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The Slayer threw several punches towards the Dark Lord, his arms were blurred from the speed they were moving at. However, the Dark Lord weaved out of the way of each punch, floating backwards to evade each punch that came his way. Davoth zoomed backwards to gain some distance from the Slayer. In response to this, the Hellwalker dug his fingers into the ground to rip out a large chunk of rock. The Slayer hurled the rock towards the Dark Lord with ease, the rock traveling faster than a bullet.
Davoth raised his hands in front of him to halt the rock in-place before disintegrating it into a mist of rock particles. As soon as he did this, the Slayer was already in the Dark Lord's face, preparing to strike the God. Davoth responded by reforming the rock that was hurled towards him around the Slayer's body, encasing him within it before dropping the rock to the floor with the warrior stuck inside.
As the rock hit the ground, the Slayer broke free from it's clutches. As the warrior stood back up on his feet, he began to sink into the ground as if it were quicksand. The Slayer yanked his feet out of the ground, but, as he did this, several tendrils of rock wrapped themselves around the Doom Slayer to drag him under. Every time the Slayer broke free, the rock tendrils only reformed and continued dragging him under. The Slayer scrambled for freedom but it didn't take long until he was completely submerged into the ground, nowhere to be seen.
Davoth took to the skies, anticipating the Slayer's reaction until the area in which the warrior was buried underneath exploded like a volcano. Thousands of tiny rocks rained down upon the battlefield with the Slayer standing in the very center of the crater he created. The warrior locked eyes with his target, jumping into the air fist-first to strike the Dark Lord who simply hovered out of the way. The Hellwalker knew this was going to happen and utilized the thrusters of his Praetor Suit to dash towards the Dark Lord without delay. However, the Slayer couldn't land a single hit on the Dark Lord while he was in the air, Davoth maintained his nonchalant expression as he evaded every single hit. After several seconds of this, Davoth pointed his hand at the Doom Slayer, freezing him in-place with his telekinesis. The Dark Lord flicked his hand downwards, hurling the Slayer into the ground and creating a crater around the impact area.
The Dark Lord spread his arms outwards as he directed his energy outwards to create purple silhouettes of several large beasts of varying types. They appeared to be demonic versions of ancient mythical creatures. As soon as the creatures were created, they began charging after the Doom Slayer who was recovering from the last attack. As the creatures touched down on the ground, surrounding the Slayer, they began closing in on the warrior all at once. The warrior swatted them aside with ease, punching and kicking his way through the silhouette creatures which dissipated upon impact.
After the Slayer had finished disposing of the silhouette creatures, he noticed a tidal wave of darkness approaching him. The Slayer couldn't dodge, so he instinctively raised his arms in self defense. Nothing happened. The Slayer lowered his arms, only to discover he was now in the Blood Swamps of Hell. He was in knee-deep water with fog so thick you can barely see what's in front of you. He could make out the distinct shape of trees and other unique plants that belonged to the Blood Swamps as well as the blue-ish-green sky that was obscured in dark clouds.
Soon after this, the ground underneath the Slayer shifted until he was flung in the air by an oversized Hell Tentacle that emerged from underneath the Slayer's feet. The air pushed the Slayer against the body of the rapidly rising Tentacle. The warrior pushed himself up before furiously ramming his fist into the body of the creature and effortlessly splitting it's head in two, showering himself in it's blood. The remainder of the Tentacle's body soon collapsed to the ground. As the Slayer descended, several more oversized Tentacles rose up from the water, surrounding the Slayer. Once the Tentacles were fully erect, they simultaneously swung at the Doom Slayer.
The Warrior ignited his demonic crucible and channeled his spiritual energy to perform his next maneuver, "Blood Breathing: Third Form, Bleeding Drill." The Slayer spun in-place while swinging his crucible. All at once, the Tentacles were sliced to smithereens, causing the tentacles to retract their bodies, instinctively, before losing whatever life they had left and collapsing to the ground.
The Slayer could see a light source shining through from below him. The light exponentially grew in size, capturing the warrior's attention as he looked down to see a gaping hole in their current dimension rapidly opening. The water of the Blood Swamps began pouring through the dimensional gap, it took no time at all until the Slayer fell through the gap and was transported to another world.
