WHOMP!
BAM!
WHOMP!
"Hehe, yes, that's it! Fight, fight!"
SMASH!
The earth I stood on disintegrated with Quetz's powerful strike.
"Riessa!"
"On it, master."
The reverberating shockwave split the ground, forming a large mouth that consumed the piles of rubble.
Scooping Ishtar, Okita, Atta, and Nezha in her mouth, Riessa moved them outside the city as the chasm swallowed the rocks they rested on.
SWOOSH!
A fierce torrent swept over my face as I ducked and flipped myself out of reach from another swing.
"You're pretty agile. Your soul is just screaming with passion, si! Are you a lover of the ways of the luchador as well?"
Lucha... The hell is this woman on?
Magic roared to life around my hand. Holy flames and a symphony of other elements danced with the splendor of a rainbow in my palm. "I'm no practitioner. The only art I indulge myself in is taking down gods like you!" I glared furiously, my fist aimed at Quetzalcoatl.
"Such pretty flames you have. Do you wield them for humanity's future or perhaps, to eradicate every obstacle in your path?"
"I've never wielded my power for humans, only to protect and change the fate of my friends' lives. Humans benefited from our actions, but I've never given much thought to defending them."
"So, in the end, you're another person with a clear hatred for humans. I suppose that changes things..."
Her voice suddenly dripped with unexpected coldness, sharp like icicles, absent of the previous enthusiasm she enunuciated every word she spoke with. Quetz blurred from sight, seemingly gone as my vision filled with her macana being swung at the left side of my head with incredible speed and precision. "Destined enemies we shall stand then, our ideals clash such as we shall."
BASH!
"...So they do." My right eye glows as I catch the attack, making Quetz eat the energy she poured into the swing as I reflected it back, destroying the entire block and sending the goddess outside the city's walls.
"Nice counterattack!" Quetz sang, regaining composure as I spread my wings and lifted her above the clouds.
Kicking me away, she broke my grip and casually floated through the sky as we began trading fists in the air.
"You're giving great effort, but I've still got you!"
"Urk!"
Such surprising athletic prowress
Using her agility, Quetzalcoatl flipped over my punches. Her muscular legs quickly enclosed around my neck, while her arms shot for my wings until she had me utterly constricted with her body like a cobra. Holding all the reins, together we rapidly lost altitude, twirling like helpless logs as we plummeted much to Quetzalcoatl's joy.
Such surprising athletic prowress, but there's no way in hell I'm letting you to take me for a spin!
Switching the roles, I fade and teleport behind Quetzalcoatl making her the bottom. Dark clouds formed in the atmosphere casting shadows over our fight for control. Our battle brewing an incoming storm.
"River of the Damned!"
Black and malicious soul-infested waters zipped and howled through the blue expanse, fast enough to compete with Pegasus, engulfing us both.
It was as if Scylla and Charybdis stirred the hellish waters themselves. Lightning surged in the currents that battered and tossed its newest victim, several white searing hot bolts reacted to and followed the Aztecan goddess's magical energy, striking her true with cracks of lightning that brought a powerful light to the midnight waves as though the sun was nearby as Quetz endured the full power shock, while I swam unharmed, closing in at point-blank and unleashing a full-powered Heaven's Roar.
The ferocious brunt of the attack disintegrated everything nearby—every ounce of magic I released amassing as a powerful nuke that swallowed the forest, and the goddess with it.
Smoke billows from the newly brought destruction. A breeze blows past the ruptured land, the wind traveling through effortlessly in the hollow silence with no longer any blockade present to keep the rushing winds at bay; the forest that naturally stood proud and protected those from the fierce gale now nothing more but a fading memory.
My eyes gazed longingly over the land, which had transformed from a budding evergreen to a barren desert. Not a single tree stump could be spotted among the resultingly formed sandhills.
Things continued to change as the temperature rose. The loose grains of gravel and the hot winds combined to conjure a mighty duststorm wind while the rainwater persisted to plet down, thunder shaking the heavens and scaring birds from their nests. Orange and brown dots plagued my sight, coarse and bothersome dirt coated the tip of my eyelashes making things further than two hundred meters in the distance register as a hazy blur. I could feel my skin grow itchy, caused by the gale blowing the substance littering the substance everywhere. I used my hand to shield my eyes from the elements and my hair, stopping anymore of it from falling from my treeses and into my pupils.
