Descent of a God

Scythes

|Jude|

Two figures strode confidently towards me, their footsteps echoing off the nearby buildings. The taller of the two stood at a towering 7 feet and was adorned in tight-fitting black armor underneath a regal purple cape, with two serrated horns curling under his ears. The other, a smaller and weaker retainer, seemed to pale in comparison.

The Vritra's deep-set eyes rested beneath heavy lids, lending a charming quality to his stern face. His neatly-cropped ash black hair framed his chiseled features, giving him the look of a character from a romantic novel - if not for the horns.

Olfred broke the silence with a bow, "Scythe Cadell, Retainer Cylrit."

"Cadell," I muttered under my breath, sizing up my opponents. A lance, a retainer, and a scythe - this should be interesting.

"Come out if you wish to fight," I declared, ignoring Cylrit and Olfred's presence.

I noticed Cadell blocking Cylrit from attacking me as we made our way outside. They followed me persistently, but I led them to a secluded area at the foot of the Grand Mountains, kilometers away from any human presence.

It was time.

|Third POV|

Jude braced himself, coiling up like a spring before launching himself at Cadell. His mana-charged fist was intercepted by Cadell, but the force still pushed him back a few steps. Olfred conjured a dozen magma golems, meticulously refining and strengthening them before sending them off to engage Jude.

Cylrit drew his black blade, catching Jude's second punch, which was aimed at Cadell. The mana around Jude's fist was completely absorbed by the blade. Jude raised an eyebrow as Cadell's soulfire fist surged towards his face, and Olfred took the opportunity to conjure magma arrows, shooting them at him.

Suddenly, everything stopped, frozen in time except for Jude. 'Damn, I still haven't fully mastered this,' Jude cursed in his mind as he struggled under the burden of Arthur's aevum technique. He used the frozen time to dodge the attacks and moved behind Cylrit, unpausing time just before his [Black Dragon Cross Strike] hit the retainer's back. The impact unleashed a surge of mana that sent Cylrit flying away.

Cadell responded quickly, swinging his left fist at Jude's face while conjuring a stream of soulfire under Jude's feet. Olfred sent half of the golems to support Cadell, but Jude infused aether with his ice, giving it a black hue that neutralized the soulfire from the ground. He dodged Cadell's punch without difficulty and struck out at his liver with his Destruction rune, the violet flames surrounding his fist catching Cadell off guard. The attack would have landed if not for one of Olfred's golems sacrificing itself to slow down the attack, and the others forcing Jude to move by striking him.

Taking a deep breath, Jude conjured just a mouthful of water, then collected wind and gravity mana to act on the water molecules, adding tremendous force before releasing them. Cadell summoned a wall of soulfire that stopped most of the bullets heading for him, but a few hit him hard, piercing through his armor and causing golden blood to drip from his body. The bullets were also protected by aether, preventing Olfred's magma golems from evaporating them and causing most of them to be destroyed, with Olfred himself sustaining grievous injuries. A few bullets headed straight for Cadell's head and would have killed him if not for Cylrit saving his life with his black blade.

Jude focused his mana and aether on top of the four, his enemies unaware of the developing situation. Cadell released a large amount of soulfire straight at him, while Olfred used a more potent version of the spell he had used to kill Sebastian. Cylrit released his black smog to hinder Jude's eyesight, but it didn't matter. An inferno of violet flames enveloped Jude, protecting him from Cadell's soulfire. He quickly conjured ice to freeze Olfred's attack and used All-seeing Eyes to ignore Cylrit's black smog.