The warrior was now falling through the skies of Urdak which has now been tainted by Hell. The sky used to be so clear you could see into outer space. Now, it's corrupted by purple-tinted clouds that obscure its former beauty. A hazy mist covered a majority of the dimension with many of it's artificial trees now sporting blood-red leaves, with hell vines growing in places they shouldn't be growing.
The Slayer couldn't respond to the Dark Lord seemingly teleporting in front of him and performing a wide sweeping kick that would launch the Doom Slayer through the many structures of Urdak. The Slayer was sent flying through a couple buildings until he was caught by the Dark Lord. With the Hellwalker within his grasp, Davoth began shooting towards the ground, utilizing the Doom Slayer as a battering ram as he charged his way through the infrastructure of Urdak, decimating entire areas. They soon passed through the entirety of Urdak, now descending past the floating city and into the endless abyss of the dimension they were in to build up more momentum. The Slayer threw several punches, each of which hurt the Dark Lord but wasn't enough to stop him.
A portal opened up below which took them back to their battlefield in Immora. They passed through the portal, and with no time to react, Davoth planted the Hellwalker face-first into the ground. The act of shoving the Slayer into the ground caused a humongous crater to form around them unlike anything else they've created thus far. The crater continued expanding in every direction, causing both the Slayer and the Dark Lord to descend several dozen meters below ground-level. All the while, the ground violently shook because of the expanding crater.
Once the seismic activity settled, the Dark Lord released the Doom Slayer who was planted into the ground. The God took several steps back, awaiting the Slayer's response. However, the warrior was unresponsive, simply laying on the ground with his head driven underneath. Davoth was not buying it and kept his guard up just in-case the Slayer got back up.
Before long, the Doom Slayer ripped his head out from the ground, backflipping onto his feet before hurling his fist towards the Dark lord wildly. Davoth sidestepped the punch before delivering his own that swiftly struck against the Slayer's abdomen, causing the warrior to reel forward in pain. The Slayer brushed it off, following up with another punch. The Dark Lord redirected the attack and quickly struck the Slayer across the side of his helmet which threw the Hellwalker off-balance as he stumbled backwards.
Davoth built up destructive energy within the palm of his hand as he cupped the expanding ball of energy. The Doom Slayer regained his balance before launching himself at the Dark Lord one more time. Davoth stood in place with the energy sphere in-hand and waited until the last possible moment to duck underneath the Slayer's attack before spinning around to face the warrior's backside which was now exposed to him. Davoth pressed the sphere of energy against the Slayer's back before pushing forward with all of his might. This caused the destructive energy to detonate, blasting the Slayer out of the crater as he left behind a trail of smoke that traced his descent in the air.
The Slayer was knocked rather far away, hitting the ground at an angle where his momentum allowed him to skid to a stop. The warrior groaned due to his injuries, wincing in pain as he didn't move a single muscle for a couple seconds. The Slayer was more fatigued than he had given himself credit for. Maintaining his demon slayer mark for such an extended period of time took a toll on him, not to mention all of the serious damage he had taken from the Dark Lord throughout their battle. The Slayer couldn't conjure up any plans to defeat the Dark Lord, he couldn't think of any ideas, until…
At doom's gate by Mick Gordon
His eyes shot open upon hearing the distinct cry of a spirit in front of him. The Slayer cursed to himself, lifting his head up and expecting to find a possessed demon in front of him or something else created by the Dark Lord. except, he found neither. In front of him was a familiar-looking twin-horned spirit. The warrior's eyes widened upon seeing the spirit, he couldn't believe what he was seeing, it was simply too good to be true. The Slayer ignored everything around him as he focused on the spirit in front of him. The translucent figure sported familiar sentinel armor and possessed a set of twin, upwards-curving horns. Flynn could recognize his best friend in a heartbeat…
The apparition in front of the Flynn was the spirit of Xernex, brought back to the physical plane of existence as a ghost intended to serve the Dark Lord one more time, despite his physical body being destroyed. While the Slayer was wrapping his head around what to say or do in the situation, the spirit of Xernex cut the warrior off by extending a helping hand towards his friend.
