Chapter 23 - Grim Reapers and Legendary Monsters (Patreon)

"The Crystal is the Divine cornerstone of the Kingdom of Lucis. The Stone has a will of its own, and channels its sacred power through the Ring of the Lucii to the monarch who bears it.

Homeland of the remnant, a sanctified kingdom blessed with the Divine Crystal and Sacred Ring gifted to the 1st King of Lucis by the Anu and Padomay, giving the protection and power to the Lucis like never seen before.

The power of the Crystal flows through the Lucis and was used to protect not only the Lucis and Alliance, but also the entire Tamriel from some of the recent Deadric Incursions."

- Magic of Lucii

***

"The nightmare began with muffled trumpets. Then silence. The toll of a bell. Even the wind died down. Then it came. First the grinding, shrieking metal scraping and unraveling. Chains descended from the skies, giant claws drew Daedra to Nirn and sent more souls to Him. Molag Bal's Dark Anchors, forged in the Slave Pits of Coldharbour."

- Flaccus Terentius

***

Somehwere in the Draconic Deus Dimension, Evie Etoulde

Evie Etoulde was one of the most powerful worlds in the entire Draconic Deus Dimension, if not the most powerful world. The entire world was divided between the Evie and Etoulde, who have been at war with each other since ancient times.

Evies were the race of Divine Mechanical Gods led by Melvazoa and Etouldes were the race of high-ranked Spirit Gods led by Resetoras.

The war between the Evie and the Etoulde is ongoing as the Evie have successfully exterminated all other organic life on Evie Etoulde, leaving only the Evie and the Etoulde as the only surviving species of Evie Etoulde.

Due to the Malevolent God Melvazoa possessing the power to manipulate his existence as well as time, the conflict between the two groups was at a stalemate. Both Resetoras and Melvazoa were Half-Step Level 11 beings; they were the ones in the entire Draconic Dues that were closest to ascending to the Higher Dimensional Lifeforms.

That was also one of the reasons why they started wars and fought among each other because the temptation to ascend to the Higher Dimensional Lifeform was something that nobody could resist.

Beings that reached the Half-Step into the Level 11 and were at the pinnacle of the Cosmic Lifeforms could destroy entire Galaxies with their might. Thus, the Evies began invading and conquering numerous planets and worlds within the Draconic Deus through their Devastator Order to harvest resources for their expansion and, most importantly...

To help Malvezoa to become the Higher Dimensional Lifeforms and transcend the limits of the Dimension itself.

The Devastator Order, led by one of the strongest Evie deities, Regalzeva, led the Order in he conquest of many, many galaxies within the Draconic Deuss as they were stripped of their resources, their inhabitants were killed and refined into pure energy to serve the devises of the Evies.

The Gods were sacrificed to the Malvezoa, everything done in the glory and goals to ascend to the Higher Dimensional Lifeform.

Though, the Etouldes were not really better in any aspect. Even though the Etouldes were not outright exterminating the other species and Gods across the entire Draconic Deus Dimension, but they were making their own moves.

Mostly through the combination of indoctrination and brainwashing, essentially creating countless slaves across the Draconic Deus that were all over the entire dimension. These people were indoctrinated to be fanatical believers in the Etouldes and their Spirit Gods.

The planet Evie Etoulde was several times larger than the planet Earth, but that was understandable because the Evie Etoulde was a naturally Super-sized Planet that was artificially enlarged.

Several times at that.

Suddenly high above the skies of the Evie Etoulde, enormous purlish portal opened with the booming, deafening sound that sent shockwaves through the entire planet Evie Etoulde.

"I AM MOLAG BAL, LORD OF DOMINATION. THIS WORLD IS MINE FOR TAKING!"

A powerful, divine voice resounded through the entire planet as some who began with the weaker will were already knocked unconscious just from the voice alone, as the portal started expanding tremendously, and soon enough, several objects formed around the entire planet.

Huge portals, surrounded by metal and spikes, shot down anchors that buried deep inside the planet Evie Etoulde. The transliminal portals, the Dark Anchors, were summoned throughout Evie Etoulde, hooking into the ground, slowly ripping parts of Evie Etoulde away to float loosely in Oblivion, and gradually drawing the realms closer together with each weakening the barrier between worlds further.

