Death of God

"(Ever since the death of Geb, I could not hold my patience. Seeing my dearest one die in my sight, I could not help but wonder why, why am I so powerless. The happiness forfeited, the bitterness fulfilled. But the fight with those zombies has proven that I was wrong. I fought in outrage and was quickly overwhelmed. Without the help of Cerberus, I am uncertain whether I can stand here, approaching the Death God of Greece. Perhaps anger was not the best option.)" These were the thoughts that ran inside Anubis.

Two events occurred in his path as he ran forward. One where Gabriel was about to lose, and another in which a man attempted to wield a shield to protect himself from a massive creature. Without a doubt, he saved the vulnerable man. Knowing the man would not recover from his injury, Anubis directed Cerberus to protect him. The man would be reliable he thought. Afterward, Anubis would face to face with Hades.

Hades laid back and stated that Anubis was not the right opponent. He ordered Annihilation to attack but was shocked to learn that his pet was defeated. As he saw Iron was reaching for Gabriel, he muttered angrily and dashed over them. Hades extended his hand to grab, but then Anubis' weapon flew through a finger of his. "Death ring," Anubis whispered.

For a moment, Hades was stunned, until he gave Anubis a deadly frown. "If you want war, I will give you war."

Hades once again drowned himself in shadow and quickly rushed over Anubis. The shadow then formed a large circle enclosing him. More and more zombies and skeletons rose from the ground and approached Anubis. Once they landed in the shadow circle, their eyes glowed red and behaved crazily. Anubis used one ring of his as a crook for the short-range attack, another one for decapitating every enemy he saw. Yet, it was insufficient. The undead stood still and then resumed their approach again. Some even placed their head back and the wounds were magically healed.

Anubis was suddenly held in the grip of skeletal hands. He stabbed it with the crook's spear end. Carrying himself a bad feeling, Anubis called the ring to lift him away. He soon realized that the skeleton had still been holding his leg the entire time. It wouldn't come off no matter how hard he tried to struggle. Anubis became even more alarmed when he noticed it had a long knife.

In the meantime, Hades returned to normal. Looking at Anubis, Hades held an unsettled suspicion. Hades angered, "Do you think you can flee from me!? I will show you what a true God is."

Anubis noticed that ahead of him, there was a large fireball shot from the bottom. He didn't mind its logic because he intended to use it to knock the skeleton away. Yet, it stabbed his leg just as his plan was about to be carried out. He screamed in agony as he missed one of his weapons.

The blue of the sky began to disappear. The weather was as harsh as the enemy's spirit.

Anubis punched the skeleton as hard as he could while falling. Not only did it not harm the skeleton, but Anubis' hand felt quite painful. Suddenly, another fireball rose. Anubis tried his best to push the skeleton away in the mid-air. Eventually, the fireball wiped out half of the skeleton's body, leaving its bottom half. Anubis would not give up his hope. He called his ring back. Unfortunately, they were too far off. Then, he hoped that the landing would not be so hurtful. Not until he looked up to see that the last fireball would go down again, which could chop him up like the last skeleton.

All of his hope was gone in a blink of an eye. Anubis had no choice but to accept his demise. He rolled over to say goodbye to his friend Gabriel. But then, confusion was all in his eyes when he noticed a sharp change in the weather.

Meanwhile, Iron was riding Cerberus as fast as they could to get close to Anubis. Iron questioned the dog's ability to jump high enough. Unfortunately, it refused. Iron glared at his shield and quickly reasoned an idea. As Cerberus was running, Iron curled to a side and smashed the shield onto the surface, bouncing him into the air. Shortly after, Anubis was luckily held by Iron. Anubis yelled at him that it was a bad idea. But Iron couldn't understand a word said by Anubis. Anubis quickly made eye contact telling him that they were going to hit the ground. Iron was alarmed and then hugged Anubis.

"(You idiot, you are making me die longer. You could have let me fall alone!)" Anubis thought.

Eventually, both were bounced back and forth on the ground. Anubis realized that Iron was putting his shield on his back and thus protected both of them. Cerberus then knelt and waved its tail at the two cheerily. Anubis felt as if he was brought back from the dead.

