Chapter 36: Sol VS Diablos!
While the demon subjugation camp was quiet in the wee hours of the night, halfway across the world the mountains were being torn down by quakes as Sol traded blow for blow with Diablos, the god of dragons.
On one side the mountains had holes that had gone straight through them, and on the other side some of the mountains were completely destroyed, the great canyon of a few minutes ago was nothing but a destroyed terrain, and in the midst of it Sol and Diablos clashed fists once more blowing each other off their feet and crashing in opposite sides, causing the ground to quake again as two more mountain peaks vanished into avalanches and landslides.
[The pantheon is in disbelief]
[The goddess of war is cheering]
[True Goddess Ikaris is cheering you on]
[The goddess of chaos is excited at the state of the battlefield]
[The god of destruction is in a fit of joy at the state of the battlefield]
[Activating warp steps: subject closes distances within sight with a single step]
"It's a shame you want to kill me, you're an excellent warmup!" Sol flashed his hands and ran toward Diablos again, closing the distance in a single breath and coming to a halt right underneath the dragons descending fist and punching upwards.
Their fists clashed again and Diablos gawked in shock when Sol's punch overpowered his own punch and his arm was sent snapping off his shoulder while Sol only crashed back into the ground a rolled to his feet with that same annoying look on his face.
"Come on god of dragons!" Sol laughed. "Let's keep going!"
[He was right to have declined the role of hero] Renia regarded Sol's behaviour with scrutiny. [He is much closer to my idea of a villain] She hummed at the fact that he seemed to enjoy tearing his opponents apart while he fought them.
[Overconfident monkey!] Diablos roared, regenerating his hand in a flash and roaring at Sol as he dashed madly toward him.
[Your opponent is rapidly growing in strength]
The system warned Sol, and he witnessed this firsthand when he dodged Diablos's swipe, grabbed the dragon by his two horns and kicked him in his nose, there was no effect at all, he shrugged it off and tried biting Sol in half.
"Whoop!" Sol turned his body in the air to dodge the bite and kicked Diablos again giving himself a height advantage as he clasped his hands together.
[Activating Breath of the Serpent]
Sol spun several more times as he inhaled, falling and dodging several more of Diablos's much faster attacks before he grit his teeth and caught the dragon's large arms with a grunt and then opened his mouth.
"Blast away!" Sol roared as a massive pillar of wyvern firs exploded from his mouth hitting Diablos at close range and blowing him clean off his feet and toward the opposite side of the canyon.
"Let's go!" Sol swung his arms and waved his head from side to side as a few scales grew around his wrists and under his eyes. "I'm teeming with energy!"
[How dare you mock me with the powers of an inferior species that I have never even lorded over!?] Diablos, after tanking the blast to his face landed on all fours with saliva dripping down his chin.
[I'll kill you, I'll murder you, I'll tear you apart, I'll burn you to ashes and devour your remains!!] He roared as his eyes became complete crimson and began glowing brightly while his tail smashed I to the ground showing his rising agitation at being taunted and humiliated.
"Oh-" Sol was going to respond with another insult, but raised his hand in reflex when he sensed danger coming from his side, and a millisecond later Sol let out a grunt of pain when Diablos came swinging his tail from his side.
"I didn't see him move!" Sol protected his head as he cascaded across the canyon floor like a ragdoll, crashing into the other side back-first and coughing up blood from the sheer impact. "What th-" His eyes widened again when he saw a large fist right in front of him.
An entire side of the canyon exploded outward after Sol was punched leaving dust and a giant crater the size of several mountains in the wake of the punch.
[There is an intruder near you] Ikaris got a warning notification out of the blue stared at it weirdly.
[Intruder?] She closed an eye and her presence faded by a fraction just enough that she could watch Sol and wake up to see what was happening, her shock though came from a cloaked figure using magic to bind her arms and another one holding her legs while a third figure had a magic circle pressed on her forehead that was trying to keep her asleep.