The chains were comprised of ebony-alloy cold-iron, and even the chains themselves contained tremendous power.

In a split of a moment, collective understanding spread among the Evies and Etouldes, as their strongest Gods simultaneously attacked the biggest portal in the skies, from which the words of the self-proclaimed Lord of Domination were heard.

Yet, as many of the most powerful Gods attempted to attack, suddenly several spikes of purple lightning shot from the portal and obliterated these Gods from existence.

"Your pathetic power and trinkets can't defeat me! I am Molag Bal, Lord of Domination! Come my Army! Destroy these Fools who think themselves to be the Gods! Enlave! Rape! Tear! Destroy it all in my name!"

The voice of the God of Brutality resounded across the entire planet once more as the presence of the God of Brutality disappeared. As the God of Schemes commanded, his armies have started pouring from the portals, and the war for the Evie Etoulde has officially started.

Not only that...

The fate of the Draconic Deus was hanging on a thin thread

Yet... 

The unspoken truth is that both Resetoras and Melvazoa felt the power of the being behind the portal.

Geniu Higher Dimensional Lifeform. 

And one that was most probably above Level 11.

His presence alone was enough to paralyze them and make them incapable of doing anything.

This should be normally impossible as both of them were Half-Step Level 11 beings.

At the same moment, suddenly every single Gods and Divine Being on the Evie Etoulde felt a burst of power spread through the entire planet and beyond as they were feeling... 

Weaker, even though that wasn't the more accurate thing to say.

They were not weaker, but at the same time, they started feeling how their Divinities were being transformed into something else, and at the same time, some fundamental changes in the Laws of the World were changing.

Both Resetoras and Melvazoa looked grimly at the portal in the skeis above the Evie Etoulde because they instantly understood what was happening.

It wasn't that hard. 

Both of them did the same things a few times during their very long life.

The higher world was assimialting the lesser one.

***

Draconic Deus, Earth

Death Scythes, also known as Grim Reaper Scythes, are the primary weapons of Grim Reapers. Each of the Grim Reapers used a Death Scythe as their primary weapon, and they had great skill and proficiency in wielding it.

The Grim Reapers were very powerful and were the most loyal servants of Hades among the others. One needed to know that the Grim Reapers were something akin to a personal army of the God of the Dead and Underworld, and partially because of the Grim Reapers, Hades was so politically powerful.

The God of the Dead and Underworld was very smart.

He knew that only his power alone wasn't enough, he also needed the numbers, thus he cultivated the Grim Reapers. When Yhwach saw the numbers of the Grim Reapers and, most importantly, sensed their strength...

He noticed that something was wrong.

'Hades would never send this many just to capture one Demigod with no awakened powers, even if he really stole Zeus's Masterbolt.'

His thoughts sounded still more and more rational to him because there was really something wrong with all of this. Hades was one of the most cautious and cunning Gods that existed in the Draconic Deus.

That was also the reason why he managed to reach his current heights, and his power base alone was stronger than all other Olympians combined. 

So, sending this entire delegation of the Grim Reapers was really out of his character.

"Unfortunately, it does concern me... Lord Orcus."

Yhwach already memorized and stored in his brain information above everyone above a certain degree of power within the Draconic Deus. Orcus was one of the most prominent Grim Reapers, an Executive-Class Grim Reaper, which means that he was one of the higher-ups.

The real benefit was that his very own soul was tied to Hades's Kingdom of the Dead and he couldn't be really killed unless his very own soul was extinguished, but such a feat would be...

Nearly impossible for almost anyone.

The Will of the entire Dimension, like the Underworld, was protecting his soul, and that was a feat that would require some really powerful Cosmic Lifeform to do it personally.

"Last chance, boy. Out of the respect for Lord Shiva, get lost and give us the Lighting Thief."

The Executive-Class Grim Reaper redied his Death Scythe to the combat as powerful Death Aura burst out of his body that was eclipsing any Level 5 High-Ultimate-Class being that Yhwach has ever encountered.

It was clear that Orcus was going to fight to death, no matter what happened, but at the same time, Ywhach wasn't going to back down on this one. Orcus as the Exective-Class Grim Reaper, was someone was fanatically loyal to Hades and he was also extremely power.

Rahter bad combination.

"Catch the boy. I will fight with the Godling."