It isn't long until I reach a break in relentless windstorm, where the breeze roared at its weakest. Steps ahead I discerned a familiar lone temple still standing amongst the wasteland as I slowly lowered myself, watching the sands whip across the only remaining clue of the forest that once existed.
I didn't realize we'd tumbled back into the jungle near her temple. Surprisingly it's unharmed after the attack. No doubt thanks in part to a barrier of sorts
SCREEE!
!
The ancient warcry of a bird of great renown ripped my ears a new one. The mass of pebble-sized gravel, below my feet heated and bubbled; a pile large enough to snow an entire town in melted away as Quetz rose from the ground like a phoenix, smiling while covered in numerous burns and injuries.
Feathered serpents flew from the bottomless pit Quetz's divine flames had created from burning through the earth. Their heat was smoldering hot like a supernova destroying every speck of sand and terminating the rainstorm.
Her magic power is steadily increasing despite the state she's in. Does she possess some last resort battle tenacity
"Kid!" Typhoon shouts, garnering my attention.
The mythical serpents had rapidly closed the distance, practically looming above like a second shadow. Gusts strong enough to swat flying ships out of the air brewed from their flapping, the eight wings of the four beasts entrapping me in a wind prison.
Elemental capabilities, and their readings are close to a servant to boot. Must all mythical creatures have control over the elements? Still...
SNAP!
These guys aren't even half as menacing as the things I've had to face.
The mere vibrations caused by the snapping friction of my thumb and middle finger shattered the prison much like cracking glass. Refracting the hot winds, I turn them into invisible blades of light that bisect the four serpents, their black charcoaled halves falling from grace in the toxic hot air.
Victory against the creatures became short-lived. Meters higher than I was, glyphic patterns and symbols made up a summoning circle reminscient of a sundial manifested at what I could guess was the discretion of the small dot below it. That's her, and she looks to be perched on one of her beasts. So the four I just killed wasn't all of her winged serpents.
The circular-shaped golden yellow formation widened into a rift rippling with pure energy as I lowered my head and torpedoed into the heart of the perilous weather again for round two versus Quetzalcoatl and the literal duststorm.
The spell spiraled further along towards its inevitable peak. The light blue erratic waves surging from the tear intensified, it's appearance a stark contrast to the glowering, darkened skies it danced against as an accompannying boom of thunder seemed to rock the world into silence, predating the largest bolt yet to crackle that followed short seconds after.
I felt as though I could feel the sparks that had flown off the tail of the lightning and slapped Quetzalcoatl's cheeks with a likely sting. Illuminated in all its bloody glory, the passing flash created by the bolt briefly showed the deity's face as clear as could be before the sky darkened once more, the thrilled smile she beamed with not forgone, but instead her expression now obw of determined delight as Quetzalcoatl took ahold of a small ball of flame that escaped from the rift's mouth.
"This is bad. It's like our conflict with Typhon all over again. Those clouds rotating over the earth are swirling with high amounts of ether. So much has condensed inside, vastly increasing their size that they're viewable from space!" Typhoon forewarned urgently.
More bolts rained down like hail as I avoided the disasters. Emerging amidst the worldwide danger, Quetz took hold of the flame and charged down, resembling a falling meteor as she caught fire.
"Piedra Del Sol!" Quetz screamed with all she had, colliding into me with a fierce right punch.
The attack was comparable to any of Zeus's master bolts. I felt my wings being reduced to cinders against the solar heat.
Sound and pain ceased to exist as I felt nor heard anything after the hit. Waves of raw power engulfed me in their intense anger. Being forced down inside mother earth, my eyes met with the other side of Quetz's temple Shiki explored. The outside mirrored the front in appearance except for a single sacrificial altar sitting neatly in the middle. It was the last sight I saw before losing consciousness.
...
GASP!
...Wheeze.......Wheeze...Wheeze...Kaff! Kaff!
I woke, startled, facing down in the dirt—breathing uncontrollably as I shakily rose to clutch my head and midriff. Gradually the five senses returned, and I began to feel overwhelmed with pain.
Sensations of lukewarm blood escaped my abdomen, the right side blood red with skin bursting wildly from the ruptured wound.
Taking up Tauropolos lying beside me, I stumbled to one knee absorbing the ruinous sight of Uruk.
"You're the first two up." Riessa's unmistakable voice called out to me, troubled.
She floated, stopping next to Ishtar. A just awakened Nezha looked around in horror resembling much of my current state.
"S-Status update. Master and others. Where?" Nezha implored worriedly.
