It was now a full-on battle. Now that the two deities were closer, the trio could finally get a good look at their figures. The male had violent red hair and orange-colored eyes. His facial features were sharp, yet he looked roughly the same age as Azazul. He was clad in a red and black suit of armor.
The woman had silver-white hair, icy blue eyes, and sharp yet gentle facial features. She wore flowing white robes that complemented her hair. She looked at Azazul, but her eyes held an indifferent expression — not the calculated look of murder.
The icy blue–eyed woman suddenly dived down toward Azazul and Akiko, grabbing Azazul by the neck before shooting high into the sky.
What the hell?
"Let go of me, will ya!"
He tried loosening her grip, but she was far too strong. Then she threw him upward, appeared above him, and kicked him hard in the face — crushing his skull — before letting him free-fall. After a long drop, he smashed into the ground. A cloud of sand shot up, covering both him and Akiko.
The orange-eyed deity laughed. Then he too dove down through the cloud of sand toward Akiko — but his hand was suddenly grabbed by Azazul. His face was hidden behind his long jet-black bangs, crimson blood pouring from his head. Before the deity could even realize what happened, he felt an immense force hit his face. He flew back, landing on his feet a few meters away.
Azazul had delivered a quick reflex right hook he'd seen while sparring with Matthew — and experienced firsthand.
The orange-eyed deity grinned.
"Oh, you're good… you're gonna entertain me."
When the woman touched Azazul's neck earlier, something had happened. She had transferred a message into his mind. It was brief, but her voice was loud and clear:
"I'm not here to harm you — but I can't say the same for the rest. Defeat them, and I'll judge whether you're worthy or not… because you are descended from Death, and Death loves you."
What does she mean, worthy? What happens if she decides I am? And what does she mean descended from Death and loved by it? I hate questions without answers!
And she had somehow activated his Eye of Darkness.
Azazul turned to Akiko and noticed she was giving him a weird look. Not only that — he could see everything. Her mana core, her mana channels, her heartbeat, her lungs expanding and contracting. He could see mana drawn to her, swirling in different colors. Without even seeing his reflection, he knew the Eye of Darkness was active.
Perfect timing… you treacherous eye.
He knew he couldn't summon the darkflames, so he didn't try to extend the power of darkness more than needed.
"Akiko — you go for the woman. I'll go for that douchebag."
Matthew walked over to Azazul and Akiko, then lunged at the woman who had taken the form of Akiko's sister. Akiko and Azazul each headed toward their respective targets.
As Azazul walked toward his opponent, he observed the deity with a menacing glare.
The orange-eyed deity summoned his red-bladed katana. Then he smirked when he noticed Azazul had a sword strapped to his lower back.
"Finally, I get to talk to the prince. And even though I last saw her when I was an infant, may I say — you look exactly like her. I see she gave you her eyes… all three of them, I mean. And the black hair. But are you sure you're male? You kinda look female."
Azazul interrupted him.
"Are you just going to talk the whole time? That's boring. And just so you know — there is a sack hanging between my legs. Why don't you state your name so I can kill you… you piece of wurmin."
"Oh, well, I was thinking the same thing. As you wish, my prince — I shall grant your last breathing wish. My name is—"
Azazul couldn't hear the name at all.
Was that magic?
Azazul rushed forward and unsheathed his beautiful electric-blue tachi. He thrust it toward the deity's chest, but the man twisted his body, avoiding the attack. With the Eye of Darkness active, Azazul could read his muscle tension — but he was too slow to properly use the advantage.
When the man avoided his strike, he brought his red-bladed katana down in a one-handed slash. Azazul sensed the muscle movement and lunged back, but the sharp end still cut across his left chest muscle.
The deity laughed.
"Is that all, my prince? Surely you're capable of more than that pitiful display of swordsmanship. Why wield such a beautiful sword if you can't use it properly?"
Why is it taking so long to heal? Don't tell me they have weapons like mine… stupid question, of course they do. I need to be more careful — look for an opening.