"Who are you... People," A half asleep Ikaris tried moving, but several more hidden figures approached and cast more paralysis magic on her, and she was completely kicked out of her body again, leaving her truly helpless now.
[Divine magic was used to seal your consciousness]
[Divine magic has been used to paralyse your muscles]
[What the fuck?] Ikaris closed her other eye.
[Goddess Ikaris has urgently left]
"Urgently, Ikaris...?" Sol asked standing with a wheeze and staring into the night sky and the dust that covered the surrounding like clouds. "Did something happen, are you okay?" He tried communicating through their link, but she had yet to seize control of her body, so he never got a response.
[Activating new magic: Golem's Hardening level 1]
[Tremble under my power monkey!] Diablos caught up to Sol who had crashed several miles away from the canyon with a descending kick that caused a giant plume of dust to shoot up into the clouds when it connected with his head.
In the wake of that next devastating blow Sol's arms were shaking as he stood with blood dripping from his nose and forehead, "Ikaris, answer me." He ordered through their connection, but because she had yet to gain consciousness, all he received was silence.
[Why is he so suddenly fixated on Ikaris?] Dr'ul asked, waving her hand and opening up a new window, to her susprise, she witnessed a massacre in the happening, the army was under attack, and it was not demons. [Demigods?] Dr'ul seemed confused. [Who gave this order?] She stood.
[The goddess of war has urgently left]
Sol saw the next notification and realised that something was truly amiss.
[Something's happening?] Renia did as Ikaris had some and split her consciousness to wake her avatar. "Huma... Sara!" She called to the maid.
"Yes, Milady!" Sara stood from her seat at the urgency of her tone.
"Quickly take me back to the encampment!" She stood and staggered.
"A-are you okay?" Sara asked concerned.
"Just hurry!"
[The pantheon is in chaos, several gods are leaving to witness another development]
"What?" Sol stared at the notification shocked.
[Do not even think about fleeing!] Diablos grabbed Sol and slammed him into the ground. [I am your focus!]
"I'm not, but if something happens to Ikaris... Urghh!!" Sol folded forward and fell to his knees when Diablos's tail slammed into his chest and shattered his ribcage.
[This fight is over, now I have killed the wretched imposter, and simultaneously rid the world of that pestilent goddess,] Diablos went on all fours and opened his mouth right in front of Sol, who was choking on his own blood and unable to move as he regenerated his organs.
[Divine Dragon's Judgement]
The blast of fire erupted like an egg-shaped dome, clearing the clouds for thousands of miles and leaving a giant pillar that slowly shrunk until all that remained was a fifty mile wide crater of stone and magma, so deep it looked like the impact of a planet-killing meteor.
[I stand victorious!] Diablos raised his hands and flashed his tail in the cooling ground as he roared.
"What did you just say?"
[Impossible!] The dragon spun on his heel seeing Sol standing in the air to match his height and address him face-to-face.
"I asked you a question, Diablos," Sol slowly approached him like a phantom.
His armoured pants were torn up, his hair was visibly charred, and his skin was slowly regrowing over his muscles.
His face had almost been completely blasted off, and it showed while his muscle tissue and skin grew over his cheek to hide his skeleton. "Why aren't you answering me?"
[Divinity was forcefully activated]
[You are in a state of rage]
[Goddess Ikaris is missing]
[The pantheon is in chaos]
[Answer me Diablos!!] Sol grabbed the god by his horns pulling his head down as his feet touched the ground and staring him in his eye. [What did you mean by ridding the world of a pestilent goddess?] He asked again.
[What the heck are you!?] Diablos tried to crush Sol like a bug, but ironically a third and fourth arm grew from Sol's sides and stopped both of his hands, trapping them while Sol continued to stare him down.
[Answer me first, if you can give me a good enough answer; something I am satisfied with then I'll make your death as painless as possible, but if I find out that anything has happened to my goddess, forget about dying altogether, I'll torture your soul for the rest of eternity!]
[Your mind is entering am unstable state of madness, penalties are being calculated]
[What have you done to Ikaris!?]