"Well...the city has been trampled and burned to the ground. Roughly every citizen in Uruk perishes, save for the children. Jaguar was apprehended with the efforts of Serenity, Shiki, Jeanne, and Nero. As for Quetzalcoatl...master engaged her in battle after finding you four like this. It's been more than an hour, but he has yet to return."
(That's right...she crashed through the gate so fast I didn't have time to fire. And then...)
Frustration overtook me. I balled my hands in dismay, feeling the scarred burns of the gloves I wore on my flesh.
"Atalanta," Riessa called soothingly, nuzzling my neck sadly. "I'm sorry to seek your help given your injuries, but master's safety has me worried. His magic signature disappeared after the sky grew dark and a meteor rained down."
"Meteor?"
"My guess would be Quetzalcoatl's Noble Phantasm."
"...You think he lost?"
"...I'm...not sure. The attack vanished like it was canceled out midway. Truthfully I don't sense Quetzalcoatl's presence either. Their fight could have very well been a draw, even so. Can you please check on him? I would go myself, but Okita and Ishtar would've died without treatment; I'm still healing them now."
"Assist too. Let's go. Archer." Nezha spoke firmly.
Riessa's soulful eyes looked like a pleading kitten. They bore into me with a trust-filled vulnerability seeking the aid of an old friend.
"Yeah, let's go save him as he did for us. We'll be back in due time, Rie."
Given directions to the heart of where the meteor was seen I ventured alongside Nezha.
...
"W-What is this?"
Dreary was too simple to describe the area's scenery we faced. The attack demolished the earth's surface and well past the crust, stopping somewhere in the upper mantle.
Blots of the atmosphere were rendered discolored, the air unbreathable. As if the foundation of all life was on the verge of being uprooted and eradicated.
Our party of two treaded carefully into the wasteland. The hairs on my neck refused to go down the moment I stepped within the crater's borders.
"Atalanta, look."
"...That's!"
A beacon of hope. Unmoved and unharmed Quetzalcoatl's sanctum was set high as a tower upon an erect piece of land that still held its beautiful greenery amongst the molten crust.
The combined aesthetics painted a masterful dismal picture of the worn battlefield in partnership with the bright red background and cracked sky.
(Something sinister is lying up ahead. I can smell the malicious aura all around. The flowing ether and air here have been contaminated.)
"Nezha."
"Yeah. Extreme caution ahead."
She finished my warning. Plenty aware of the grueling situation herself. Nezha pulled me firmly onto her waist gliding us over the unsurmountable cavity.
Voyage towards the goal proved difficult by many means. Nezha's controlled flames sputtered without end. They were changing from their natural color to an unsightly gray mess, relinquishing themselves alongside her spear once we were directly over the temple.
"Ahh!"
Roughly crashing and tumbling down the wooded roof Nezha and I landed in the tall grass patch on the sanctum's rear side.
The green blades offered just enough cover to glimpse a peek at the situation. Events I once witnessed a lifetime ago were unbelievably unfolding before my stunned eyes.
"S-Silva." I gave an inaudible whisper.
The lifelong ally I'd known was wrapped and encased in living glowing obsidian and purple-colored shadows serving as armor. Formless scales protected Silva's abdomen and legs accompanying two sets of dragon talons, one covering his shoulders in menacing intimidation. At the same time, the second gleamed on his transformed hands as dangerous weapons.
The opening where his normally iridescent hued pupils shone was empty and black, hopelessly devoid of the secret compassion and humanity they once held, deeply locked away inside.
"Nega-realm Abyss Armor."
"Know form?"
I gave a shallow response to Nezha's inquisitive question, unable to fully tear my attention away. She was beaten, burned, and unresponsive. Quetzalcoatl was being suspended by her neck in Silva's left talon. Littered with blood, missing an entire left arm, and both legs shattered, the goddess was soundly defeated.
However, with his sanity lost power amassed in Silva's right talon for another attack despite the condition of Quetzalcoatl's shimmering body threatening to fade from existence.
"Nezha!"
"Right."
We moved together, launching from the grass in unison. I tackled Silva dislodging Quetzalcoatl from his grasp, allowing Nezha to catch and secure her safety.
"Kill...gods. Kill Zeus!"
Bellowing angrily with misunderstanding Silva effortlessly flipped me off top him. I landed on my back, eyes locking with a small stone structure that I hadn't seen while hiding in the grass.
(Crap. A sacrifice altar, just what I was afraid of. He thinks it's the same one from his nightmare built in Zeus's honor.)
