The battle was raging, and Soren had gained the upper hand.
Gellahan watched this superhuman clash with fear. 'Don't lose, Sōsuke…' he thought.
"Where did you find that one?"
Gellahan backed away in fear when he heard speaking beside him, Akyo, who had quietly come to stand next to him.
Gellahan fell backward. 'This young man?!' He shouted, "Who are you?! What do you want from me?!"
'He's really terrified…' Akyo thought. He sighed. "How can you be so sure your friend has 'divine genes'? It's ridiculous, you do realize that, right?"
"Shut up! I'm not crazy, you see it just like I do ! Those physical abilities right in front of us, that's not human. Your friend is just like Sōsuke, a descendant of the long-lost lineage of the gods, I am convinced of it!" Gellahan yelled.
Akyo chuckled. "Sure, but aren't gods supposed to have powers? An all-powerful god who only has physical strength is a bit ridiculous, don't you think?"
Gellahan lowered his head and didn't answer.
Akyo continued, "Let me guess: ever since you found Sōsuke, you've been dreaming he'd awaken some kind of power, something even crazier." He stared at the fight. 'I can feel it… he's about to do it.' thought Akyo, finally sensing sosuke's divine side, "Well then, keep your eyes wide open, Gellahan, because that moment is coming."
Spencer raised his head. 'What does he mean by that…?' Then he turned toward the battle.
—----------------------
Sōsuke was on the ground, Soren standing over him with one foot on his chest.
"That's it? You've got nothing left?" Soren said.
Sōsuke spat out the blood in his mouth. "Shut up," he growled.
"What did you say? I didn't hear you, speak up?" Søren teased.
Sōsuke grabbed Soren's foot with both hands. "I said…" all his muscles tightened, and red lightning began crackling around his body… "SHUT UP!"
He pushed Soren off him and stood up with difficulty. The lightning grew more and more intense. "I don't know how you suddenly became that strong…" he said, placing his right hand on the ground.
'What is he doing? and what are those lightning bolts? Is he actually divine?' Søren wondered, bracing himself.
Suddenly, a red circle appeared under Sōsuke's hand. 'I don't know what I'm doing… but it feels natural, only my body knows what's going on.' A reddish light grew brighter and brighter from the circle, and Sōsuke began pulling his arm up out of it.
'What the hell is that?!' Soren thought. As Sōsuke conitued, he revealed a massive weapon, an enormous sword, at least twice his size, its blade was looking more like stone than metal.
Sōsuke lifted the weapon with difficulty, and the circle vanished. He stared at it. 'What is this huge thing? Whatever, it'll do.' He looked at Soren and charged, dragging the colossal weapon behind him.
'How is he running this fast?! That sword looks fuckin heavy!'
"Come here!" Sōsuke shouted as he reached Soren. Planting his foot, he swung the blade from right to left. Soren dodged with difficulty, and Sōsuke immediately followed up. He attempted a downward strike that Soren only barely avoided again. 'What is that power? The impact shook the ground, this blade doesn't cut, it crushes!
Gellahan's eyes were wide open. He couldn't speak. His protégé had just summoned a massive weapon out of nowhere.
'how?'
"So? Is this what you expected?" Akyo asked.
"No. Not at all. I firmly believed in this divine heritage, but… imagining something like this? Never," Spencer said. "But how, how did you know?"
"I felt it. There are many things you don't know. But congratulations, you're either extremely smart or totally insane, but you were right. The gods exist," Akyo replied.
"So I was right, they existed?!" Gellahan exclaimed.
"You didn't listen very well. they still exist. There's one right in front of you, fighting your boy."
'The boy with the purple hair… is a god?' Gellahan thought. 'So I was wrong. I thought they had gone extinct, that only people carrying diluted divine blood remained. A divine gene fading more and more, disappearing. But no, they exist. But how?'
So many questions he wanted answers to, but for that, Sōsuke had to win.
—---------------
'Damn it, he's relentless. He's been swinging that sword nonstop, there's no opening for me,' Soren thought. 'I need to adapt, but I'll need a few seconds to breathe,' He scanned the room. 'Alright, that'll work.'
He waited for the end of Sōsuke's combo and sprinted toward a pillar.
"Stop running!" Sōsuke yelled, chasing him closely.
Soren reached the pillar fast enough to run up its surface. Behind him, Sōsuke leapt high and attempted to strike Soren, but Soren used the momentum to launch himself several meters into the air.
'Damn… this sword is too heavy,' Sōsuke thought as he was already falling.
'Now's my chance,' Søren thought. He burst out his energy, surrounding himself with a massive flame the same color as his eyes, then focused it. 'I'm ready.'
Below, Sōsuke glared at him. "COME ON! YOU THINK I'LL LET YOU LAND?!" He raised his sword.
Soren dropped straight toward him. 'Everything feels slower,' he thought. As he reached Sōsuke, the boy attempted a devastating upward strike.
Soren descended headfirst, and the moment the blade passed under him, he planted his hand on the flat of the sword and spun.
'What?!' Sōsuke thought. 'How is he moving this fast??'
Soren gained incredible speed, then delivered a full-power kick straight into Sōsuke. 'Damn–!!' Sōsuke thought before being blasted at phenomenal speed into a pillar, destroying it completely. He crashed into a wall and lost consciousness.
Soren got back up. 'That was close,' He turned toward Akyo. "It's done!" he announced, walking toward the others.
'He lost… Sōsuke lost…' Gellahan couldn't believe it.
Soren reached them. "That wasn't easy," he told Akyo.
"I saw that, but you handled your energy pretty well, though you might've overdone it a bit," Akyo replied.
Gellahan didn't know what to do. They had defeated his protégé; surely they would now come after him. He suddenly shouted his last wish: "Spare Sōsuke!" Akyo and Soren looked at him. "Please, kill me, kill me for my curiosity if you have to… but let him live. It's my fault he's here, he knows nothing about the world, he only ever listened to me."
Gellahan knelt before them. "So please, oh great gods, take my life and spare his!"
They didn't know what to say. They glanced at each other briefly, then Soren spoke first. "Kill you? We weren't planning on killing you, or your friend, for that matter. You're the one who sent him at us."
Akyo added, "If I'd wanted you dead, I would've done it while they were fighting."
Gellahan was speechless. He had made a terrible judgment, and it had pushed Sōsuke into a fight he couldn't win. "Then, why are you here?"
"We're here to stop you from making a huge mistake. There's a lot you need to learn, but these things cannot be revealed to the world. It's far too dangerous," Akyo explained.
"But… who are you?" Gellahan asked.
"We are gods working in the shadows to protect humanity. But we'll explain all that later. First, let's get out of here. Soren, go get Sōsuke."
Soren nodded and went to pick up the demon boy lying unconscious on the ground.
Akyo examined the fresco behind them. "Do you know who they are?" Gellahan asked.
"No idea, but this kind of art? It's not Scandinavian at all. I wonder what it's doing here…"
Gellahan looked as well. "The figure on the right looks Nordic, while the other one seems…"
"Greek," Akyo said, cutting him off.
"Exactly," Gellahan replied, turning and heading toward the exit.
"Hey!" Akyo called. "You didn't come here for nothing, right? You forgot something." He pointed to the chest at the foot of the huge fresco. "Go open it, if you want."
"Of course I want to," Gellahan said. The two walked to the chest. Gellahan took a deep breath and opened it.
Inside, nothing. Only dust. "That's a bit disappointing…" the historian murmured.
Soren arrived behind them, carrying Sōsuke on his shoulder. "We going?" he asked.
Akyo nodded and followed. Gellahan did the same.