Blazing Glory Ch. 14

Koas hurled the fireball at him, its roar deafening as it closed in on him swiftly. He felt the blades throb intensely. He grunted as he felt another strange surge of strength swell through him. Blaze could only hope what Rae told him about these Natori weapons was correct. He swept his blades out before him as the flames met him, metal glinting in the light. Like grass before the shear, he watched in awe as the flames parted where he cut them. The black fire seemed to recoil and thrash about wildly before encasing the sharp edges of his swords. Blaze was surrounded by flames yet unharmed as it funneled towards his weapons instead, as if they were drinking in the flames.

"Wow!" Blaze couldn't help but laugh out loud in relief as he emerged from the quickly diminishing inferno, the flames now enshrouding his swords. His amazement soon faded as he looked up. The towering figure of the goddess was no longer in front of him. Instead he was surrounded in a fog of that very mist he had seen before. He slowed down to a cautious walk. His celebration was much too early and now found himself in a trap. Of course she would know how the Natori weapons worked and planned for that attack the fail! He grew angry at himself for falling for such an obvious setup.

Laughter rang softly in the still air around him, before a sudden pain burned across the backside of his right leg. Blaze cried out in pain as he staggered forward, hobbling slightly as he looked down to see blood leaking from the slash soaking his leggings. A flash of movement caught his eye, causing him to instinctually try spinning away. Fiery pain now spread from his left bicep, unable to fully avoid the dagger like projection that retreated back into the fog. He clutched his bleeding arm briefly before growling with frustration as he glanced about. What he saw was unmistakably familiar. Just like Lexiss, the goddess could manipulate her fingers to extend forward with surprising speed while they shaped themselves into sharp spikes to pierce their target.

"Gah! Damn it!" he screamed in anger and pain as he was slashed across his back soon after, her laughter echoing in delight. He spun about to slash at the source but watched the mist part to avoid his flaming blade.

"No, no, no," Koas taunted him, clearly amused at his futile efforts. The mist continued swirling around him. "That will not work because you can't cut what you can't hit after all."

Taking a quick breath to collect himself before the next attack, he forced himself to think clearly of a strategy before he was run through in the next few moments. Koas was merely toying with him at the moment to make him suffer physically and psychologically. He would use her arrogance against her. If only he could strike the mist as he had done with the flames. Whether it was physical or intangible, her surmised that the blades would cut whatever consisted of an immortal's being. Her mist dispersing from his attack added validity to his guess. He grimaced in pain as he felt another slash against his side.

"Mmmmm... Come now Blaze," Koas said, almost purring. "I want to hear you scream. Be a gentleman and make this fun for me at least."

Taking a deep breath, the human warrior ignored her voice as he became still. The air was quiet when she did not speak. The thick fog of herself that she had encased him in drowned out most other sources of sound. His ears strained as he focused as intently as he could.

"There!" His voice rang out as he heard the soft rustle of air, like the beginning of hearing a soft breeze pick up on a still day. His sword spun about to stab behind him, her favorite direction of attacking him. The amused mirth of the Mistress of Chaos quickly turned into a shrill scream of pain.

"You little wretch! How dare you cut me with those cursed things," she howled in agony, the mist quickly dispersing around him.

Blaze smirked with satisfaction. He had figured out that mist was hard to cut because it consisted of so much air. But that same mist was not much a weapon to harm him either. Koas had to bring herself into a more physical state temporarily in order to strike him. In the moment he managed to pick up on her movement where he guessed she came from, he made his move. Glancing around, he frowned as she did not appear as all traces of the mist vanish.

His swords throbbed violently within his hands as if in warning before the ground beneath his feet shook violently. Blaze stumbled about as he struggled to find his balance. The ground cracked in several places as it heaved before the earth itself surged upwards. Falling to his knees, the chunk of land he was on rose hundreds of feet into the air along with several other sizable fragments. Hundreds filled the air all about him as if she had fragmented and lifted the entire valley into the air. Held aloft by the dark goddess's power, the mist spouted like a geyser from the ground before coalescing into the towering form he had seen earlier.

