Machina Arcanis: Two Worlds Collided

TU34. Teeth and Nails

The wind shifted abruptly. Aurora threw her weight to the left, jerking her shoulder out of harm's way. Hades's obsidian bident cleaved the air, grinding against the surface of her dark armour. Showers of sparks flashed in the gloom.

"Heh," Hades chuckled, emerging from the smoke. His figure loomed as dark as midnight.

Aurora lunged at her foe, her long blade flashing a ribbon of purple.

With a delicate side-step, he evaded the strike. His dark hair drifted wild in the tempest.

A grunt echoed, she rotated her sword, bringing it into a brutal downward slash. The wind wheezed around the steel edge. The forced evasion made him step back, his terrifying speed echoing like a mirage.

"Empyrion!" Aurora chanted, extending two fingers on her off-hand, the red orb formed and twirled at the edge. "Fire!"

The whirring blast of flame beamed straight for Hades's heart.

In an instant, he raised his palm, a smirk flickering. Fearless. "Geothron!" he roared. A spiky barrier of glittering crystal formed between them.

The air erupted with a thundering boom, spiralling dust and debris.

"Did I get him?" Aurora blinked at the iridescent wall made purely of massive gemstones.

A high-pitched crack split the air, followed by the rattling noise of collapsing crystal structures. She could see the Keeper's eyes piercing through the gap, bloody and red.

"This is your last warning," Hades growled. He summoned a bident into a reverse grip, its tip pointing downward as he marched onward. His form refined.

In kind, Aurora paralleled her blade at her collarbone, the handle clutched tight to her chest. "This is one outcome, Hades. Leave the Overworld alone." She stressed.

"Who in heaven or hell commands me what to do?" he hissed, his knees coiled in anticipation.

"This talk is a waste of breath," she spat. "Let the arcane speak for itself."

That made him pause for a second. Hades bared his teeth into a grumble. "As you wish."

Metal clanks and scratches rang in rapid succession. Their brawl descended into a blind fury of melee strikes. Aurora became a whirlwind of a thousand edges, but Hades parried every one with terrifying precision. The silver of her aura and the noir of his presence clashed, teetering back and forth in a bid to overcome one another.

Forged in the harshest pains of Tartarus, Hades fought with zero wasted motion. Abrupt and kinetic. Aurora, meanwhile, was elegant, powerful, and calculated — the culmination of years spent honing the art of the blade.

Hades slammed his bident into a vertical drop, and Aurora shapeshifted her cape into wings to block.

A muffled thud rang, sending the bident to bounce.

As she suspected, the Ventiff's wings were indestructible.

"Yah!" She wove her blade past his guard.

Panic, he burst back in full reverse, but the tip of her blade still managed to graze his chest plate. The Zweihänder sank its teeth in like a ravenous beast, and his dark armour caved inward.

"Damnnnn…" Hades winced, touching his chest and locating the sharp pain. Crimson blood smeared his fingers.

"The Thanatos-spatha bleeds even the gods, Hades," Aurora declared, her voice firm and resolute. "And that is to ensure the safety of my people against the likes of you!"

"You think this is something? Such defiance—I am eternal!" Hades let out a warcry that rocked the ground.

Crushing the marble stone underfoot, Hades launched himself into the air. The bident sailed through space, aimed directly at Aurora's heart.

With a powerful, sweeping swing, she parried. A resounding clank echoed as metal ground on metal, casting a million tiny sparks.

"Hah!" Hades grunted, pulling back his weapon.

But Aurora had already cleaved her blade toward him.

"Geothron!" he roared, summoning a shield of gems and crystal.

Shoving with divine might, he bashed the thick, thousand-edged shield into Aurora's sternum. A meaty thud rang out through the cavernous hall.

Blood sprayed from her gasping mouth. Aurora flew across the floor, spiralling into the air. Her dark cape took the form of the spreading wings of Ventiff. She soared, stabilised herself, and flipped to land her feet against a stone column. Her legs coiled like serpents, absorbing the impact and crushing the column underfoot.

"HADES!" Aurora screamed, her eyes glowing silver as she sprang forward like a fuming projectile.

In less than an eye blink, her purple blade speared the air, shattering sound barriers as she accelerated.

"Try me!" Hades snarled.

With his palms raised and his feet planted firmly on the floor, he summoned the crystal wall for defence.

Then came the sound of a thousand explosions detonating all at once. Aurora clashed into his defence, decimating it into millions of glittering shards. Flying fragments caught light and reflected divine iridescence. Beautiful.

"Impossible…" Hades's eyes widened for the first time in millennia. In a last, desperate motion, he shifted his body to flee.

Too slow.

Her long, thin blade pierced his shoulder, sinking to the hilt as they both slammed into the opposite wall.

"Arrrrhhhhh!" Hades screamed in pain. His breath was fiery hot, mere inches from her face. The smell of blood and iron filled her nostrils.

"Yield now!" Aurora growled. "For what it's worth, I don't want to destroy you. We can end this now!"