"(Whatever happens, I am nothing without my weapons. Yet... These two individuals appear to be important. Can they assist me to send the message to Gabriel?)" Anubis suspected.

Iron would then carry Anubis on his shoulder and waited for Cerberus to further help. As he saw the stressing articulation on Anubis, he immediately pointed at Gabriel confronting Hades in his new form. A bright sparkle of hope presented in Anubis' eyes.

He then stared at Cerberus and noticed how much it had changed. "You still have that same energy, is that right, big boy?" he petted Cerberus.

He then tried to sense the sign of his weapon. Eventually, one of them united with him. He thought he could have left one behind on the land of Greece as a souvenir.

In another scene, where the sky loaded up with dark clouds and tornados, a chill ran down Hades as his plan didn't work the way he wanted. "H- how... IMPOSSIBLE!" Multiple frightening tones were heard in his mouth. Yet, none could help him get away from the fear of defeat. He'd never known such a potent being as Gabriel.

Gabriel would then slowly get up to have a stare at the shaky eyes of Hades. His body was loaded with white mists and gases drifting out of his hair, which illustrated a crown.

"Are you the God of Death? Or Dread of death? You want to see suffer, you want demise. Yet, never seen once from yourself," Gabriel said in an accent full of confidence.

Hades was touched by his opponent's words. He would have rather not concede those words. Thus, he stomped the ground creating numerous fireballs launching toward Gabriel. None could harm or even touch Gabriel. An eager smugness is seen on Gabriel's face.

"What is the matter, God? You can not hurt someone weaker than you?"

"How... This is impossible! Why are you still!?"

"You can come to me to seek an answer."

Hades immediately transformed into a shadow and proceeded to Gabriel's back, where he picked up his sword. Then he swung his sword through Gabriel's body quickly. Hades had a brief glimpse of how Gabriel's body reacted. He saw a small portion of Gabriel's body disappear. He wasn't sure how that happened. Regardless, while Hades was experiencing, Gabriel punched him in the face with the force of the air. The natural wind then followed his fist and blew Hades backward.

"You- You are no man!" Hades acted worried.

"Interesting. What an expression that emerges from a divine being."

"How might one hold such power!? Is it something given from a greater being?"

"No, skeleton head. There is no one else. I AM the greater being! This wind flow through me is not random. I can fully control it with the help of the blood of Typhos."

Gabriel raised his fist, "I'll show you what I'm capable of." And with a forceful punch to the ground, a twister was quickly brought to Earth. Hades reverted to his shadow form and avoided the penalty. The twister had severely damaged a portion of the land.

Gabriel suddenly had a realization, "(This form of power is slowing me down...)"

Gabriel decided to return to his normal self. But before that, he had to look where Hades was. Unfortunately, he had his eyes slipped as he couldn't find Hades' sword which was initially lying at the bottom anymore.

Gabriel then saw three of his companions from the distance. He was afraid that Hades' target was them so he tried to warn them as he approached them.

Suddenly, Hades appeared from the back, mysteriously saying: "Your expression, your action. I have seen them as clear as daylight. I knew you would come to them. If your cloud thing can recover that quickly, then will it surpass the speed of my power!?"

Hades wielded his sword as the smaller blades ran in a loop on the edge. He swung the sword in a 360-degree circle promptly and unleashed a hail of small fireballs. Gabriel raised his head in surprise. He wasn't given enough time to react, the rain had hit him. There was widespread devastation in that area. Loads of dim gas that were cast out could blind one's vision. It was a power that Gabriel, who was in wind mode, couldn't overcome. And it had forced him to revert to human form afterward. Gabriel questioned in hopelessness. "How can you..."

"You should have recognized your flaws before I did. (Perhaps smoke is his weakness.)" - Hades

The dark clouds slowly faded away. Gabriel tried to get up after all the heavy injuries. He began to hate the fact that he could not die. Before his eyes was a deity who was dozen times larger than him. "Now, without any remorse, I shall be the next one to defeat and seal you." As he was about to stab Gabriel, a shield was tossed into the sky, followed by a fireball shot to propel the shield further. Thus, it struck into Hades' back head.