"Damn you for harming my body, Blaze," she hissed, right hand hugging her left side. Her dress had been slashed and immortal blood flowed freely. "If I cannot use my powers to harm you or get close enough because of those blades, I will use the land itself to crush you like the worthless bug you are!"

The land he was on tilted to a sharp degree. Unprepared for the shift, he tumbled down the slope as he tried to slow himself down. Looking desperately for some kind of foothold, his vision caught sight of something that made his blood run cold. Blaze watched in horror as another hunk of land quickly barreled its way toward him. He hadn't felt it in his panic at first, but he could now sense the ground he was on was moving to meet the other in what would be a crushing collision he could never hope to survive. No longer fighting his momentum, he let himself freely slide as he turned about.

"Here goes nothing, because I have no other ideas!" He said as he jammed his heels into the dirt. His heels dug deeply into the dirt without any painful shock to his legs, assuring him that he was indeed getting stronger in body to be able to do this. The halt his body lurched him forward as he bent at the knees. With a loud grunt of effort, Blaze sprung from his crouched position. Combining the momentum with his increased strength, the human leapt into the air across the large gap. He landed with a rough tumble that knocked his breath out a little he heard the loud crash behind him. Pieces of dirt and rock flew everywhere as the goddess huffed in increasing irritation.

"Will you just die already?" She yelled as he rolled to his feet and began running again while several pieces of land hurtled toward him. The impact from several land masses colliding filled the air with dust and debris, making it hard for the goddess to see a crushed body or mutilated limbs flying about. A flash amidst the flying dust alerted her. It was too fast for her to protect herself in time as she leaned away desperately.

Blaze coughed as several stones beat his body as if he were brawling at some tavern. But he had seen an opportunity that he knew would be risky. Hidden within the chaos of debris, his right arm flexed before he hurled one of the swords at her. Normally, such an attempt would have pathetically arched in the sky before fallen well short. Blaze channeled his newfound strength into his muscles and the blades flew from his grasp straight as an arrow toward the goddess's eye. No longer having secure footing beneath him, he fell through the air while watching. The blade flew true to her eye where he hoped it had enough force to pierce through and drive through for the killing blow into her brain.

"Bloody hell," He cursed in frustration as Koas saw it in time and turned. She screamed in pain as his sword cut a large gash across her cheek before flying out of sight. The goddess continued screaming in pain and rage as everything began to fall back down to the earth due to her broken concentration.

Blaze wasn't sure if he could survive a fall from this height, despite the effects of his Natori blades. Glancing about, he a spotted a large boulder falling to his right that was close enough. Rolling about in the air, he kicked his legs out to hit it and propel himself towards the dark goddess. He roared his battle cry as he plunged forward with his one remaining sword raised above his head, intent to plunge it into her chest and through her immortal heart. Pain exploded in his skull as his vision went white hot with the pain.

He silently cursed his luck as he felt the large rock ricochet off his skull before continuing its descent to the ground. The shocking blow made him drop his sword as he tumbled in the air before a powerful unseen force stopped his fall. Blaze shook his head to clear his senses, blood flowing down his cheek from the head wound. It didn't take but a moment for the horrible realization to set in as the large fingers squeezed tightly about his body.

"You... YOU..." Koas spat hatefully, boiling over with rage as the blood continued leaking down from her wound. He would have assumed she was like Kendra in that the wounds would heal without much as a trace. The effect of the Natori weapons must nullify it this healing ability. "Scarring my beauty was the worst mistake you could have ever made, Blaze. I was content in merely killing you, but now you will suffer for this indignity!"

The human threw his head back and yelled in pain as she began tightening her fist about him. He could feel his bones groaning in protest under the pressure. Her scowl slowly turned upwards into that familiar smile as she watched his legs kick about helplessly. A few loud pops filled the air along with his scream as his collar bone broke and several ribs snapped. The pressure was dangerously coming close to rupturing several internal organs. It was pain almost unlike anything he had experienced before as he was slowly crushed.

"Hush, dear boy," the Mistress of Chaos shushed the human howling in helpless agony, easing off the pressure. She saw his head slump forward before she shook him back awake. "No, no! Stay with me, Blaze. I want you awake and alert through all of this."