The Slayer smirked, no words needed to be exchanged between the two of them after all. This was all that needed to be said or done. The Slayer picked himself up until he was on one knee and reached his hand towards the spirit of his best friend. Though the Slayer was unable to physically feel Xernex's hand grasp his own, he knew they connected. The spirit began slithering around the body of the Doom Slayer, assimilating the Hellwalker as their two souls became one. The Slayer's muscles began to expand considerably with his eyes emitting a bright blue glow.
Davoth exited the crater and paced towards the Slayer's position. He was in no particular rush to get things done. However, as the Dark Lord got closer to the Slayer, he saw the warrior get up on his feet, slowly, with his back turned to the God. Davoth furrowed his brows as he witnessed a hazy blue aura begin to envelop the Doom Slayer. The Slayer's upper arms, which were the only parts of his body that were exposed and revealed his demon slayer mark that expanded across his entire body, now consisted of a secondary blue color that traced the patterns of the Slayer's skin. Now, the Doom Slayer's mark was a red and blue color that covered his entire body.
The Slayer slowly turned his head to reveal a translucent pair of twin horns, just like Xernex's spirit, sprouting from his helmet. Davoth stopped once he saw the Slayer's transformation and quickly assessed that this was none other than Xernex's spirit coming to aid the Doom Slayer one last time. Though this was a breach in their duel, the Dark Lord chose to allow it for the time being as he simply noted, "This will prove to be interesting…"
The Slayer didn't care, he wanted the Dark Lord dead, and if it meant getting assimilated, so be it. This was the first time in many years since Flynn and Xernex teamed up in any capacity. Though they had no time to relish their reunion, they were certainly not going to let it go to waste.
Dragon Slayer by Shiro Sagisu
The Hellwalker bent his knees and took up a new fighting stance that was a compromised combination of both his own and the Marauder's. The Dark Lord prepared for battle as he took up his own battle stance. The Slayer finally made his move as he dashed towards the Dark Lord at incredible speeds and was already hurling his fist towards the Dark Lord. Unfortunately, by the time Davoth was mid-way through raising his arm to block, the Slayer delivered a powerful blow that catapulted Davoth across the landscape. The Slayer's momentum carried him forward. With little time to adjust, the Slayer corrected the angle of his body before propelling himself forward by launching off from the ground towards the Dark Lord and shattering the foundation he previously stood on.
The Hellwalker caught Davoth's body mid-air as it was still being flung back. As they soared across the sky, the Slayer grabbed both ends of Davoth's body and slammed it down onto his thigh, pulling downwards to bend the God's body backwards in an attempt to shatter his spine. This caused the God to grit his teeth from the pain as he unleashed a powerful shout and released his energy in every direction. This allowed Davoth to narrowly escape the grasp of the Doom Slayer who was knocked to the ground while Davoth was able to stabilize himself in the air. As soon as the Doom Slayer landed on his feet, he looked up to see the Dark Lord creating several dozen energy spheres that surrounded him before hurling them one at a time towards the Doom Slayer. The destructive spheres snapped towards their opponent, exploding on impact and obscuring the Doom Slayer within the cloud of smoke generated by the explosion. Davoth didn't stop there as he continuously hurled sphere after sphere until he had created a gigantic explosion that shook the entire battlefield.
Davoth had removed himself from the sight of the explosion, surveying the entire area as he anticipated the Doom Slayer to emerge from the epicenter of the explosion. However, his attention was grabbed by something coming towards him at blinding speeds from the side. The Dark Lord turned his head, only to get horse-kicked away by the Doom Slayer. Right after the Dark Lord was knocked away, the Slayer turned around and clapped his hands in front of him with all of his might to create a powerful shockwave that had enough force to blast the Slayer back in pursuit of his target.
The Slayer managed to close the gap between himself and the Dark Lord very quickly, ramming into the God, head-first, causing Davoth to cough out blood. The Hellwalker immediately followed up by grabbing Davoth's head and pulling it down while driving his knee into the Dark Lord's face, bruising it in the process. Upon releasing his opponent, the Doom Slayer spun backwards with his leg extended to kick the Dark Lord away.