Orcus ordered his Grim Reapers as he would be the one who was going to fight Yhwach, while the rest of the Grim Reapers went after the Demigod and retrieved both the boy and Masterbolt.

Just as the Grim Reapers led by the four Ultimate-Class Grim Repaers attempted to leavethe area, suddenly they realtzied that they were trapped in some sort of the space prison.

Unbeknownst to everyone else, since the moment Yhwach realized that the Grim Reapers of the Hades were attacking, he used the Space Magic and cast the Spell named Prison of Emptiness, which would normally be a spell even above his capabilities.

Yet with the addition of the [Ultimate Skill Hastur the Lord of the Unspeakable Lore] into the equation, he cast this Spell and trapped everyone in one separate pocket space... something that nobody noticed at all.

Yhwach observed with a certain degree of amusement how the Grim Reapers attempted to break through the barriers, especially the Ultimate-Class Grim Reapers that were doing their all to break the Prison, but it was futile.

Nothing that they could do would be able to break through the Prison of Emptiness because the Spell was one of the most powerful Space Magic Spells in existence. Not to mention, it was being strengthened by the inclusion of the Runes and Elder Runes through the [Ultimate Skill Hastur the Lord of the Unspeakable Lore].

"You won't be able to break it... even though you are powerful and have numbers, the Elder Runes are not something to be broken by a bunch of Level 3 and Level 4 beings."

Yhwach lightly commented as he could see that Orcus recalled his Grim Reapers and stepped forward as he would be fighting with the Son of Shiva personally. Even though Orcus could sense just the surface level of power from the Godling in front of him, his instincts were telling him not to underestimate the opponent.

Orcus knew that even if he died here, he wouldn't really die because of the connection to the Kingdom of the Dead and Underworld, and at the same time, even though he was wary of the Son of Shiva, he was confident in his victory.

The rest of the Grim Reapers, like a well-oiled machine, immediately stepped back as they let their leader take the reins to fight. All of them understood that if their leader wanted to fight against the Son of Shiva, there was no place for them to intervene in such a decision.

"So, are we going to fight?"

It was more of a rhetorical question than anything as Yhwach looked at the approaching Executive-Class Grim Reaper, Orcus. He summoned one of the spears, the Divine Slaughter Spear, which was his primary weapon if he was fighting.

Preferably, he would also keep his distance, but since the meeting, he was already using [The Almighty], and he was able to see that the cases in which he would be able to keep the distance between him and Orcus during the entire fight were...

Almost nonexistent.

Still, now he could use [The Almighty] for a longer period of time, and coupled with the [Ultimate Skill Hastur the Lord of the Unspeakable Lore], he was able to comprehend the opponent's combat style rather easily.

Or rather, to a high degree.

He already has a very good understanding of his opponent.

Such were the dangers of the prophetic abilities like [The Almighty] and [Battle Precognition].

In a split of a moment, he activated his [Divine Authority of Destruction] and created several hundreds of spheres made from the Destruction Energy and shot them all toward the Orcus as the Grim Reaper burst out with the Death Aura as he swung his Death Scythe upfront, generating the imaginary slash of the Death Aura that crashed with the [Divine Authority of Destruction].

In the end, both the spheres made through the [Divine Authority of Destruction] as well as the Death Aura used by the Executive-Class Grim Reaper destroyed each other in the mutual assured destruction.

However, this was just the two of them testing each other.

To see the limits of one another's capabilities and skills.

Only after some time, the real fight would come, as for the time being, neither of the two of them was going all out. However, for the Executive-Class Grim Reaper, this was rhter more precarious because it seemed that his opponent was much stronger than he had initially anticipated. 

Much more stronger.

Orcus was a very experienced and powerful Grim Reaper, one that survived many wars, slew many foes, and won countless battles.

Nevertheless, Orcus, like many other Grim Reapers, was eager for such a revelation because most of the Grim Reapers were addicted to the thrill of life and death battle, even though Orcus was aware that he couldn't die.

 Despite this fact, the reconstruction of his body and the recuperation of his soul would take decades, if not centuries. It depends on the other conditions, but it won't be short, and considerable time would pass until he returned back to his prime.