He augmented his body with mana and summoned his lightning element. Blue lightning crackled, consuming his tachi. He lunged forward; the deity did the same. Their blades clashed, sending tremors through the ground.
Azazul pressed the offense, afraid his defense wouldn't be enough if he let the deity attack. But the orange-eyed deity refused to play along. Every time Azazul attacked, he blocked and countered faster than Azazul could move, forcing him onto the defensive.
Each counter nearly killed him. Without the Eye of Darkness, Azazul wouldn't have lasted a second. Even with it, he still couldn't keep up.
He knew he wouldn't win fighting fair. He needed to cheat — land a treacherous blow. If he weren't mid-battle, he would've laughed at the idea. Maybe the Eye was getting into his head.
After avoiding several slashes, he finally saw it.
There it is…
The opening he needed.
Azazul thrust his sword again, this time aiming for the deity's throat — but he hesitated. He slowed down. The deity dodged easily and stabbed him in the stomach.
Azazul lunged back, wounded again — chest not healed, stomach freshly stabbed.
Why didn't I do it? Damn it — that was my chance…
The deity spoke calmly.
"You're currently asking yourself, 'Why did I hesitate?' Well, it's simple. You don't have the killer instinct. You can't kill without it. And yet you think you can win anyway. Looks like you're more mortal than deity."
He paused, then added,
"Do you even know the meaning of battle? If you don't… your mentor was as bad as you."
Suddenly, Azazul remembered something Matthew had told him.
The deity dashed forward. Azazul met him head-on. They clashed again, but Azazul was no longer keeping up. The stab wound in his abdomen slowed him down severely. Without the Eye of Darkness, he would've already been dead.
But with each block, each strike, he felt his heart racing, his body heat rising. He could see everything the deity couldn't hide — so why couldn't he break through?
He was slowly entering the flow state — something Matthew had taught them. Akiko had reached it before; he'd always been left behind.
Letting go of every loose thought, focusing only on the battle before him, time slowed. The deity's attacks became more predictable. Azazul could dodge and counter — but his reaction time still wasn't fast enough to land a clean hit.
So he used more mana than he could safely absorb, pushing himself to refine his augmentation technique even further. If he didn't, he would die.
The battle raged on — attacks, dodges, counters. Azazul found a rhythm in his opponent and in himself.
Finally, Prince Azazul reached the flow state.
He was so focused he didn't notice his blue lightning turning darker — a shade of black creeping in, making it dark blue.
When the deity brought his sword up for a downward slash, Azazul moved right, avoiding it. The blade came close enough to cut several strands of his long jet-black bangs.
Then, with the deity's body open for counterattack, Azazul — calm and deadly in the flow state — stabbed his blade into the deity's face. The electric-blue tachi pierced his left cheek and exited through his right ear.
The deity threw a left hook, a small dagger hidden in his palm — but Azazul ripped his blade out of the deity's face and slashed sideways in one smooth motion, cutting off the deity's left arm.
The deity stared in shock. It wasn't the injury that enraged him — it was the focused, nonchalant look on Azazul's face. To him, it was arrogance.
"How dare you?! How dare a half-breed show arrogance toward a true deity?! You think just because you have our blood you are like us?! I will show you my true power!"
The deity's body began to shine, a massive mana burst erupting outward. With the Eye of Darkness, Azazul sensed it beforehand and avoided the blast.
The deity leapt up, hovering in the air as white light consumed him. Azazul shielded his golden eye. The Eye of Darkness pierced the light, watching with precision as the deity healed — and changed.
When the light faded, his orange eyes were now bright red. Two additional eyes sat on the sides of his head, still orange, and a fifth eye marked his forehead. It was red like the others, but its pupil held a runic spell.
Though the deity had healed, the dark lightning had seeped into his body and was eating away at his life force. If he didn't kill Azazul quickly, he would die.
He vanished.
Azazul scanned the area — nothing.
Then a painful force smashed into his chest. He spun twice through the air, landed on his feet, looked up — and was hit again, ribs crushing.