"Sorry about that, brother." Iron introduced. "My tool appears to be stuck on your head right now. But hey, at least I had a proper aiming! Also, without this dog that you used to own, I do not think my tool can reach that far!"

When Hades looked into the eyes of his opponents, he became frustrated and left Gabriel.

"I should have eliminated you all in the first place," Hades said in a mad tone.

"You tried. We have all had at least one of our limbs spoiled because of you. I now can not even stand up."

All three fighters took a step further to Hades.

"You dare challenge me?!" Hades yelled.

"Oh Hades, Hades, my dear Hades. Your character had never changed ever since we first fight," Iron chuckled.

Iron reached out his hand to Anubis, who then rode him into the sky. Hades had difficulty aiming at his enemy as they were so small compared to him. As a result, he created another fireball to rain on them. Just as he was swinging his sword in a circle, Cerberus had crawled onto him. It started scratching and setting on fire as much skin as possible. Cerberus also very much enjoyed the blood that poured out. It was no wonder that Hades began to feel itchy. He dropped his weapon and had a look at his feet. He tried to get Cerberus with his bare hand. Iron was about to risk his life by jumping onto Hades when Anubis swung his hand, allowing Iron to easily follow the motion and obtain the shield.

"You are a wise man!" Iron shouted.

Anubis understood that he was being congratulated despite the language barrier. It had given him a cheerful smile.

As Iron took his shield out of Hades' skull, creating a hollow on his head. It once again angered Hades. He quickly turned his back on Iron and slammed him as hard as he could. Iron, unexpectedly, has already turned his shield in front of him. Eventually, Hades' power was reflected in him. Like a hard punch from Gabriel, Hades was knocked out. Anubis and Iron went down and chuckled at the superior one's failure.

After the fall, Hades decided to shrink his size and return to his original look. Anubis and Iron both looked at him as if he'd given up. Cerberus appeared injured next to him out of nowhere. Both were astounded. He approached the two slowly, holding the formerly three-headed dog at its neck as if threatening them.

Hades drew his wide sword and thrust it into one of Cerberus' throats. Anubis immediately flew to Hades using his ring.

"Come to me. As fast as you can. You can not stop my blade from cutting this monster," Hades challenged.

Inside Hades' mind was a plan to persuade Cerberus to join him in attacking his enemies. Hades' sword eventually went through one of Cerberus' heads, expecting Anubis to be emotional. The three-headed demon then became an ordinary disabled dog. The only head left was the weakest one, which had no magical powers. Anubis, on the other hand, jumped off the ring and let it hit Hades without hesitation. Hades was taken aback when the ring struck him down.

Anubis retracted his weapon and resumed his attack. The ring was forcefully shot back and forth onto Hades' face repeatedly. Soon after, Hades quickly summoned his sword and shoved the ring away as it was about to strike him again.

Anubis was invoked to kill his opponent immediately at this point, seemingly out of nowhere. Who was behind the echoed voice was unknown to him. It sounded very familiar, but Anubis couldn't place it. He was blinded by his thoughts at the time, and the only thing he knew was that he had to get rid of Hades. His eyes blackened, like a void of nothingness.

As soon as the golden ring touched Anubis' hand, it transformed into a crook. He knelt a little more, pointed the crook at Hades, and prepared for another attack.

Anubis rushed to Hades, swinging his weapon top to bottom. Hades was surprised at how fast his enemy's movements were. However, not as quickly as his defense. Hades was able to deflect every attack Anubis launched. It all came to a head when two blades collided. While Anubis was attempting to push forward, Hades spoke calmly. "I am intrigued. A war where two factions advance. This fight is not going away soon."

Taking advantage while Hades was busy talking, Anubis dragged Hades' sword down with the head of the crook. Anubis then quickly stabbed Hades' jaw with the spear tail of the crook.

"Do not think that my weapon is useless." Anubis glanced at Hades.

Hades then quickly pulled the crook off his jaw. But in the process, he was kicked in the belly and then banged in the face by the crook. As a result, Hades had bled blood for the first time. He, on the other hand, was relishing the agony.