Blaze glared angrily up at her as she transferred him to her other hand, holding him up by his shirt with her thumb and forefingers. She hummed in pleasure as her free hand lifted his arm up. Her flowing hair, always alive in perpetual motion, came about and coiled about his extended fingers tightly. His eyes opened wide with realization of her intentions. He squirmed helplessly in the air in desperation to pull his arm back.

Koas laughed at this. One by one the snapping of bones filled her ears along with his screams while the tendrils of hair twisted those fingers in the wrong direction. Her tongue darted out to caress her lips in savoring the sweet suffering as he cursed her through the pain. Apparently Blaze still had some fight left in him. That simply would not do. Perhaps if she broke something larger?

"Damn you," Blaze cried out, fighting back the tears as it was unbearable. He refused to give the goddess the satisfaction. Breath seized in his lungs when he felt her forefinger and thumb seize his lower right leg. "No! Don't you da-AAAAAAAAHHH!!!!!!"

Blaze threw his head back and screamed louder than he ever had in his life as the smirking goddess gave a sharp twist. With the sickening pop, his tibia and shin snapped completely as it was bent in an unnatural direction. Muscles and tendons ripped along with the motion. Fire erupted in his mind. His whole world became nothing but pain. He could not stop screaming despite his throat becoming ragged from doing so.

"BLAZE!" Blaze faintly heard a female voice shouting through the suffering.

This new voice did not escape the attention of Koas either. Glancing up, her red eyes focused out on the plains to spot the source. With wings beating the air rapidly in desperation, Kendra was flying across toward her. Koas frowned. Was Merodach that incompetent? He had assured her that he would remove the demon princess from this realm.

Kendra's lungs burned and her back strained with the effort as she sped toward them. She silently thanked Rizarra for finding her as quickly as she had. After she had come to, she was horrified with the realization that she had lost too much time from blacking out. In her frantic state, she hurriedly backtracked to the bridge and into the tunnels Blaze and the drow had entered. Further time had passed as she went through several forking tunnels and backtracking from dead ends until the drowess came out of the darkness. When exiting the tunnel, she witnessed terrain crashing everywhere across the plains. It was not hard to spot the goddess. The faint sound of screams reached her ears before her heart almost stopped from knowing whom they belonged to.

"Blaze! Hold on! I'm coming," she screamed as she barreled towards them, her red leather whip dropping from her sleeve. The goddess fixed her with annoyed expression before smiling. She held up the severely injured human dangling in the air. Her other hand pointed towards him as Koas raised an amused eyebrow.

"Coming for whom? Oh! You mean him?" Koas asked. Blood erupted in a burst of red that filled the air behind Blaze as the extended sharp finger ripped through his torso. The eyes of the Mistress of Chaos flashed with satisfaction while watching the human convulse briefly as he looked down in shock from being pierced through the heart. Blaze tried to turn his head to look at Kendra but he slumped forward before he could see her one last time.

"NO!" Kendra cried out in horror, the sight sending her reeling in her flight, tumbling into the ground. She coughed from the dirt and dust as she pushed herself up to her knees. It was a trick! By the Abyss, let it be a damned illusion! She looked up, emerald eyes widened as she watched the finger retract. Blood poured out the large hole as the lifeless body dangled in the fingers of the dark goddess. Her body went numb as her vision blurred, cheeks quickly becoming wet from the tears flowing freely. Koas sighed in both satisfaction and some disappointment as she looked toward Kendra.

"I was having so much fun until you had to show up. No thanks to you, I had to end my entertainment early," The goddess hummed as she waved her hand, shaking the corpse about nonchalantly. "What a shame. At least now that Blaze is dead, there is nothing more holding you in this world. You can return to your realm where you belong. I know! Why don't you take this with you as a souvenir?"

The stricken succubus could only watch as the goddess tossed his body toward her. Blaze arced through the air toward her before his broken body landed in front of her. A groan of grief escaped her as she crawled over toward him, reaching out to touch his face. Cupping his cheek, Kendra could feel the warmth fading from his body. Her mind was a tumultuous storm of emotions as any hope of this being some nightmare was quashed by the reality that she could physically feel this was real.