He coughed blood before being blitzed: two hits to the face, three to the stomach, one to the chest. He was sent flying. He tried to land but was too disoriented. He fell on his back, rolled over his shoulders and head, then onto his back again.
The Eye of Darkness flickered. He tried to hold onto it — but it slipped away. His grey eye returned. His mana reserves were nearly gone, the last of it healing his ribs and face.
Footsteps approached. Pressure gripped his head.
The deity held Azazul up by the right side of his face, covering the golden eye. He brushed Azazul's bangs aside to reveal the grey one.
"You know, I'm pretty disappointed. I heard stories about that eye killing the whole original Guardians… and yet here I defeated you within seconds of showcasing my power."
He added mockingly,
"My prince… you're gonna need to step up your game. You're kinda weak."
Azazul grinned.
"I'm not done yet, you wrenche."
The eye on the deity's forehead stared directly at Azazul — trying to suck out his soul.
"That's strange… it doesn't work on you. Oh well — let's continue, shall we?"
He attempted to stab Azazul in the abdomen again — but Azazul caught the red katana with his left hand. Flames burst along the blade, burning his palm.
Azazul grimaced and let out a small scream.
The deity slowly forced the katana forward, deepening the wounds in Azazul's hand and piercing into his abdomen.
Azazul yelped, then thrust out his right hand and summoned his serpent. The creature appeared instantly and wrapped itself around the deity.
The deity laughed.
"Is this your way of stopping the inevitable? What a joke."
But Azazul's tachi reached his right hand. He slashed off the deity's arm, fell to his knees, then — without even stopping to breathe — lunged forward and stabbed the tachi through the serpent and into the deity's chest.
With what little mana he had left, he attempted to summon the dark lightning — but failed.
Damn it.
The deity retaliated, stabbing his red katana into Azazul's chest, barely missing his heart. Azazul let out a pained cry, then instinctively summoned his lightning. But the deity grabbed the blade of his own katana, causing both to be electrocuted.
They collapsed.
The bright red–eyed deity summoned healing magic again, but it was slower after consecutive uses.
Azazul, meanwhile, fell into the Realm of Darkness.
"I'm back in the Realm of Darkness?"
A soft but demonic voice spoke:
"You're gonna die soon."
"Die? Since when do you talk like this? I mean — not that I'm against you finally opening up to me… but why now?"
Azazul suddenly felt solid ground beneath his feet.
What the hell…? I was getting tired of floating through darkness.
A figure appeared — clear as day, as if the Eye of Darkness were active.
It was him.
"What the… hell?"
His double spoke with his exact voice.
"He's stronger than you… you know that?"
"Yeah… I kinda learned that the hard way."
"You need the power of the Eye and the Darkflames. Since you can't summon the power of your other heritage."
"What other heritage?"
"The heritage of the God of Creation."
"You're right… but I'd rather die than let you bring harm to the people I care about."
Azazul sat and tried to meditate, focusing on waking up.
"No matter how much you try, you will not wake up."
"I'll lend you the power of darkness."
"Yeah… what's the catch?"
But the figure vanished, giving no answer — which itself was an answer.
Azazul awoke. He saw his opponent hovering above, both of them wounded and exhausted. Azazul pushed himself to his knees. His chest burned — unusual for someone who healed so fast.
If Akiko hadn't stabbed him in the chest so many times before, he might have stayed down.
His opponent was once again covered in white light.
But Azazul felt something.
He could see mana again — the Eye of Darkness had activated.
A strange sensation spread through him. Pitch-black liquid poured from his Eye of Darkness, running down his cheek and neck, dripping onto his chest and seeping into the wounds in his abdomen. His body still felt present — but the pain was gone.
The ink reflected no light. It absorbed it entirely.
The deity's light finally faded.
Azazul knew what would happen next. He picked up his sword and waited, staring into the sky.
I do hope Matthew is okay…
The deity laughed.
"Well, I see you're still alive. I shall ki—"
Before he could finish, Azazul vanished and appeared right in front of him, sword raised and aimed cleanly at the deity's neck.
No more hesitating.