"Heh," he chuckled, bitterness lacing his tone. "Endbringer, you shall soon reckon how futile your actions are."

Hades tilted his head back, swinging it like a wrecking pendulum.

"Magnetos!" Aurora countered.

His head crashed so hard against her barrier that blood spattered, smearing and dripping down the semi-translucent sphere.

"A futile tactic." Aurora twisted her blade, the steel dripping with divine blood.

"Youuuuu!" He stifled a guttural groan, though his wound was already sealing shut through divine regeneration.

Aurora could only watch with marvel in her eyes at that.

"You don't understand it yet?" he sneered, smashing his head forward again.

Crack!

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

"Either all mortals become my slaves, or your kind faces extinction in the Sixth Apocalypse." He smashed even harder.

Crack!

"I will always win." He slammed his head one last time, snapping back from the sheer impact.

She looked at his pale face, taking in his broken nose and bloodshot eyes. Such a dreadful sight.

"And I can do this forever and ever!" he spat onto the barrier, crushing his head against her bloody edge once more.

Aurora felt the tremor resonate into her palm. The mana is unstable. How?

His flattened nose snapped back into its original shape; the blunt trauma on his forehead twisted closed.

"Empress of mortals. Time to weigh your persistence against mine!" Hades unleashed an animalistic wail.

And again, crimson gore splashed everywhere. He slammed until the Magnetos shattered like glass, forcing Aurora to dislodge her blade and retreat into the distance. Sweat gathered at her brow as she watched the fearsome god straighten himself.

Hades's wounds had already mended. A whirlwind surged around him, thrashing his dark locks around his pale face. Eventually, he opened both palms in a challenge.

"Aurora, is it? I am never growing weary of this. We'll play, but knowing this. When it is done, I shall make your soul mine!"

"Tsk!" She clicked her tongue. Her grip tightened on the handle, and the sword blazed with the fire of death.

Anger burning hot, Hades summoned gemstones between his fingers: ruby, emerald, sapphire, and diamond. A magical whirring emitted around him as the howling wind pushed clouds of dust in every direction.

"Those are…" Aurora murmured. Just like what she had seen earlier in the vision of doom. Each gem entrapped powerful elemental magic, ready to unleash on command.

Fingers flicked outward, and the gemstones exploded with a triple boom.

The sapphire skidded at her feet. Aurora jumped just before icy claws reached out to immobilise her. Red-hot fire combined with the whirlwind, becoming a savage cyclone that hurled against the supporting structures as Aurora darted from column to column. Nimble like a feline.

"Nice try!" She surged at her attacker, fading into a long ribbon of silver and purple.

"Heh!" Hades smirked, unleashing the diamond. The crystal shattered into a blinding light that swallowed the room whole.

When the light ceased, a whipping sound tore through the air, and Aurora's blade slashed at his torso. A fan of blood splashed outward. Gallons of crimson liquid everywhere. The blade bit deep, slicing past his black armour and into muscle and bone.

"ARRGGHH!" Hades wailed in agony, his dark eyes lingering on her in absolute incredulity. His plan failed miserably.

Aurora's eyes were shut tight the whole time; the attack had been a blind bargain.

"H-How did you know?!" Hades growled, staggering backward. A bident summoned into his palm.

Beautiful, glowing silver eyes fluttered open. Calm. Aurora's lips curled into a smile. "A premonition."

Studying the damage she had just inflicted as it began to restore, she realised her attacks must aim at his most vital points—be it his head or his heart. With a new plan forming in her mind, she fell into a guarded stance.

Hades's scowl deepened, veins bulging beneath his skin. His knuckles clutched his weapon tightly. A whirring hum vibrated around his off-hand as elemental jewels hovered between his fingers.

In blind fury, he closed the distance with a massive leap. He flicked a ruby at her, and Aurora countered with a Phoros barrier. The writhing flame hissed at the edge of her defence, yet it failed to reach her.

The bident ripped through the air at her midsection. Masterful, she switched to an overhand grip and parried it flawlessly.

Aurora soared above the floor, her Ventiff wings spread majestically.

She spun with the flourish of a ballerina and the might of a swordmaster. The Thanatos-spatha cut through the air, slashing directly into Hades's face.

Panic setting in, he tossed all his remaining gems and sailed backward. Rapid explosions of ice, wind, and light rocked the ground. In response, the Ventiff wings wrapped around Aurora, forming a protective ball as the force flung her dozens of metres away.

A perfect disengagement.

"Damn you!" Hades groaned, his palm covering half his face. Blood oozed from the ruthless slash that stretched from his cheek to his scalp, taking his eye with it.

Hemera still hung high, providing light against the natural darkness of this realm. The chamber groaned as columns cracked and a section of the roof collapsed from the aftermath of their relentless brawl.

Hades scoured the rubble with his one good eye. "Where are you?!" he spat.

Purple flames encased her greatsword as Aurora held it overhead. The fire danced, wild with vigour and feral with every passing second.