Why? What did this world have against her and those she cared for? Kendra bit her lip to stifle another cry, the tears not ceasing. All she ever wanted was to find love and enjoy a peaceful life together making each other happy. She believed she had finally found that path with Blaze. Some nights she had laid awake by his side as he slept, arm draped across his chest. Fanciful thoughts would fill her mind about what would happen once this ordeal was finished. She would think about making a home for them to enjoy and her friends to come visit frequently. They would have a small, informal wedding before the settling in to their new life with the future plans of having children. Now both of their dreams were crushed. From the very beginning, was it all just an empty hope?

"Now get out of my sight and take that filth with you," the dark goddess spat in disgust. Koas turned around while her form shrunk down to its smaller humanoid size. She waved her hand dismissively back at the Kendra before she walked back toward her castle.

"BITCH!!!" Kendra's voice rolled like thunder across the sky, the earth shuddering violently for a moment.

The goddess stumbled and stopped. Looking back over her shoulder, Koas frowned with confusion. No longer a weeping, the demon's eyes were glowing green with piercing malice that stunned her. Red and black flames of hellfire whirled about her body as her wings grew larger. The succubus leaned back, head gazing to the heavens as her fanged mouth opened to unleash a deafening scream echoing across the realm.

The flames erupted into a large column toward the sky, mountains shuddered violently as the earth began to shake with increasing frequency of quakes. The bewildered goddess watched the column roar upward into the sky before it spread out with a thunderous boom. Koas staggered as everything in that moment lurched, the whole world itself seeming to become unhinged. Regaining her balance, she looked back up to the sky. Koas froze.

"T-that's... not possible..." She whispered in growing horror. "Merodach said nothing of this. No demon princess has that much power. Not even we gods can shatter the sky!"

Yet her eyes were not lying to her. The sky above splintered with jagged cracks spreading off into the horizon. Like a rock thrown into a mirror, pieces of sky began to break away and fall toward the ground as they faded into ethereal nothingness. Left behind were gaps in which hellfire began to fall like rain. Behind the flames were millions of writhing, twisted bodies. It was the neatherealm, part of the Abyss in which demons rules. The corrupted souls of the wicked and damned resided there in eternal punishment for their horrific crimes in life. Their wails and howls of desperation of seeing the world they wished to return to filled the air. The stunned Koas looked back with realization to the succubus rising to her feet as hellfire roared all around her.

Koas could not believe her ill luck that she was facing the very being Odin had warned all of the gods would come. The one being that would destroy their realm. No one, not even the gods would escape death as the world was dragged into the Abyss. Wary of mortal prophets causing mayhem with spreading this prophecy around the world, the gods quickly set into motion of planting agents to misinform the mortal races with various tales of the end of the world. The mortals whom accurately prophesized the end of the world would be quickly dismissed with rest of the other predictions. The warnings would be heard as nothing more than the ravings of lunatics or fools. But the person before her fit Odin's description. A figure wrapped in flames as fire rained from a broken sky.

"Ragnarok," Koas whispered.

The flames gathered around Ragnarok's wings and began spinning about violently beneath them as she took a step forward the goddess. Koas could not help but take a step backward in fear. With each step, the earth shuddered violently beneath the feet of the demon as she was soon running towards the goddess. The air roared with the ferocity of the flames as the ground behind her melted rapidly. Fire rained from the sky as she thrust her wings out and the flames concentrated behind them to thrust her forward at a blazing speed. In a long fiery streak, Ragnarok shot across the plains like a star racing across the sky. Her long, furious scream was piercing as roar.

"Dammit," Koas cursed. So fast! Green eyes filled with only hatred were upon her before she could react.

"I'll fucking kill you!" The demon shrieked. The goddess doubled over in pain as the demon's fist dug deep into her stomach before the full force of her punch came through. The goddess nearly disappeared, her body becoming almost impossible to see as she was hurled a great distance away. Ragnarok's chest heaved with deep breaths. It wasn't enough. This was only the beginning for Koas!