Davoth quickly regained control of himself before extending his hands outwards, towards the Doom Slayer, and unleashing a large beam of energy that zoomed towards the warrior. The beam pushed the warrior to the ground. The Hellwalker started to resist the push of the energy once he touched the ground and had some footing. The Slayer held his ground, holding the concentrated beam of energy back from going any further. He grunted once he began pushing back. After holding back the beam of energy for a period of time, the Slayer let go and allowed himself to be enveloped by the beam of energy which struck against the ground behind the Slayer and exploded. That's when Davoth stopped releasing his energy, bringing his arms back to survey the situation.
Emerging from the smoke was the Doom Slayer who rocketed towards the Dark Lord. Davoth narrowly hovered out of the way, generating a sphere of energy in his hands before hurling it towards the Doom Slayer. The warrior caught the sphere with ease and chucked it back at the Dark Lord with greater efficiency. The sphere exploded in the Dark Lord's face, blasting him backwards while the Slayer descended to the ground. Once the Slayer's feet touch the ground, he sprung after the Dark Lord and repaid a personal debt from earlier in their battle by relentlessly thrashing the Dark Lord with rapid punches and kicks.
Davoth found an opening in the Slayer's assault, striking the warrior with full power to stagger him before delivering several more heavy blows. However, the Slayer brushed off the blows dealt to him as his hand snapped over to the Dark Lord's wrist, holding it tightly as he squeezed on the Dark Lord's arm. Davoth winced before he was suddenly dragged along by the Doom Slayer who began spinning as fast as he possibly could in the air to build up momentum. After building up enough momentum, the Hellwalker released the Dark Lord, directing him towards the ground in an instant. Entire rock chuks blasted into the sky upon impact with spurts of lava shooting out from the cracks that formed.
Davoth ripped his head out from the ground, only to have it planted back inside once the Slayer landed on top of him and forced his face into the ground at full force once more. The Slayer pulled the Dark Lord's head out of the ground, the God's nose shooting out blood as a result of his injuries. The Slayer proceeded to slam the Dark Lord's head into the ground several more times after this. Davoth resisted with all of his might as he exclaimed, "Enough!" before releasing all of his energy like an explosion to blast the Slayer away. The entire area they were in was disintegrated by the burst of energy, leaving no trace of what was there besides the pool of lava that was, now, underneath the Dark Lord. Davoth hovered in the air as he wiped the blood off his face, his expression growing furious to see his blood staining his hand.
The Slayer ricocheted like a bullet once he crashed into the nearest rock, wasting no time to spring back to the Dark Lord as fast as he could. Davoth could barely react as the Slayer smashed his fist into the jaw of the Dark Lord, knocking out some teeth before launching him away. The Slayer chased after his target, refusing to let up and give his opponent a chance to counterattack. Davoth stabilized himself by digging his feet into the ground below and sliding to a stop as his feet left behind a dug out trail that followed his movements. He pointed his hands towards the Doom Slayer, firing multiple beams of energy that snaked towards the incoming threat.
The warrior passed through them all, the air he displaced along the way turned into a gust of wind so powerful it redirected the beams which spread out in random directions and exploded. Davoth brought his fist back, preparing to punch the Doom Slayer once he was close enough. The Hellwalker knew this was coming and slightly hopped in the air above the God once the punch was thrown his way. Once directly above the God, the Slayer snapped his leg towards the Dark Lord, sending him crashing into the ground beneath them, and destroying it.
Utilizing his thrusters to stop his forward momentum, the warrior dropped down next to the Dark Lord and raised his leg backwards before shooting it forward to kick the Dark Lord away. The Slayer continued with his relentless assault, zooming after the God to finish the fight. The Slayer prepared to throw a punch once he was close enough to the deity, until…
Davoth stabilized himself and angrily raised his hand towards the Doom Slayer, holding the warrior still by utilizing his telekinesis. Davoth was furious, his eyes dilated as bruises and blood covered his entire body. Davoth cursed, "That's enough out of you, Xernex!" before unleashed a wave of energy that passed through the Doom Slayer. Though the warrior wasn't physically injured, he felt himself get weaker as his muscles returned to their previous size and the spirit of Xernex was ejected out of his body. Once ejected, the spirit dissipated in an instant, leaving nothing left of the former Night Sentinel.
