground, towering plumes of hellfire erupted, swallowing the shadow spirits whole in a cataclysmic inferno. Everything burned—everything except the narrow space between Agares and the fallen Lucian.
Agares stepped forward through the flames, unharmed.
"Any last words?" he sneered, lifting one hand as he condensed a spear of hellfire, its shape solidifying with lethal intent. His grin was mocking, cruel—he knew Lucian couldn't speak.
Lucian slowly lifted his hand.
His middle finger rose.
With blood running freely from his mouth and throat, Lucian mouthed the words silently:
Your mother was a good lay.
Agares's expression twisted in pure rage.
"You truly are an arrogant brat!" he growled.
He pulled his arm back, ready to hurl the hellfire spear—
And froze.
Agares stared down at his wrist in confusion as he felt a hand gripping it tightly—bloody, unmoving, unyielding. He tried to pull away, but his arm wouldn't budge even an inch.
The air beside him began to change.
A presence manifested slowly, as though a veil was being peeled back from reality itself. Darkness coalesced, heavy and suffocating, carrying with it an ancient authority that dwarfed even Agares's own power.
Agares's eyes widened.
Dark, almost impossibly deep purple eyes stared at him—cold, indifferent, eternal.
"Hades…" Agares whispered in disbelief, fear and apprehension seeping into his voice despite himself.
"If you're feeling homesick, Agares," Hades said calmly, his tone devoid of emotion, "you should have said so sooner."
His grip tightened.
"Because I'm feeling generous enough right now to remind you what Hell is really like this time of year in case you've forgotten."
"And to make sure," Hades added softly, "that you never forget it again."
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