The Executive-Class Grim Reaper swung his Death Scythe at the son of the God of Destruction once more, in an attempt to close the distance between them, as Yhwach flapped his wings and dodged the strike, while using the [Divine Authority of Destruction] to create a wave of the Destruction Energy that was sent toward the Grim Reaper.

***

Half-Blood Hill, Montauk, Long Island, New York

Half-Blood Hill is one of the hills surrounding the valley where Camp Half-Blood is located, and it was one of the best-protected areas of the Greek Pantheon and their territory on Earth. 

Not far from the area where Yhawch and the Grim Reapers of Hades were fighting, a group of people was observing everything that was happening. Valiana and Bikou, who were in charge of protecting Percy, suddenly stopped as they started observing the fight.

Soon enough, the group stopped when they were already standing on the Half-Blood Hill, because Valiana could sense the protections that were all over the entire place. The Mist Barriers that existed here were extremely powerful, and aside from them, there were many Automatons, including a Bronze Dragon Automaton whose power Valiana couldn't discern.

But Albion told her that the Bronze Dragon Automaton was as strong as any continental-level being...

When they stopped in their advance toward Camp Half-Blood, Valiana created a magic projection of the fight, as the four of them were observing the fight.

"They are so powerful..."

Valiana heard Percy and Grover murmuring because from their sight, something like this was really out of the charts. For Percy, who wasn't aware of the Supernatural World a few hours earlier, this was like straight from the fantasy.

While for Grover, who was aware of the Supernatural, the strongest fight that he had witnessed was between Monsters that were at the Level 3 High-Class.

While such a fight would be more than enough to block a city block if one of the participants had some really destructive capabilities, most of the Monsters had the physical strength, vitality, and durability to withstand the Level 3 offensive prowess.

Seeing the fight that was already pretty close to the pinnacle for the Draconic Deus was indeed somehow eye-opening. Not to mention, this was the first time that the young satyr had the opportunity to witness God fighting, and not just any other God.

As far as he could tell, he was the son of one of the strongest Gods.

"They seemed to be equally matched."

Valiana nodded mildly as she heard the young guardian's observation, but at the same time, it wasn't entirely true.

"It seems so, but they are not. Evren thought that Grimmy guy was stronger than Yhwach, but he didn't have any advantage in the real fight. Even though the Grim Reaper guy has more Magic and more raw power, he doesn't have a means of defending against the Divine Authority of Destruction..."

Bikou explained that he was too engrossed in the observation of the fight because the greatest problem was dispersing and defending against the Death Aura, which could be rather dangerous for even someone like Yhwach.

The Death Aura that was coming straight from the Realm of the Dead was something that was capable of harming, injuring, and killing even Gods rather easily. It would also corrode their Divine Souls, meaning that the Gods could be really killed.

No revival.

No rebirth.

Nothing.

Just a pure and true cold embrace of death.

Yet, Bikou was able to see that Yhwach was constantly using his second Divine Authority, which was called the Divine Authority of Golden Grace, as his body was being enveloped by golden energy.

Like a protective coat that defends his body and soul from the dangerous effects of the Death Aura that the Grim Reaper uses. Even though the Executive-Class Grim Reaper was powerful and had access to a much higher amount of the Death Aura, it wasn't proving to be very useful.

"Still... It's rather impressive. He has gotten stronger once again."

Valiana muttered as she looked at her boyfriend fighting.

[Of course he has... the mastery of the Runes has elevated his combat prowess severe leagues compared to what it was before. Not to mention the control over the Destruction has reached an entirely new Level.]

Suddenly, the Sacred Gear Divine Dividing appeared from Valiana's back, as both Percy and Grover freaked out at the powerful Draconic voice resounding through the area, and once the Longinus materialized, they were really scared of what was going on.

"What the hell is that?!?"

Both of them shot at the same time as they scrambled around Valiana while Bikou laughed out loud at their misfortune.

"That's Sacred Gear, also known as God's Artifacts, items with powerful abilities bestowed upon Humans and Human hybrids by the God of the Bible. The God of the Bible created the Sacred Gears to give strength and future possibilities to the Humans. I am a bearer of the Longinus-Tier Sacred Gear, an Artifact capable of slaying Gods as easily as breathing. Divine Dividing, that houses the soul of the White Dragon Emperor of Supremancy, Albion Gwyder."