"So we are doing it the hard way, eh? Egypt boy, do as you please." He burst out laughing.

Anubis' eyes were merciless on the inside. He was about to stab Hades but was knocked away by a horizontally blasted fireball. Hades drew his sword and lifted himself. His fierce eyes and mad smugness were fixed on Anubis. Afterward, Hades faded into the ground, becoming a shadow. Many skeletons with special gears were spawned. Anubis didn't know that it was a part of Hades' plan. The skeletons were hallucinations, the remorse that Anubis had the last time he fought those enemies. As Anubis dashed over to them, Hades appeared from the bottom and stabbed through Anubis' leg. A thousand smaller blades running throughout the sword would further impair Anubis. Anubis screamed in suffering.

"(Your best hope is to die once this baby goes through you.)" Hades remembered.

Iron once again appeared from the back, tossing his shield at Hades' head. The spikes of the shield cast another drop of blood, coming down to his neck. Hades angrily shot the shield back to Iron. He then saw Iron carrying Gabriel on his shoulder. It was a shock to Hades to see that Iron lost his horse body. Iron had begged Gabriel to chop it off without hesitation. Only then could Iron stand up naturally. Though it was a trauma, his handicaps perished.

"Life is full of surprises, is it not?" Iron poked fun at Hades.

Hades released his sword from Anubis and gave Iron a cruel glance. "I should have killed these three if you did not exist."

"That would be a shame for you for I am still standing here, alive." Iron mocked.

Hades began walking to Iron. He quickly noticed that Iron was hiding behind his magical shield. As Hades was planning to assault from the bottom, healed Gabriel was used as a meat shield to prevent Iron from being hit. It was a bother and a source of anger for Hades. He then admitted to himself that whatever was left behind would haunt him forever. It was then Hades decided to return to kill Anubis once and for all. Suddenly, Cerberus bit him in the leg. As he tried to stab the dog, Iron launched at Hades and knocked him off far away. Cerberus slowly and steadily stood up in the background, and so was Anubis. Anubis prayed for his leg to recover quickly.

Hades shortly woke up in frustration. He saw his sword was thrown not so far from him. As he got up and was about to touch his weapon, he got run over by Gabriel. Gabriel then pinned his enemy to the ground and smacked him across the face with fists. Hades then hid in his shadow form, only to reappear moments later to retrieve his sword. A satisfaction was shown on his face.

As he was gonna make another attack, Gabriel quickly held the sword with his bare hand, despite the running blades. Gabriel got more and more aggressive, trying to stop the movement of the small blades. He screamed in pain. A stream of blood spilled over both men. Hades was confused as to how insane Gabriel was. He kicked Gabriel out and cleaned the blood out of his face.

In the meantime, Iron had had a great view of how Hades' sword worked. The running blades were only contained on the border of the sword. He planned to break it by damaging its surface. Looking at the condition, his only hope was Cerberus. He then told Cerberus the plan. As unpleasant as it was, the dog accepted its fate. "But you have to make it quick, my power is running out..." Iron whispered.

On Anubis' side, however, he failed to stand up. He had to wait for another eternity to have his leg recovered.

It was Iron's turn to approach his ultimate rival. Suddenly, he felt like he was about to blackout. He tried his best to stand. Hades intentionally ignored the Iron and ran towards Anubis. Iron then used the rest of his energy to trick Hades by doing the shield throwing pose. Hades quickly blocked but then realized Cerberus was after him. It jumped into the air and opened its jaw greatly. Hades held the sword by his sight, wanting to prevent the attack. Hades smiled as he concluded that the running blades would cut the demon dog's mouth. He could see the fear within Cerberus.

"(This war is going to be easier for me. Soon, they shall suffer from being imprisoned in the Underworld,)" Hades convinced himself.

Yet, out of his expectations, Cerberus had successfully bitten the surface of the sword. The only survivor of the Cerberus trio then decided to end everything without a second thought. It snapped Hades' sword into tens of pieces. And in a matter of seconds, a tremendous explosion occurred, banging both Cerberus and Hades away.