!!!
I frantically rolled onto one knee from the reach of two shadow tendrils that struck where I laid seconds ago.
Already Silva was relentlessly barraging Nezha while she struggled to protect Quetz with her free arm. Destroying her in close quarters and using the shadows to attack what little distance was created, Nezha ran around clearly distressed while attempting to summon her flames without avail.
"Nezha magic is not going to work! The armor feasts on magic and pure ether alike; the area here is depleted."
"Need options."
"Give me two minutes."
SHHK!
I ducked under three more tendrils as they moved like a laser at my torso. Quickly ai got up as more came and traveled to the farthest point within the temple's protective barrier.
(If I'm not able to calm Silva down things will significantly worsen. The conclusion he's eaten rider's phantasm is indisputable. In addition, the forest has been completely drained of magic. In five minutes it'll have drained Uruk, and in more time, the singularity will be consumed and destroyed.)
(If that happens, there's no telling if human history will remain or if Chaldea could rayshift master out before she's killed. I have to save everyone, but most importantly, I have to rescue Silva.)
Rapidly I moved my hands, scavenging the healthiest pieces of earth that remained before they rotted away.
"Lancer, go!" I yelled at Nezha.
I fired three newly constructed arrows from my makeshift bow hoping to draw attention for her to slip through an opening, but things remained gloomy.
The wooden arrows fell apart from the intense magic pressure Silva was emanating. His sights didn't bat away a second from Nezha weaving in between the temple's stone columns, six shadow spears hitting her in different places as she struggled to keep dodging.
Rubble from the pillars began to fall from the attacks. A giant boulder fell from the roof pinning Nezha by her leg, setting Quetzalcoatl free from her grip once she hit the floor. Flashes of the barrier faded in and out like a light until the divine protection surrounding us finally broke.
Anticipating Silva's next attack I run up to his exposed back and quickly throw myself around him, painfully fighting through the spikes which reacted to my body and pierced the ruptured wound on my right side-ignoring the fresh flow of blood through willpower. I drape my bow around his neck and tilt it back just in time as a deadly breath stream releases from his mouth into the air.
A loud thump in the building signaled Nezha had gotten free. Her footsteps sounded further away until I could hear them far into the distance.
"Zeus!"
An inhuman roar came from Silva the moment Nezha and Quetzalcoatl vanished, the latter he mistook for Zeus.
ZZZP!
Ceasing in his wild, untamed struggle. The air around me changes and Silva's body dissipates appearing directly behind me.
"Perish!" he screamed angrily.
His black eyes unbelievably shaded a tone darker as they narrowed in anger. Silva's right foot connected, sending an unsurprising amount of pressure rippling through me. I felt as if I heard my ribs crack as blood spurted from my mouth. The decisive blow was enough to make the temple and the erected piece of earth it, and we stood on collapse, falling towards the crater waiting below.
Every inch of me hollered in pain while tumbling weightlessly through the sky. I could feel myself on the verge of blacking out each time my eyes fluttered closed.
Movements of a fleeting dark blur cutting through the rocks wasn't enough to fill me with dread. I was entirely out of energy in every sense.
Even the pain of being stabbed by Silva's talons meant little to me when he appeared over my body. Like this, together, we crashed to the ground somehow outside the bounds of the crater.
His hands were coated with my blood when he pulled out. Pinned directly beneath him, I gazed straight at his hollow eyes. Despite the shadows obscuring his expression and the darkness of those soulless eyes, I could tell Silva was strife with pain.
With the last residual energy I could muster, I raised my left hand weakly, gently stroking Silva's cheek before pulling him into a comforting hug.
"I....recall first seeing you like this, in so much pain like you are now-another kid filled with suffering caused by some of the Olympians and their tyrannical rule."
"Hehe, abandoned children left behind for... someone else to pick up. That's you and me. The cruelty......and injustice of...our world. I know of it all...like I.......know about...you. I understand your pain.........so...let's share it. Let go..........of it...Silva. Come...back...to me.......nii-......san."
I choked and coughed blood but never let go of him. I stroked Silva's head calmly until my hand hit the ground, spending my last moments with him, as I was incapable of doing in our first lives.
END
Next: Memories Sealed by Land
Okita's Note
"I hope you guys enjoyed the finale of Operation Jaguar. One of the three members has fallen, and things in Uruk have gone mad."
"What will Chaldea's next move be, and where is Gilgamesh?"
"Find out next time, guys, Okita wishing you all a big Daishouri!"