Valiana said proudly as she pointed at the glowing blue wings that were attached to her back. It was only logical that neither of them had heard about the existence of the Sacred Gears, considering the ignorance of the subjects of the Greeks, so Valiana had the opportunity to flaunt things again.

Just as they were continuing to talk again, suddenly, everyone felt a very powerful earthquake spreading through the ground, and the ground started falling apart. Valiana and Bikou immediately got into a combat-ready stance because they could feel a rather overwhelming aura coming from the crack in the ground.

"Oh fuck... that's a Minotaur..."

Valiana heard Grover mutter when they saw the silhouette appearing from the crack.

The Minotaur that appeared was much bigger than the average minotarus, because this one was around four and half meters tall. Its arms and legs were pure muscle and power with little to no fat, and its skin was vein-webbed. 

Contrary to most of their race, who wore no clothes except bright white Fruit of the Looms underwear, this one was wearing armor pieces in the ancient Greek style. His top half was of coarse brown hair that started at about his belly button and got thicker as it reached his shoulders.

His neck was a mass of muscle and fur leading up to his enormous head, which had a snout as longer than entire human arm. The minotaur had snotty nostrils with a gleaming brass ring, cruel black eyes, and enormous black and white horns with points someone couldn't get from an electric sharpener.

"That's not just any minotaur... this is the Ancestor of the Minotarus... Asterion."

The Minotaur was born of a human, Pasiphaë, and a white bull. Poseidon sent the white bull to Pasiphaë's husband King Minos for him to sacrifice in his honor, but King Minos did not sacrifice the bull because he saw that the bull had the most beautiful fur that he has ever seen and let the bull live.

However, Poseidon was spying nearby and saw that Minos had left his white bull alive. Thereafter, mad with rage and anger that Minos had not sacrificed the bull, he cursed Minos by having Aphrodite make Pasiphaë fall in love with the bull. Then, when Poseidon had left for Olympus, Pasiphaë ordered Daedalus to make a fake cow for her to hide inside and lure it. The result of their union was the Minotaur.

"Bikou, take them to the camp right now. Run!"

Valiana shouted as white armor appeared around her body as she had entered the Balance Breaker of the Divine Dividing in split of second. Everything happened too fast. As he grabbed both Percy and Grover and bolted towards the Camp Half-Blood as fast as he could.

Who would have thought that Asterion, the First Minotaur, The Minotaur would right now in front of them.

It seemed that Hades had let out not only one of the Executive-Class Grim Reapers but also let out Asterion, the Primogenitor of all Minotaurs in the Draconic Deus, which was on the same level as the Executive-Class Grim Reapers.

Valiana wasn't confident in fighting the Asterion for a very long time, or defeating the creature, as she could clearly sense its power. On top of everything, the First Minotaur was most probably the worst match for her, because Asterion like her... was a pure physical figter..

This meant that the uses of the Divine Dividing, which mainly worked on the different energies like Demonic Energy or Magic in general, wouldn't be that useful in the fight unless the Primogenitor of the Minotaurs started using Magic or something else entirely on the energy basis.

But she knew that as long as Bikou took the target into Camp Half-Blood, they would have won. ValiaNa lunged at the Asterion as she knew that the Minotaur completely disregarded her and went directly after Percy, because he could sense the Demigods. 

Valiana managed to catch up with the Asterion as she struck the hulking creature of pure muscle in his back and sent the creature crashing to the ground. Not long after that, she felt the distance between her and Bikou got murky, and she couldn't pinpoint his location.

Knowing that she grinned, because it was her win.

Bikou must have crossed the border where the barriers were already placed. Not the most powerful ones, but the initial wards that served for the purpose of detecting the intruders and enemies. 

The mist was already stronger on average in this place.

***

When Yhwach felt that Valiana was fighting the minotaur, not just any minotaur but the one that was the ancestor of all of them, Asterion, he knew that it was time to get serious.

Thus, he stopped playing with the Executive-Class Grim Reaper Orcus because neither of them was fighting at full power; instead, they were limiting their strength so as not to destroy the entire region.

"I didn't think that Hades would also release Asterion... it seems that I must cut the fight short."

He muttered as Orcus immediately grew wary at the sudden burst of power from his opponent, who was far higher than his own. Only now had he realized that his opponent was suppressing his power for the duration of the entire fight.

