Location: Team Void's Private Suite - Agreas Hotel
Time: 3:00 AM (The Night Before the Semi-Finals)
Raiden was asleep. He was having a wonderful dream where the moon was made of cheese and the ocean was made of wine.
Then, the shadows in the corner of the room rippled.
Three elite Grim Reaper Assassins, sent directly from the deepest layer of the Underworld, emerged from the floor. Their scythes were coated in a localized curse designed to bypass physical durability.
"Target acquired," the lead Assassin whispered. "Sleeping. Vulnerable."
He raised his scythe.
Raiden's eyes didn't open.
But his hand shot out from under the duvet.
GRAB.
He caught the assassin by the throat.
"You know," Raiden mumbled, his voice thick with sleep and irritation. "I was just about to take a bite of the moon."
[Gluttony: Auto-Digest]
Raiden's arm turned into a black blur. The assassin was sucked into his palm instantly.
Slurp.
The other two assassins froze.
Raiden sat up, rubbing his eyes. He looked at the remaining intruders.
He didn't look angry. He looked... bothered. Like a man who found a fly in his soup for the third time.
"Hades," Raiden sighed, the temperature in the room dropping to absolute zero. "He's like a mosquito. Buzz. Buzz. Buzz."
Raiden snapped his fingers.
"Destruction."
A pulse of reddish-black Bael magic expanded. The two remaining assassins didn't even scream. They were erased from existence, leaving not even dust on the carpet.
"Ravel," Raiden spoke into the darkness.
Ravel Phenex burst out of her room (where she was monitoring security), wearing pajamas and holding a shotgun. "Raiden-sama?! I sensed intruders!"
"Get me a line," Raiden ordered, walking to the balcony. "I need to make a phone call."
Location: The Communication Room
Ravel typed furiously on a holographic keyboard. Serafall was there too, wearing a nightcap, looking grumpy that her Raiden-pillow had left the bed.
"I can't call Hades directly," Ravel said. "He blocked all transmissions from the surface. He's isolating himself in his personal dimension."
"He blocked transmissions," Raiden cracked his knuckles. "But did he block a punch?"
"What?"
Raiden placed his hand on the communication console.
"I still have the taste of Ladon in my mouth. That snake was linked to Hades. A residual connection."
Raiden's eyes glowed with the chaotic purple of the Void.
[Beelzebuth: Reverse Digestion - Signal Hijack]
"I'm not sending a signal," Raiden growled. "I'm forcing my way in."
Location: The Temple of Hades - Deep Underworld
Hades sat on his throne of bones, sipping nectar. He was waiting for the report that Raiden had been assassinated in his sleep.
Suddenly, the torches in the throne room turned black.
The pool of scrying water in the center of the room began to boil.
"What is this?" Hades stood up. "Indra! Is this your doing?"
"No," Indra stepped out of the shadows, looking concerned. "Something is... eating the spatial barrier of the temple."
The boiling water exploded upward.
It formed a massive, thirty-foot-tall avatar made of water and black void energy.
It took the shape of Raiden's upper body.
The giant liquid Raiden looked down at Hades.
"Yo. Old Man."
Hades stumbled back. "You?! You projected your consciousness into my domain?!"
"You're annoying me," the Giant Raiden boomed. His voice shook the foundations of the temple. "I'm trying to prepare for a real fight against Belial. But you keep sending trash to my room."
"I am a God!" Hades shrieked. "I do what I please! You are nothing but a mortal who got lucky!"
"Lucky?"
The Giant Raiden leaned closer. The pressure in the room skyrocketed. Skeletons shattered. The stone floor cracked.
"Listen carefully. I'm not going to kill you right now. That would disqualify me from the tournament. And I really want to fight the Champion."
Raiden's avatar raised a massive finger.
"But if you interrupt my meal one more time... if I see one more Reaper... or one more curse..."
The water avatar's hand changed color. It turned the dark red of Destruction.
"I will come down there. And I won't just kill you. I will EAT Tartarus."
Hades froze. "You... you bluff..."
"I will eat the River Styx. I will eat your palace. I will eat every soul you have hoarded for millennia. I will leave you as a king of nothing."
Raiden's avatar smirked.
"Sit down. Be a good audience member. And watch me win."
SPLASH.
The avatar lost its form and collapsed back into water.
Silence returned to the temple.
Hades stood there, shaking. Not with rage this time. But with the realization that Raiden wasn't bluffing.
Indra let out a long breath.
"He has the power of 666... and the destruction of Bael... and the hunger of Fenrir. Hades... I suggest you stop."
Hades slumped onto his throne. He looked old.
"Fine. No more assassins. Let Belial deal with him."
Location: Agreas Hotel - Balcony
The sun rose over the floating city.
Raiden sat on the balcony, drinking black coffee. He looked calm. The irritation was gone.
Runeas Gremory walked out, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"You were loud last night. Did you have a nightmare?"
"No," Raiden sipped his coffee. "Just had to call pest control."
Ravel walked out with a tablet.
"Raiden-sama. Intelligence reports that all Reaper activity in the city has ceased. Hades has withdrawn his spies."
"Good," Raiden nodded. "Now I can focus on the menu."
He looked at the stadium in the distance.
Today was the Semi-Finals.
Raiden vs. Diehauser Belial.
"Diehauser..." Raiden mused. "The Emperor. He doesn't use tricks. He creates 'Worthlessness'. It's the opposite of Gluttony."
"Gluttony gives value to things by eating them," Runeas analyzed. "Worthlessness removes value so they cannot be used. It is a battle of philosophy."
Raiden stood up.
"Philosophy makes me hungry."
Issei ran onto the balcony, fully armored in his Balance Breaker (training mode).
"Raiden-sensei! Are we doing warm-ups?!"
Raiden looked at Issei.
"No warm-ups today. Today, we fast."
"Fast?"
"I need to be empty," Raiden's eyes darkened. "Because Belial is going to try to make me starve."
Location: Team Emperor Locker Room
Diehauser Belial sat in meditation. His Peerage stood silently around him.
He wasn't angry. He wasn't arrogant. He was focused.
His friend, Sairaorg Bael (who had lost to Issei earlier), walked in.
"Diehauser. Be careful. Raiden threatened Hades last night. He projected his aura into the deep Underworld."
Diehauser opened his eyes. They were silver pools of nullity.
"I know," Diehauser said softly. "He is a beast that cannot be tamed. That is why I must win. The Rating Game is a game of rules and logic. Raiden is chaos."
Diehauser stood up.
"I will show him that even a Black Hole can be rendered Worthless."