"This is the Greatsword of Oblivion!" she exclaimed. Charged mana surged through her muscles and veins, pouring into the sword. Flames burst upward like a hulking bonfire, painting every surface bright purple.

The space was so saturated with arcane power that Hades could see the mana flakes drifting with his remaining eye.

"Geothron!" Hades squared his shoulders, erecting his ultimate defence.

Their eyes bored into one another.

"I summon the power of death!" she roared. Her entire body reeled back, her spine arcing under the immense weight of the arcane. Her boot slammed into the floor, shattering the stone into fractured slabs.

Time almost froze.

The Thanatos-spatha shifted into a semi-circular blur of sheer power. Its flame sprayed into an enormous sweep that cleaved through the tall ceiling, out into the distant sky, before crashing down into the ground where Hades's crystal wall stood.

The impact rocked the earth and the sky, unmaking them alike. The scale was beyond comprehension. From the strike zone to the distant horizon, a massive explosion erupted hundreds of kilometres away.

Howling wind rushed like wailing phantoms, filling the deep trench that had been carved out as the row of monstrous flames subsided.

There stood Hades and his defence. The crystallised wall cracked into a million bits, crumbling into beautiful dust. Surrounding the two combatants, iridescent particles infused the air, falling like a gentle snowfall.

"Ha… ha…" Aurora panted profusely, sweat dripping from her chin. Smoke hissed from the small gaps in her interlocking armour. Her arms were so heavy that she curled and uncurled her fingers just to regain her strength. Her silver glow, however, never faded as she searched for her foe.

An entire section of the wall had been cleaved away by the wide vertical strike, and as far as the light of Hemera could reach, a deep groove was etched permanently into the earth.

It was the display of the godslaying power.

Staggering and limping, Hades emerged from the dust and smouldering smoke. Bits and pieces of metal barely clung to his body. His left arm was severed at the elbow. His once-beautiful face was caked with blood and blackened muscle fibres. The grotesque visage was missing an ear and lips, exposing half of his red teeth.

"Youuuu will payyyyyyy," he uttered, blood flooding from his lips. No muscle tissues reformed or restitched; it appeared his regeneration had finally reached its limit.

Aurora straightened herself, shifting the thick sword back into a long, thin blade. "King of the Underworld. Please understand that this is nothing personal."

Hades collapsed onto his knees, his breath hitching into a wheeze. But his jaw muscles twisted into what appeared to be a devious smile. Those divine eyes never lost their hatred for her, nor for mortal kind.

"Any last words?" she asked, lifting her blade to his chin and looking down on the god.

He tilted his head backward and closed his eyes. There was serenity in that final moment.

With a swift slash, Aurora cleanly decapitated Hades. His head spiralled off his neck before his body thudded onto the crimson ground.

The sky, ever so quiet, finally wept. A red storm flashed across the clouds, as though doomsday itself had arrived.

A droplet of cold liquid splashed onto Aurora's face. She wiped it with her fingers, but it wasn't long before crimson blood rained down in a heavy downpour.

Hades had fallen at last.

Aurora still clung to her sword, watching his remains, expecting them to turn into specks of beautiful dust. But instead, luminescent butterflies swarmed his body. Their fluttering wings were a beautiful neon blue, and the mythical insects gingerly caressed Hades's fallen corpse.

"What's this?" she heaved, frowning. As she reached out her off-hand to inspect them, Thanatos emerged beside her, his sudden appearance interrupting her motion.

"The realm itself weeps for him… I guess," Thanatos mumbled, almost to himself. His two sets of wings were tucked neatly behind his back.

"What does this all mean?" Aurora asked, an inexplicable feeling inflating her heart.

"I honestly don't know," Thanatos replied, shaking his head. "For the record, this has never happened before."

Drenched in the rainfall, Aurora pinched her chin. "All of this does not feel right." She spared another glance at the fallen god. The swarms still clung to every millimetre of his skin.

There was beauty in this death. But was it truly death?

"All the gods we've slain turned into specks of light," Aurora raised her voice over the sound of rainwater slamming against the ground. "This is not it."

"You're right. I do agree with that," he nodded sombrely, lingering in the moment before gesturing toward the Temple of Hades. Almost half of it was in ruins now, but a vaulted roof still provided some sort of shelter.

"Shall we seek refuge for now? We might find something, anything there," he suggested, his voice calm.

Despite the uneasiness in her heart, Aurora wiped the blood rain from her eyes and followed at his heels. Death left his marks everywhere he went. His bare feet imprinted upon burning flames that were soon snuffed out by the falling red.

In her peripheral vision, she still watched the blue butterflies. But the only thing she found was a monotonous drone. Strange as it might sound, this felt like utter silence — more absolute than the real silence she had first encountered when she alighted in the Erebus.

It only made her clutch her weapon tighter, fearing she might need it soon.

Eventually, Aurora flicked her hand, calling for Hemera to dawn above her, and she left the desolated battlefield behind.

The darkness took hold of its master, whole and eternal.