The Slayer tried his best to fight against the telekinesis, but now that he was without Xernex, it was a futile effort. He was pulled towards the Dark Lord until he was close enough for the God to reach out and begin aggressively choking the Doom Slayer while pressing him against the ground. By then, the Slayer was released and was allowed to move on his own. He began to violently thrash his fists against the Dark Lord's body but the God fought through the pain, using more power to squeeze the life out of the Doom Slayer. The Slayer tried to breathe but his neck was getting to a point where it was fully closed. He let out a broken gasp of pain as he could feel the life slowly drain from him. Davoth didn't smile, he wasn't excited, he was furious about his injuries and sought to end the Doom Slayer's life quickly.
The Slayer slipped his arms between the Dark Lord's and began pushing against the God's elbows to weaken his grip. Once Davoth's grip was weakened enough, the Slayer seized the opportunity to force his knee into the Dark Lord to push him off before shove-kicking him away. The warrior breathed heavily, trying to take in as much as he could while he lay on the floor, exhausted.
Davoth stood up, coughing before informing the Slayer, "I misjudged Xernex. I was under the impression that he despised you. Hmph, no matter. Despite your brief moment of triumph, I will not allow you to gain the upper hand again."
The Slayer slowly sat up, wincing in pain as he forced himself to his feet. He was slouched over, his chest puffing from each breath he took. The Slayer couldn't think of another way to overcome the Dark Lord. Xernex showed him that brute-force was the only way to get past Davoth. If it means the only way to defeat the God is to physically overpower him, then it's a path the Slayer is willing to take, no matter the consequences. He has to push himself more than ever now, he has to keep up his momentum or the Dark Lord will truly finish him off for good. Flynn lifted his head as he took in a large, deep breath with his eyes closed and began focusing his spiritual energy on his already-fast heartbeat.
264 bpm track by Mick Gordon
Davoth took notice of the Slayer's skin shifting to a blood-red color. It reached a point where his demon slayer mark was obscured by the red color of the Slayer's skin. The man's muscles bulged exponentially as strains formed on each of them. The warrior began shouting from the excruciating pain he was putting himself through by pushing his body far beyond its limit. Davoth appeared concerned as he stated, "You're killing yourself for more power? This should be interesting. Make it count, Slayer."
The Slayer struck the Dark Lord across the face with enough force to shoot a shockwave through the man's skull. Davoth was sent flying because of the punch, the shockwave the Slayer generated decimated the surrounding area. Without delay, the Slayer zoomed after the Dark lord, throwing one heavy punch and kick after the next as each created a concentrated shockwave that blasted through the God's body. The Slayer kicked the Dark Lord into the sky before chasing after him. He grabbed ahold of Davoth's legs, spinning forward as fast as he possibly could before hurling the God into the ground.
The ground caved in as building-sized chunks of the ground blasted away in every direction, dust and debris skyrocketed into the air due to the shockwave of the impact. Before Davoth could get back up, the Slayer landed on top of the God, grabbing his legs and proceeded to use him as a sledgehammer by slapping the Dark Lord against the ground multiple times in rapid succession. After whipping the deity across the ground multiple times, he tossed the being away before vanishing from his position and reappearing quite a distance away from the Dark Lord. Once Davoth was within range, his momentum was halted by the Slayer grinding his fist against Davoth's side, launching him back in the other direction.
The Slayer proceeded to bat the Dark Lord around like a ball, striking him back and forth as if he was a ricocheting bullet. Davoth soon fell back into the Slayer's clutches as the warrior grabbed ahold of the God's neck and smashed the deity into the ground below him. With his target staying still, the Slayer climbed on top and began pummeling the Dark Lord deeper into the ground. Each punch caused a powerful gust of wind to blow in every direction with the force of a hurricane. The Slayer repeatedly smashed his fists into the where the Dark Lord was, blindly punching until he could no longer do so. He was going to make the most out of his temporary boost in power. He wasn't sure how long he was going to be able to maintain it.
The Slayer kept on punching until he broke past the surface layer and nearly fell into a pool of lava. The Slayer knew to get out, at that time, and jumped out of the gigantic crater he had formed from his onslaught. Immediately upon landing outside the crater, the Slayer crashed to his knees and fell over. He held himself up by pushing against the ground for support. The warrior frantically removed his damaged helmet and began violently vomiting a profuse amount of blood onto the floor. The color of the Slayer's skin began to fade back to normal as his demon slayer mark retracted itself. The Hellwalker slowly shrinked in size, his muscles shifting back to their original size. Unfortunately, they deteriorated from going beyond their limit as the man was left to continue vomiting blood while shaking intensely, it was an uncontrollable action he was doing involuntarily.