Cerberus was blown towards Iron, who was resting on the surface due to blood loss. Seeing the dog burned out, Iron crawled over and thanked it wholeheartedly. He hoped that destiny would do anything to pat its sacrifice. Iron managed to hug Cerberus into his chest.

"(I know there is a brighter future before us... We have lived under his shadow long enough...)" Iron spoke his last words before eventually passing out.

Hades was seen lying on the ground in confusion. He wondered in panic just how could he lose to such people. His clothes were heavily shredded and his fire hair vaporized. Hades was no one but a bald old man then.

Soon, he was looked down by Gabriel.

They had a little conversation. Gabriel admired Hades' progression. Hades suddenly yelled:

"Stop snatching around. Answer me. Why will you not give up? What do you want!?"

"I want revenge, I want peace."

"This place was peaceful before your birth. Before you and Typhos became one. The spartan would not have extincted. Dare I say that Zeus would not have ordered me. The people would not have been wiped out... AND I WOULD BE GUARDING THE UNDERWORLD!" Hades roared.

Hades was exhausted before finally realizing he had been missing something crucial. He nervously said: "Guarding..."

Despite everything that Hades had said, Gabriel replied calmly:

"I can not recall anything that you just said."

Hades was a bit shocked to hear that reaction.

"I do not care, Gabriel," Hades urged regardless, "You can be as blind as you are. NOW GET OUT OF MY WAY!"

As Hades was about to get up, he was held tightly by the neck. He couldn't change positions or do anything powerful enough to knock Gabriel out. He could have switched into shadow but it couldn't help him get into The Underworld. He was running out of time. At the very last second, the God of Death begged for mercy. Gabriel wasn't satisfied with his begging. Hades felt so powerless, hopeless, and exposed. He couldn't do anything further.

At last, four eyes stared into each other, Hades gave Gabriel the last request, no matter if Gabriel accepted it.

"Once I die, you will be the one to strengthen all the aspects of this country... The king of all, Zeus, can not be reliable."

Hades' body suddenly became colder. Gabriel was surprised. He decided to release his opponent. Hades continued talking until his last breath. "Greece... the spring of true warriors..."

Gabriel noticed Hades' eyes gradually losing their radiance.

In the meantime, Anubis looked at Gabriel and hoped for a miracle. "If Hades is truly unbeatable, then no one will be..." he worried.

It was exactly midday. The sun was at its peak. It observed Hades and eventually shone a bright flash on him. Thousands of souls of the dead emerged from the ground, including those of Iron and Cerberus. They spread their arms wide and gazed up at the sky. The souls continued to emerge, as did Hades. The two icons watched Hades as he transformed into delightful little sprinkles of stars before vanishing forever.

Gabriel couldn't believe what he'd seen. A god's demise. A seemingly impossible event occurred. It had given Gabriel a hint as to what was required to destroy a god.

Clouds faded, and birds sang. Those souls who had risen prayed to the two warriors like their new gods. For better or worse, they had been saved and released from hell, their eternal torture.

Some souls were Gabriel's familiars. He looked upon to search for his friends. Gabriel got to hear their final wishes.

The first one that Gabriel heard was from one of his colleagues, Leon. Leon was delighted and fulfilled, "I have trusted the right person. You have given us freedom! I have always known that you can make the right path."

And then, Nasir suddenly raised his voice, "You better get some clothing..." as he saw Gabriel naked for reasons he couldn't understand. Gabriel giggled and then sent a thanks message to the souls.

But out of all, there was one voice that Gabriel couldn't ignore. It was his wife, Doris. She sincerely spoke her deepest feelings, "Gabriel, I am here for you... always. We are meant for each other." Those words had stroked the great warrior. He slowly raised his hand and wanted to pull Doris back. He was the one to promise to follow her for eternity.

He then gradually recalled every incident that had happened. He wished he didn't pursue the voice, the curse. Gabriel shouted, "I could have died earlier! Why do I have to deal with all of these stupid efforts?!" Though Doris honored Gabriel, Gabriel crawled onto the ground and apologized for disheartening her.