PHASE 14 - THE UNDERWORLD HEIST

I still harbor hard feelings against this man. He already killed lots of people. He also used Diadem as his subordinate, as well as the other New Order Generals. He chopped my arm off. He killed Tiara once. And he is the reason why I lost Amy.

“Aren’t you a little sentimental here?” Aeternos’ face is blurred, but it’s clear as day that he’s smiling at me right now.

“Give me the Fragment of the Frozen Soul and the Curse of the Brightmore Witch. Now.” I lent out my hand right in front of his face.

“Heh.” The blurry man chuckled. “I knew that this time would come. But sadly, I cannot give it to you.”

“Then I’ll just gut your lungs open and grab it from you.”

“That’s not how it works.” Aeternos laughed. “The Fragment and the Curse are attached to my soul forever. There is no way I can segregate and give those to you. If you want to take those back, then take me with you.”

“You must be dreaming that we’ll free you from this Underworld Prison. That’s a no-deal.” I said.

“Then feel free to cry along with your ice cream lover, Alaric Eisenhower,” Aeternos uttered a single laugh.

I looked at Erylle, and she looked at me back in a clueless facial expression. I have to consult her on this because I don’t know what to do at this point. If we drag Aeternos out of this prison, it might lead to his escape.

“It’s up to you now,” Erylle muttered with a smile on her face.

That forced me to think and reassess the situation. My main reason to come in this hellhole is to retrieve the Fragment and the Curse. If Aeternos can’t separate himself from those things that he had stolen, then I have to drag him forcefully.

I made a deep sigh and then unleashed my answer.

“Fine.”

The blurry man smiled. After a second, he gulped as he swallowed his saliva with his dry throat. Then, he looked at the God of the Underworld with a vicious stare.

“But I don’t think that boney guy here will agree to your plan.” Aeternos continued.

“Visitation is over,” Hades said as he tapped the edge of his large fork on the cemented floor. “I won’t permit anyone to escape from my prison. I will also have to take Jeannette back.”

“Hades!” I shouted. “Jeannette does not belong here! She’s a living being!”

“Then I guess you three will be staying here too. In my prison.” The skull face smiled as he raised his arms. Clouds started to surround his body, giving him a limitless source of magical energy.

“Erylle!” I shouted.

“!!!”

As the white valkyrie transforms into the Goddess of Hunting, I made the first attack that is meant to be a distraction.

“!!!’

Fifty-seven silver slashes, and yet, no scratches. The God Hades tapped his staff on the ground, creating an invisible barrier that completely blocked all my blinding assault.

“!!!’ Jeanne made her turn as she charged forward, with her gunblades positioned into an X. But that attack was ineffective because Hades shielded himself with his fork.

“!!!” Goddess Artemis unleashed seventy-two silver arrows in just a matter of two seconds!

Surprisingly, Artemis' arrows all went through Hades’ special barrier, and some of those projectiles punctured the enemy’s shoulder, legs, thigh, and even kidneys. Seeing that blocking the attack is useless, the God of the Underworld made extreme effort to dodge the attacks. And the end result was countless cuts on his body.

“Damn you, Outsider!” Hades roared.

Erylle or Lord Artemis might have the upper hand in this battle, but the time is limited. If she unleashed more destructive spells, he might get banished and kicked out from this Underworld Prison.

I have to act fast.

I opened a Gate and drew an ice shard that has the shape of a short sword. Using this indestructible crystal diamond, I slashed through the chains that have been restraining Aeternos. Now, one of the evilest men is free.

“Ah, I’ve been hanged for so long that I don’t feel my arms anymore,” Aeternos muttered as he checked his wrist that has the imprint of his restraints.

Seeing that one of his precious prisoners has been freed, Hades roared from the distance.

“You fool! You don’t know what you’re doing!”

He proceeded to roll and parry silver arrow projectiles that have been launched by the Moon Goddess unto him. Lord Artemis is doing great in keeping the enemy busy.

But…

The goddess is now on the verge of disappearing once again. Her body is now transparent, and she’s slowly being converted into tiny specks of golden light.

Soon, the arrows that she launched are nothing but imagination. The silver projectiles she released from her bow became see-through too, and even if it hits the enemy, it just passes through. She's now only unleashing ghost projectiles.

“Your time is running out, Outsider!” Hades smirked. “You won’t be able to protect those idiotic mortals!”

Artemis was reconverted back to her base form Erylle. Even with the loss of her powers, she tried endlessly shooting with her magical arrows, but no good. All the attacks she made are nothing but holograms.

“Hahaha!” Hades laughed. “Now watch in despair as I restrain your lovable mortals! !!!”

The God of the Underworld opened up his palm, and numerous black chains spawned from it. Those chains flew like aerial snakes, chasing our direction!

“Crap!” Erylle cried. She tried catching all those chains by her own hands, but alas, she just goes through it.

Jeanne also tried blocking the chains with her gunblades, and that is the greatest mistake she could ever do. Now the black chains extended and crawled like eels as it swirled on the blade all through the poor runt’s arms. It constricted, preventing her nerves to issue a command to move. It also blocked the flow of prana through her body.

The are coming for me too. I’m not fast enough to evade, and blocking it with a spell or my weapon is not a viable idea.

But there is someone who can stop it.

“!!!”

The blurry man shouted.

A pillar of silver light engulfed the prisoner’s body, creating a powerful pulse that repelled all those black chains. The shockwave also evaporated the chains that have been constricting Jeanne’s arms.

“SHIT!!!” Hades cried.

When the silver tower of light faded, Aeternos revealed himself in his most powerful form.

He’s now equipped with silver, gold, and dark platinum armor which shines in the middle of the darkroom. He has indestructible white steel plates on his gauntlets and iron boots. A long blue cape waved as the surge of prana unleashed ominous winds. A golden mane that is similar to those of a lion materialized on his collar, and a silver helmet that looks like a liger’s head covered his blurry face.

This is the invincible form of Aeternos. I have fought him before, and I say no attacks can penetrate that armor. The only reason why Tiara has able to destroy it during the Christmas Raid is that she is powered-up by the omnipotent powers of Amy's .

“

Aeternos raised his right armory hand, and it was buffed with electricity. White wings spawned upon his wrists as the gauntlet on his right hand expanded.

Panicking, Hades turned to his last resort. He channeled unlimited prana on his body, and the God Core on his chest glowed.

“God Core Relea-!!!”

But Hades failed to cast another spell, as he was overwhelmed with the terrifying speed of the armored man. Aeternos has teleported right in front of him.

“”

A loud tremor echoes as Aeternos dunked the God of Underworld’s face to the floor.