After a minute of vomiting on the floor, the Slayer lifted his head so he could see inside the crater. His eyes were baggy and bloodshot from the strenuous effort, dried blood stained his lips and bruises covered his entire face. The Slayer looked into the large lake of lava he had created. There was no sign of the Dark Lord anywhere. He didn't know how to feel about what he was seeing. All he could do is keep on breathing until his body stabilized itself and he'd be in a more optimal condition to move.
"A commendable effort, Slayer. I did not think you would push yourself that far. It seems I underestimated you once again."
The warrior's eyes widened in panic, he raised his head to see the Dark Lord hovering in the air several meters in front of him with his arms crossed. The man was bruised and bloodied all over but did not look fatigued in the slightest. The Slayer tried his best to move but he couldn't, his body was simply too tired to pick itself up at this point. He was done for…
"You're out of strength, Slayer. It seems our duel has come to a rousing climax. Out of respect, I will grant you a warrior's death, you have earned that much." The Dark Lord lifted his arm and began building up one last sphere of energy, powerful enough to finish off the Doom Slayer once and for all. The Slayer winced in pain, he couldn't stand the thought of going out like this.
INT Vegeta/Goku theme from Dragonball Z: Dokkan Battle
Something fell from the sky right, crashing into the ground right behind the Doom Slayer, catching the attention of both combatants. However, only Davoth was able to see what had just crashed to the ground while the Slayer was barely able to move his head. A small cloud of dust and loose dirt obscured what was inside. Davoth raised his eyebrows once he saw what emerged from the cloud. The Slayer heard metallic footsteps walk past him before stopping directly in front. The Slayer finally looked to see who it was that had just stepped in front of him.
Tanjiro stared at the Dark Lord with an intense gaze fueled by fury. The boy's fists were clenched tightly to the point his cybernetic left arm creaked from the effort. The Slayer muttered in shock, "kid…" before realizing the situation and crying out, "Tanjiro, you have to get out of here, you can't take him on your own!"
Tanjiro snappily responded, "I know I can't, but I can't afford to sit around and wait while the people I care about get hurt. I refuse to make the same mistake I did with Akaza a while back. Regardless if I'm strong enough or not, or if I'm terrified, I have to give it my all, no matter the outcome!"
Davoth uncrossed his arms as he commented, "So, you will be interfering with our duel, boy?"
"I don't give a damn about your duel, we're here to take you out, plain and simple!"
The Slayer forced himself to stand up as he warned, "Kid, I don't know what you have in mind, but your argent weapons won't work on him…!"
Tanjiro looked back at the Slayer before shifting his gaze towards the Dark Lord and saying, "Noted. Thanks for the heads up. Now get some rest, I'll do my best to hold him off until you've recovered."
"Be careful…" The Slayer trudged away with his helmet in-hand while keeping his eyes locked on Tanjiro. The way the boy fearlessly stands tall against the Dark Lord, unwavering in the face of such overwhelming odds was a stark contrast to how the boy was at the very beginning. Tanjiro was fearful when he faced Akaza, knowing he didn't stand a chance and was left frozen in fear, crying out 'help!' for his loved ones who needed it. Now, Tanjiro still knows he's outmatched but chooses to face his fears head-on. All the Slayer could do was give a prideful smirk towards his companion. He needs to rest up and recover as much energy as possible so he could assist Tanjiro before it's too late.
Tanjiro exclaimed at the Dark Lord, "In the name of all my loved ones, my mentors, and everyone you have made suffer, for them-" Tanjiro activated his demon slayer mark in an instant, raising his fist towards the Dark Lord before declaring, "-I will defeat you!" The boy dug his foot into the ground so he could propel himself towards the Dark Lord. After springing away from his position, the boy brought his fist as he soared towards the Dark Lord. Once the deity was within range, the boy let out a powerful cry as he snapped his fist forward to strike the Dark Lord…
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2 chapters left…