'Hastur unlock the Level 1 Seal to Level 3 Seal.'

The overwhelming might of the Celestial Force was unleashed for the first time in his entire life, as Yhwach let out all of as he commanded the [Ultimate Skill Hastur the Lord of the Unspeakable Lore] to unlock the Seals on his power.

In a split second, he used the full might of the [Divine Authority of Destruction] as the huge amount of Destruction Energy burst out of his body towards the Grim Reapers, and was rather nondiscriminatory in the targeting.

"Formation!"

Orcus was really worthy of being the Executive-Class Grim Reaper, as he reacted even before the Destruction Energy appeared on the battlefield, but the man instantly knew that something was wrong.

Instantly disregarding their duel, he ordered the Grim Reapers on the site to get into formation, as they did in a split of a moment and created a huge magical barrier around them to defend against the Destruction Energy.

Yhwach just smiled lightly as he saw that as he controlled the Destruction Energy through the [Divine Authority of Destruction] and created a huge sword made from the Destruction Energy that tore through the barrier by the Grim Reapers like it was never there.

Not only that, but the Destruction Sword also obliterated all of the Grim Reapers on the spot, aside from Orcus himself and two Level 4 Ultimate-Class Grim Reapers that were grievously injured.

"Your father must be proud, boy... you are a true monster..."

Orcus stated as he looked at the devastation around him.

In fact, Yhwach would be able to achieve such a degree of destruction because he knew very well that the power that he had showcased would be enough to be ranked as a Level 6 individual...

He once saw Serafall Leviathan fighting, and that sword of Destruction he conjured was no weaker than some of her more powerful attacks. Obviously he felt tired as fuck after that, but another reason why he was able to achieve that was the [Divine Authority of the Golden Grace].

The manipulation of Light was just one part of the [Divine Authority of the Golden Grace] because its core revolved around the creation of the Miracles.

Defying the real and willing the unreal.

"Let your reconstruction in the Realm of the Dead be very pleasant, Orcus."

Yhwach stated neutrally as he unleashed another wave of the Destruction Energy through the[Divine Authority of Destruction], which finished off the remaining Level 4 Ultimate-C Klass Grim Reapers as they were killed instantly.

But...

At the last moment, Orcus took out something that was reminiscent of a small bone staff and broke it in half, as he disappeared from the place. 

He literally fell through the ground.

"It seems that Hades gave him some failsafe."

Yhwach muttered as he dispersed the Space Prison and flapped his wings, flying toward the Asterion and Valiana. 

He knew that opponents like Asterion were probably the worst match for someone like Valiana, as she thrived against Magicaisn or basically the category of the "Energy Users" in general.

Meanwhile, against purely physical fighting with a terrifyingly strong physique, she was rather...

Disadvantaged.

He appeared in front of the Asterion in a mere moment as he used the [Divine Authority of Destruction] to strike the Minotaur as he used the Aura of Destruction to obliterate half of the Asterion's body, but it started forming almost instantly.

Although it had some problems containing the Destruction Energy that remained within the body of Asterion, Yhwach started using the [Divine Authority of Destruction] together with the [Divine Authority of Golden Grace] to boost up the capability of the [Divine Authority of Destruction] to the absolute limits.

During the time he ambushed Asterion, Valiana retreated as her armor was cracked in several places and she was pretty much injured, which filled Yhwach with emotion that he hadn't felt for a long time.

Rage and anger.

A very powerful emotion if used correctly.

In a mere moment, he used the entirety of the Celestial Force as he sent an enormous blast of the Destruction Energy through the [Divine Authority of Destruction] at the Asterios as he directly obliterating the Minotaur Ancestor from the face of the earth.

Even though the Minotaur Ancestor was very powerful, physically, he was superior to even many Gods that he had seen. That was everything, and there was no conceptual or any different protection against the [Divine Authority of Destruction].

He obliterated the Asterion from existence, though that was only a temporal thing because the monster was more a conceptual existence than a real being. Many of these monsters were already immortalized and became part flesh and part concept due to the fact that the entire world knew of their existence, and they lived through their mythos.

Suddenly, Yhwach started feeling pretty tired because the power that he used to destroy the physical body of the minotaur was probably too much.